Free Genealogy Webinars Offered by the National Archives

Now that the weather has warmed up and spending hours outside might not be an attractive alternative if you live in a steamy summer climate like St. Louis, you may be looking for some online genealogy classes. Of course, we hope you will take advantage of the classes StLGS is offering this summer, and you can check them out on the “Classes” page on the StLGS website.  But if you are looking for more, we want to tell you about a free series of lectures sponsored by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Each year, NARA presents a Genealogy Series, offered first as livestreamed webinars and then uploaded to their YouTube channel for everyone's continued viewing. This year’s series, which began in May but doesn’t end until June 14th, focuses on those who have served in the military and ends with a talk on preservation. 

The six lectures in the series, all presented by archivists at different branches of the National Archives, are as follows:

• “Civilians at War: Records of Participation in U.S. Military Conflicts” by Claire Kluskens, Washington, D.C.
• “Basic Military Records at the National Archives: Revolutionary War to 1917” by John Deeben, Washington, D.C.
• “National Archives at St. Louis: Understanding the 1973 Fire and Its Impact on Genealogical Research” by Eric Kilgore, St. Louis (Eric did this talk for StLGS in April; you can also watch the recording of his talk on our website, accessible via our "Monthly Meeting" page.)
• “Civilian Conservation Corps Indian Division on the Reservation” by Cody White, Denver
• “Accessing and Understanding Korean War Army Unit Records” by Rachael Salyer, College Park, Maryland
• “Planning, Techniques, and Strategies for Preserving Family Collections and Stories” by Sara Holmes, St. Louis

The first four lectures are now available on NARA’s YouTube channel. The last two will be livestreamed on Wednesday, June 7th, and Wednesday, June 14th, at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern). You can get instructions for participating in the remaining sessions, access all the recordings, download the handouts that accompany them, and watch the last of the livestreamed lectures from the 2023 National Archives Genealogy Series page on NARA’s website.

If you want to watch any of the older genealogy series, they are also available on NARA’s website. Beginning in 2005, this annual event was an in-person only genealogy fair. Then, in 2013, NARA transformed their event to a virtual one. In 2021, they changed the name from Genealogy Fair to Genealogy Series. All the details are on the “National Archives Genealogy Fairs and Series” page of their website.