The North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) and the Forsyth County Genealogical Society will present “Digging Deeper Into Your Family History”, on 20 June 2015 at the
Knollwood Baptist Church, 330 Knollwood Street, Winston-Salem, NC 27104. We hope you will join us for the full-day workshop (online registration | PDF registration form) featuring Michael D. Lacopo, DVM.
A limited number of King and Double Queen rooms at the rate of $75 for Friday and/or Saturday (19-20 June 2015) have been reserved at the Best Western Plus-Hanes Mall, 3330 Silas Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. Phone 336-893-7540 and ask for the North Carolina Genealogical Society rate.
Space is limited. Please register early.
Lectures
Registration will begin at 9:00. The full-day workshop will include four lectures by Michael Lacopo:
1. “Deconstructing Your Family Tree: Re-evaluating the Evidence.” When information passed on from researcher to researcher doesn’t “add up,” it’s time to tear down the walls and rebuild anew. This methodology lecture shows how erroneous conclusions can sneak into our research uncontested. This lecture is pertinent especially today with so many Internet family trees that get cut and pasted into our own research.
2. “More than the Census: Our Families Did Exist Between Those 10-Year Intervals.” This lecture will show the researcher that it is important to identify our ancestors’ whereabouts in as many local records as possible. A lot can happen in ten years! If you don’t look harder, you won’t find them.
3. “Incorporating Social History Into Your Research.” Family history should be more than names and dates. What motivated our ancestors? Why did they migrate? Who did they interact with? How do social customs of another era affect our research? Social history and its bearing on genealogical research will be covered and a “must-read” bibliography for serious researchers will be discussed.
4. “She Came From Nowhere” – A Case Study Approach to a Difficult Genealogy Problem. This lecture illustrates the joys and pitfalls of Virginia research as well as employing a problem-solving approach utilizing social history, female research, and family analysis to identify the parents of Elizabeth Stith, the ancestor “from nowhere.”
Refund Policy
Full refund if withdrawal precedes the early registration date of 10 June 2015; between then and the workshop day a prorated refund may be made; no refund may be made if withdrawal is on the day of the workshop.
Any changes, including those due to inclement weather conditions, will be posted on the NCGS website: http://www.ncgenealogy.org.
For more information on the workshop, send an e-mail to the NCGS Administrator at info@ncgenealogy.org.
To register, use the online registration form (shopping cart) or download and print the PDF registration form and mail it with your payment.
Our Speaker
Dr. Michael D. Lacopo was born and raised in northern Indiana surrounded by extended family always willing to tell tall tales. Intrigued by his maternal family’s claim to be kinfolk of Abraham Lincoln, and his paternal family’s stories of murder and mayhem, he took to genealogical research in the 1980s to substantiate these family stories.
Genealogical research as a hobby was in its infancy in the 1980s. Combing libraries, archives, cemeteries, and courthouses as a teenager, Michael gained the skills needed to become a keen researcher. His first major challenge in the world of research was tackled by finding his adopted mother’s birthparents in 1982. You can read about this adventure at his blog (http://www.Roots4U.blogspot.com) with some engaging storytelling, plot twists, and new findings!
Although a budding genealogist in the 1980s, Michael completed his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1991 while still spending time honing his research skills. As befitting a doctor, Michael treats his genealogical research as he would medicine—carefully, methodically, and completely. Several genealogical journal articles and publications appeared along the way. In 2013, Michael retired from his medical career to pursue genealogical research full time as a profession.
Michael has contributed to numerous periodicals and has helped numerous people in their quests to locate their relatives—living and dead. He appeared in USA Today in 2000 discussing genealogy and the proposed destruction of the federal census tabulated in that year. His national lecturing began in Sacramento, California, at the National Genealogical Society’s national conference in 2004, and has continued with several local, state, national, and international conference speaking engagements to this present day.
Michael’s interests and strengths include Mennonite research, German and Swiss research, especially as it pertains to the 18th century immigration to America, among many other topics. He makes many trips throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states chasing ancestors in primary repositories, and also devotes a considerable amount of time to European research, being proficient in reading German script. Having ancestors from many geographic locales as well as immigrants spanning the 17th century to the 20th century, Michael has a wide variety of proficiencies. He believes that as genealogists we should tell the tales of our ancestors and is a vocal proponent for learning the social history that interweaves our ancestors into the fabric of the past.
In addition to his storytelling and educational blog, Michael’s presence can be found online at http://www.Roots4U.com, or for more up-to-date lecture and research information, at his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Roots4U.
(Tree image source: “Tree Branches and Root”, by Nathan Eady via openclipart, licensed under CC0 1.0, Public Domain)