BCG Historical Records Military Records Methodology and Skills Board for Certification of Genealogists

From Despair to Cargoes of Hope: WWII’s Displaced Persons

Ann Staley, CG, CGL

Free

Many immigrants entered the US under the Displaced Persons Act. Based on specific criteria, eligible displaced persons (DPs) could be admitted to the US if they would not become a public charge and have safe and sanitary housing and employment without displacing some other person. The displaced person or refugee was the concern of the International Refugee Organization. The US created the Displaced Persons Commission to oversee the act’s enactment. Is your ancestor named in the record sets created? The presentation will discuss the History of the Act and the records created as a result of the Act.

About the speaker

Ann Staley, CG, CGL

C. Ann Staley, CG®, CGL (SM}, has spoken regionally, nationally, and at sea. She serves as the Membership Chair for the Genealogical Speakers Guild; on the faculty of The International Institute for Genealogical Studies; a volunteer on a number of

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BCGMethodology and Skills

“A Matrimonial Advertiser:” Tracing the Treacherous Trail of an Early 20th-Century Romance Scammer

Sharon Hoyt, CG

Research on a man's mysterious second marriage identified his wife as a romance scammer who preyed on Civil War veterans. This case study shows how evidence correlation and reasonably exhaustive research cut through the lies and misdirection in a woman's records to establish her identity and reveal her sometimes deadly deception.

BCGMethodology and Skills

The One Place Study as a Research Tool

Denise E. Cross, MSLIS, CG

A one place study explores an ancestral place in depth by studying the history, the environment, and the people of a place over time. Learn practical strategies for conducting your own OPS and how it helps you meet the Genealogy Standards. See how the assembled information can add rich context to your ancestors' lives, fill gaps where records are lacking, and uncover forgotten connections within a community.

Historical Records

Forgotten Records: Pension Ledgers and the Payments they Represent

Craig R. Scott, MA, CG, FUGA

Few people take the time to look at the pension payment process and the records that are created. Records may contain information about movement, kin, and primary sources for dates of death.

BCGMethodology and SkillsHistorical Records

Civil War Records: What is a Reasonably Exhaustive Search?

Craig R. Scott, MA, CG, FUGA

To correlate evidence, you must have evidence to correlate. Typical researchers stop too soon in their evidence collection, believing they have found all there is to find about a soldier. There is more to military research than the compiled military service record or the pension application file. A reasonably exhaustive search is not limited to the two or three typical record sources.

BCGMethodology and Skills

From Statutes to Stories: Finding the Law for Family History

Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL, FUGA

The laws our ancestors lived by can tell us much about life in earlier times. Finding those laws, and the stories they tell, can be a daunting task, but—from colonial statutes to today, from the halls of Congress to the statehouses of 50 states—the choices legislators made about what laws were needed give a rich and deep context to family history.

BCGMethodology and Skills

Finding Frank Henry Hill

Angela Harris, CG

In 1906, Nellie Langevin married Frank Henry Hill in Penacook, New Hampshire. Frank vanished three years later, leaving Nellie to fend for herself. Despite her efforts to divorce him, Nellie died in 1914, still officially married. Who was Nellie’s elusive husband and what happened to him? This case study resolves conflicting direct, indirect, and negative evidence to uncover Frank’s identity and highlights the importance of including the FAN Club in reasonably exhaustive research.

BCGMethodology and Skills

James C. Ward’s Eldorado: A Coast to Coast Identity Case

Nicole Gilkison LaRue, CG, AG

One James C. Ward was born in the 1820s and his life is documented in Massachusetts and New York. One James C. Ward served in the Mexican War and left sketches and a diary detailing his adventures in California in the 1840s. Could they be the same man? A case of identity solved through correlation.

Historical Records

Stump Craig: U.S. Revolutionary War

Craig R. Scott, MA, CG, FUGA

Take the opportunity to ask professional genealogist and publisher, Craig R. Scott, CG, FUGA a question about the U.S. Revolutionary War. See if his genealogical and historical knowledge about the United States and military research can help you solve that brick wall problem you can’t seem to get your hands around.

Historical Records

Private Gandolfo Scarnici: Case Study of a Veteran of World War I

Michael L. Strauss, AG

Using primary and secondary sources this case study examines the military service of Private Gandolfo Scarnici who served in the 55th United States Infantry enlisting in 1917 then serving overseas in France with the American Expeditionary Forces from 1918-1919 during World War I.

From Despair to Cargoes of Hope: WWII’s Displaced Persons

Ann Staley, CG, CGL

About the speaker

About the speaker

Ann Staley, CG, CGL

Related Webinars

“A Matrimonial Advertiser:” Tracing the Treacherous Trail of an Early 20th-Century Romance Scammer

The One Place Study as a Research Tool

Forgotten Records: Pension Ledgers and the Payments they Represent

Civil War Records: What is a Reasonably Exhaustive Search?

From Statutes to Stories: Finding the Law for Family History

Finding Frank Henry Hill

James C. Ward’s Eldorado: A Coast to Coast Identity Case

Stump Craig: U.S. Revolutionary War

Private Gandolfo Scarnici: Case Study of a Veteran of World War I