The Secret Lives of Women – Researching Female Ancestors Using the Sources They Left Behind

Using a case study we will take a look at their lives and the records they left behind as well as what 19th century records might record your female ancestor’s life.

One of the stumbling blocks for family historians is researching before 1850 when the US census is limited to only the names of the head of household. Compounded by laws that affected women, such as coverture, and those female ancestors can be fairly invisible to the researcher. So how do…

“Women can’t be found in genealogical documents.” “They are difficult to research.” While these statements can be true, there are records out there that document their lives. We will explore 50 records to consider as you research female ancestors from the colonial period to the 20th century in the United...

For this 100th anniversary year of the US in World War I, we'll look at the history of American women during World War I and what resources exist to research their story.

Mormon women in Utah have a rich history that includes suffrage, important work outside of the home, and of course polygamy. In this presentation learn ways to find out more about your Mormon ancestress aside from information about her in familiar sources like the census or vital records.

What resources are available for researching your California ancestress? California women received the right to vote in 1911 which results in records nonexistent in some other states but other activities like club memberships, church activities, and work leave even more. Periodicals, directories, cookbooks, and organizational records leave...

Community cookbooks, commonly known as fundraising cookbooks with the plastic comb binding, have been around since the Civil War. They serve as a "city directory" of women with everything from names, residences, and in some cases familial relationships and photos. Learn more about community cookbooks and using them for your…

Local archives of all kinds have records for your female ancestors. Many times, these records are not digitized or available online. Learn from a seasoned archivist how to locate and research female records in local archives.

One of the toughest challenges faced by genealogists is the difficulty of identifying and tracking females. Wives and mothers traditionally have been “supporting characters” to the roles played by their husbands and sons—bearing no known name other than that of the males they married or bore. Historically, social mores and law codes made them second-class citizens, without a legal identity of their own and few rights or opportunities to create the range of records that genealogists customarily use to trace males. This session presents an array of resources—and, more importantly, techniques and strategies backed by case studies—we can use to establish the identities of elusive females.