Dear Members and Friends of VGS,
Our VGS Virtual Fall Conference is almost here—this Friday and Saturday, October 3–4. We have an exciting lineup of sessions designed to help you tackle tough research problems and open new doors in your family history. Friday brings DNA strategies for uncovering maternal surnames, treasures hidden in older Southern and Eastern periodicals, creative substitutes for death records, and Thomas W. Jones’s Virginia-based case study on Solutions for Missing or Scarce Records. Saturday continues with city directories, Civil War and Reconstruction records, oral history, and DNA basics. Whether you join us live or access the recordings afterward, I promise you’ll come away with fresh tools and inspiration.
If you can’t join us for the live conference, recordings will be available after the conference for 60 days!
I’m also thrilled to share that Barbara Vines Little’s much-anticipated A Researcher’s Guide to Virginia’s Historical Records is now available in the VGS Store! At over 600 pages, this book delivers the depth of a two-week institute course between its covers. It explores Virginia’s local and state government records, probate and land laws, inheritance and women’s rights, military and ethnic sources, and substitutes for missing records—with helpful context that helps us truly understand what the records say (and what they don’t).
The book retails for $79.95, but VGS members pay only $63.96.* This new resource, paired with the Fall Conference, is the perfect way to sharpen your research skills and deepen your knowledge of Virginia genealogy. I hope you’ll join us this week, grab your copy of Barbara’s guide, and continue exploring Virginia’s rich genealogical history with us.
Purchase A Researcher’s Guide to Virginia’s Historical Records
Warmly,
Kelley Conner Lear, CG®
President, Virginia Genealogical Society
*Members, please log in to the website before purchasing either a conference ticket or publications so you’ll receive the 20%-member discount.