Learn About State Archives at the StLGS Summer Speaker Series

Why You Should Attend Hidden Gems at the Missouri State Archives Even if You Don't Have Missouri Ancestors . . .

Hidden Gems at the Missouri State Archives, the StLGS 2020 Summer Speaker Series, will cover a variety of topics to help you understand state archive records and how to use them, no matter where your ancestors lived.

On Saturday, 27 June and Sunday, 28 June, StLGS is presenting four online lectures for our Summer Speaker Series, and our featured speakers—John Dougan, Missouri State Archivist, Kelsey Berryhill, and Christina Miller—have informative topics that will strengthen the knowledge and skills of any family historian.

• First up at 1:00 p.m. (Central Time) on Saturday, 27 June, is Christina Miller with “Plundering the Bounty of the Missouri State Archives,” an overview of the resources there and how to use their online databases and research request service. You’ll learn what types of records are available so you can search other state archives for similar records.
• Next, at 3:00 p.m. (Central) on Saturday, is “All Hands on Deck: Using State Government Publications to Track Your Ancestor’s Career,” with Kelsey Berryhill. Imagine following your ancestors through school reports, professional registration lists, official manuals (like the Missouri Blue Book) and other publications you’ve
  
  probably not thought to search before. Here’s where you can find out how—and every state has something akin to these official manuals.
• Christina returns on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (Central) with “X Marks the Spot: Researching Land Records at the Missouri State Archives,” an exploration of land grant records, U.S. land sales, and person-to-person land sales preserved in county deed records. No matter where your ancestors lived, there were definitely land records—do you know what information they contain and how to access them? Here's your chance to learn how!
• Last (but not least!), on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. (Central) discover resources to determine why your service-eligible ancestor doesn’t appear in military records with John Dougan’s “Peg Legs, Rum, and Eye Patches: Reasons Your Ancestors Did Not Serve in the Civil War.” This information will surely apply across many states and state archives.

Registration for the Summer Speaker Series is currently open. If you want to attend the live lectures, you must register by Tuesday, 23 June, at 10:00 p.m. so don’t wait to sign up. However, if you can’t attend the live stream presentations, all registrants can watch the recordings afterwards. They’ll be posted online for an additional ninety days. You can register for the digital recordings until Monday, 14 September 2020.

Cost to attend all four lectures for StLGS members is $35 and for non-members $45. Registrants will receive an email with an invitation to the live stream lectures and a link to a web page where you’ll find the presentation handouts and links to view the digital recordings, once they are posted. Questions? Send an email to programs@stlgs.org.