GRIVA Program Meeting—The Seedbed of America: Eastern Shore History and Records [28 Mar]

Join the Genealogical Research Institute of Virginia (GRIVA) for their monthly virtual meeting featuring G. Ray Thompson, Phd.

Dr. Thompson begins with a brief outline of the history of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland, then takes a look at an overview of its many record types. Following that, he’ll look at little known records of importance to family historians who are researching Eastern Shore families. These records, the oldest continuous records in British speaking America, offer much for genealogists as it was from the Eastern Shore that many waves of migrations west took place, eventually reaching the western coast of America. Dr. Thompson will also look at significant secondary sources and the types of transcriptions of records available. Many researchers will discover that they have Eastern Shore antecedents! Question and answer period will follow the visual on-line discussion of Delmarva’s myriad records.

Dr. Thompson retired from Salisbury University in Maryland in 2016 as a distinguished professor of history where he served for 44 years, including as Chairman of the History Department for 12 years. He co-founded the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University in 1982, and he served as its co-director for over 20 years. The Nabb Center is a hands-on laboratory in which history students are taught how to read, interpret, and write narrations based on original documents. It also houses a collection of Delmarva primary and secondary source materials valuable for genealogical research. His work outside of academia has included serving on many councils and boards. To name just a few: he has been past president of the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society; president for 17 years of the Wicomico County chapter of the Maryland Historical Trust; and a member of the Governor’s Advisory Board for National Historic Publication and Records.