Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

The ISGS Fall Conference is almost here, and we are excited for a weekend full of learning, networking, and fun! Don't forget to purchase extra tickets for our exciting selection of Raffle and Door Prizes! Some Door Prize highlights include: o    DNA Kits from Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Family Tree  DNA o    Tons of books, including Illinois histories, indexes, and lots of research guides o    Unique items including a cemetery preservation guide and tombstone cleaning kit, a do-it-yourself vintage shadowbox kit, and an assortment of unique research tools and gadgets donated by Thomas MacEntee, founder of High-Definition Genealogy and one of our featured speakers! o    Membership certificates for societies, museums, and websites including Ancestry, Newspapers.com, and more! Our BIG Raffle Prizes include donations from Ancestry, MyHeritage, ThomasMacEntee, and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)! We'll...

Don't miss Lake County's Annual Conference next week, October 19th! This year's theme is "The Web & DNA: Modern Techniques to Complement Traditional Research." Featured presenters will be Tony Burroughs, FUGA, and David Stumpf, MD, Ph.D. An award winning internationally known genealogist, speaker author, and teacher, Tony Burroughs has appeared as a guest genealogy expert on over twenty-five national and international television broadcasts, including CBS Sunday morning, CBS News, ABC World News Tonight, BET Nightly News, National Public Radio (NPR) and many local broadcasts. Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Dr. Stumpf combines his medical and genealogical knowledge to specialize in Genetic Genealogy, Adoptee Research, and Medical Genealogy.  He is a genealogy software developer, and writes a genealogy blog. The Lake County Conference will be held at the University Center of Lake County, 1200 University Cente...

The Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society will present their 37th Annual Family History Conference, "Following Ancestral Footsteps: From the Grave to DNA," Friday and Saturday, October 11-12th!  The Conference will be held in Chicago at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5200 S. University Ave.  This year's keynote speaker is Bernice Alexander Bennett, Family Historian, Author and DNA Expert! Bernice is the producer-host of the popular "Research at the National Archives and Beyond" BlogTalk Radio program. She is the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passages for her dedication to broadcast stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. Bennett is also a member of the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society and also a founding Coordinator and faculty member of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute. In a...