Awhile ago, we asked Facebook fans which state they’d most want to see a webinar about. Among the many states mentioned, Pennsylvania was the winner. Philadelphia was the No. 1 port of entry for immigrants during the Colonial era and has remained a financial and cultural center, meaning many of you have ancestors who lived in Pennsylvania. Ask and ye shall receive! You’ll learn resources and research strategies for tracing them in our next webinar, Pennsylvania Genealogy Crash Course: Find Your Keystone State Ancestors. “Many people ...

Subscription genealogy site Ancestry.com is making its entire US Immigration Collection searchable free through Labor Day, Sept. 6. (You’ll need to register for a free account to access full search results.) The freebie celebrates the site’s release of more than 1,700 recorded oral histories from immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island. Starting in the 1970s, the National Park Service recorded of immigrants recalling the lives they left behind, why they left and the journey to America. Before now, the stories were available only to Ellis Island Immigration Museum ...

Thinking of going back to school? Family Tree University's September session begins Monday, Sept 13, and we've got three new courses for you. Read on for the whole course catalog! STRATEGIES New: Organize Your Genealogy: Get Your Research in Order (and Keep It That Way) Whether you work on paper or do everything online, getting your research organized is essential to keeping track of ancestors and making sure you know where to put new ones in your family tree. More courses: Mastering Google Search Reverse Genealogy ...

Online genealogy company Ancestry.com has released Family Tree Maker 2011, an updated version of its genealogy desktop software. You can purchase Family Tree Maker with a full Ancestry.com subscription or a free trial. The software also comes with either a printed or electronic Companion Guide. It starts at $39.95 online at FamilyTreeMaker.com and at some retail stores. The 2011 version has more than 100 improvements, including: • Smart Stories: An editor that lets you drag and drop text and photos from your Family Tree Maker tree into story pages ...

You have only two more days to enter to win our ShopFamilyTree.com $250 shopping spree! The sweepstakes ends Aug. 31 at 11:59 Eastern. You can enter up to once per day at Win.FamilyTreeMagazine.com. (Read all the rules here.) The winner will be able to choose from hundreds of expert genealogy how-to books, CDs, and other products, such as The Family Tree Sourcebook (available now for pre-order) Family Tree VIP membership 10 Years of Family Tree Magazine commemorative DVD Live and recorded genealogy webinars Google Earth for ...

The Federation of Genealogical Societies has re-launched its Society Hall online directory. If you think you know the name of the genealogical society, historical society, family association or library you want to contact, you can search by keyword; otherwise, choose a state from the drop-down menu for a list of societies in that state (note that the directory might not include every society in the state). An Irish library and museum website called Ask About Ireland has posted an important Irish record group free online: Griffith’s Primary Valuation is an accounting ...

Subscription genealogy site Ancestry.com beefed up its school yearbook collection to total 10,000 yearbooks and 60 million records (names), staking a claim to the largest searchable collection of yearbooks available online. I like the idea of yearbooks as genealogical resources because of the potential of finding a photo of an ancestor as a young person, and learning about interests such as tennis or science (you won't find that in the census). Ancestry.com's collection contains two databases: US School Yearbooks, which already was on the site; and US School Yearbooks ...

Funny stuff! On GraveHumorBook.com, the companion website to our latest book, Grave Humor, you can: See funny tombstone photos (some from the book, some sent in by our fellow funny gravestone enthusiasts) Meet the author, Mr. M.T. Coffin. Download free Grave Humor wallpaper for your computer, iPhone or iPad Submit photos of the funny gravestones you’ve encountered in your cemetery adventures ... and, of course, buy a copy of Grave Humor for your very own (on sale now for $8.79!) 

Do you own a historical record that cries out for digitization? Maybe a diary from a Civil War ancestor, a payroll ledger from a shipping company or a Colonial-era letter? The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County is holding its second annual Digitization Contest to find historical treasures to scan and post online. Documents, letters, diaries, and even large-scale items such as posters and maps are eligible. To enter, complete the short online entry form by the Oct. 1 deadline. A panel of judges will narrow the entry pool and post information about the ...

A bunch of booth visitors at last week’s Federation of Genealogical Society conference said “I love your podcast!” You can see what they mean in the just-released Family Tree Magazine Podcast August episode, available now for free through iTunes and on our website. Here’s what you’ll discover: Tips and websites for determining whether you’ve found your Harry Smith (or whomever) from author and professional genealogist Sharon DeBartolo Carmack A look at the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website (where you ...

I blogged a bit a couple of weeks ago about the East Tennessee History Center and the research collections inside. Friday morning while attending the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference, I wandered the three or four blocks over to the center for a peek. The center, renovated and expanded in 2004, is in the old Federal Customs House, constructed in 1874. The Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, part of the Knox County Public Library, is on the third floor. The staff graciously let me take some photos, which are normally prohibited in the research rooms. The ...

A couple of photos for you from the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Knoxville, Tenn: Terry Nicholson (right), a fellow Ohioan, was the lucky winner of our door prize, our 10 Years of Family Tree Magazine DVD. That's Family Tree Magazine publisher and editorial director Allison Stacy congratulating her. Four of our Family Tree University instructors gathered at our booth yesterday for a meet-and-greet with FTU students and prospective students. There was even some "FTU!" chanting, led by Find Your German Roots instructor James M. ...

Yesterday was the 90th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment to the US constitution. I’m especially partial to this one because it granted women the right to vote, declaring “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Tennessee, where we are right now for the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference, is the state whose General Assembly passed the suffrage amendment by one vote Aug. 18, 1920. By becoming the 36th state to ratify the ...

The New England Historic Genealogy (NEHGS) has launched a new website, AmericanAncestors.org to reflect the society’s broad range of genealogical resources, announced  NEHGS president  D. Brenton Simons. AmericanAncestors.org includes NEHGS’ New England and New York content, features, articles, and resources, as well as weekly updates and databases in a variety of regional and ethnic specialties, such as sources for mid-Atlantic, Irish, and African-American research. The site has a new image viewer for genealogical records, an enhanced search engine, ...

Day one of our Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Knoxville, Tenn., started off bright and early with a FamilySearch-hosted breakfast to update the genealogy media on recent and upcoming changes to FamilySearch. Most exciting are the developments on the FamilySearch beta site. Eventually, this site will seamlessly integrate all the FamilySearch tools that now live on different sites: the Record Search Pilot, Family History Library catalog, pedigree databases, FamilySearch Wiki, FamilySearch blog, online videos and other learning tools, “new” ...