Learn how to use artificial intelligence to help find important family information, understand old documents, and craft compelling family stories to support your family history research. This webinar will introduce you to the best uses of AI in genealogy today and give a peek behind the curtain of what genealogists can look forward to from AI advancements in 2026.

Alcina Furkey’s birth name and her parents’ identities were unknown in 19C Vermont. Alcina had many forenames: Alcenia, Arsena, Christina, Elcena, Elena, Jane, Josephine, Julia, Lucy, and Reusta, and Rosanna. But none of them was her baptismal name. Reconstructing her birth family, together with a connection found in deeds and the clues in Catholic records, led to her real identity.

Incorporating social context in a Kinship-Determination Project isn’t just about weaving historical events and descriptions of daily life into a family narrative. Community and culture shape behavior and relationships. To understand and document our ancestors, we need to understand the society in which they lived. When we estimate a marriage date based the birth of a couple’s first child (or that the birth of a child implies a marriage), we base those assumptions on context. This lecture will explore social context and illustrate how to research and write about it within a Kinship-Determination Project.

Investigate the methods and documentation in which enslavers acquired their commodities of African descent to enter the economic system of slavery.

City directories are an integral tool in genealogical resources in locating individuals and businesses at specific time periods, and gleaning other details that may point you to other evidence. They can help you determine the date of arrival or departure, residence, occupation, and more. They are great substitutes for census records and for the in-between years. Introduction to City Directories tells you what you can find, places you can find them, and how to obtain the most information from them. You’ll also see images of many types of city directory pages so that you will know what they can tell you. This webinar was first released on the Genealogy Guys Learn website.

When our families scattered across the globe, they often left close family behind. The family connections were lost over the subsequent generations. Now through family history research and DNA we are reconnecting with the branches of our family tree as shown in these case studies.

This database of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) contains WWI and WWII military burials world-wide. Not all burials in CWGC cemeteries are military. Burials include civilians, diplomats, medical personnel, and volunteer aid workers, including women. Most CWGC cemeteries have burials of the unknown as well as Monuments listing the Missing. Some military burials in civilian cemeteries are in this database. Photos of headstones and lists of missing in several CWGC cemeteries in Italy are included. Advises on best utilization of CWGC search engines with different approaches. Information on identification of unknown burials, research possibilities, and CWGC outreach programs are available on the website.

Gedcom files are useful for transferring family tree data but they aren’t easy to read or work with on their own. In this TechZone, we’ll explain how you can use AI to easily extract information from a gedcom file and create word documents or spreadsheet.

X-chromosome DNA is often one of the hidden gems of the genetic genealogy world especially when used in conjunction with autosomal DNA. This webinar will present an overview of the unique inheritance patterns of X-DNA and set out how and why X-DNA matching differs from atDNA matching. Michelle will guide you through the advantages of utilizing X-chromosome data and demonstrate how to use it to effectively narrow down and identify connections with your DNA matches. She will also cover which companies provide access to X-DNA data, include an array of tips on how to set yourself up to succeed with X-DNA and provide genuine case study examples that show what can be achieved when you harness this powerful type of DNA.

Many English DNA matches have rudimentary online trees. Learn about online resources for quickly and inexpensively extending the trees to find possible connections. Many North Americans have limited or no understanding of twentieth century online records that can be used to extend rudimentary or no online trees for their English DNA matches. There is a big need to be able to get the trees far enough back in time to possibly find the nearest common ancestors. This presentation will look at the different record groups explaining, with examples, how to use the different records together, and the time periods for which they are appropriate. Records discussed with illustrations and limitations include: – Civil Registration – Probate – Cemeteries / Crematoriums – Newspapers – Funeral notices – Voter registrations – Telephone directories – More

With original records and bibliographic resources, university archives are genealogical treasures. This presentation will include an introduction to common resources available at universities in Mexico, including original manuscripts, newspapers, historic photos, dissertations, etc., with examples from Universidad Autónoma de México, Colegio de Sonora, Universidad de Guadalajara, and many more.

The National Records Personnel Center in St. Louis has many records pertinent to your soldier’s service. OMPFs, Official Military Personnel Files, monthly regimental rolls, hospital records, military court-martials and graves registration service files all offer clues into your veteran’s military experience. NPRC also houses civilian and government employment files as well. Was your grandfather in the Civilian Conservation Corps? Was your mother Postmaster? These records are available as well! Tina will describe the types of information to be found in these records and how you can access them in person.