How to Research Your Genealogy with Google & Newspapers

Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena shows how to use the information you find in old newspapers to conduct Google searches that help your genealogy research. So you just found “the” newspaper article about your ancestor that you were... (Read More)

How to Spot and Avoid 9 Common Genealogy Mistakes & Errors

Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary discusses 9 common mistakes made when doing family history research, and suggests ways to avoid them. Family history researchers are often frustrated by the mistakes of others—particularly when there is an obvious error in... (Read More)

Tarbell Sisters’ Civil War Feud Finally Ended—in 1922!

While many genealogical records can provide names and dates for your family tree, newspapers give you something more: actual stories about your ancestors’ lives, so that you can get to know them as real people and learn about the times in which they lived. Here’s an example of a newspaper preserving a remarkable family... (Read More)

Earthquake! Newspapers Record Destruction in California History

Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena shows how historical newspapers provide excellent coverage of disasters such as earthquakes, including detailed casualty lists helpful to genealogists. Living in California as I do, earthquakes are a fact of life. Because of... (Read More)

Southern California Genealogical Society’s Successful 2012 Jamboree

The Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) just completed another very successful Jamboree in Burbank, California, this month. Over 1,700 genealogists jammed the genealogy classes, presentations and the exhibit hall for the past four days. Our own in-house genealogist, Tom Kemp, spoke at three sessions during the SCGS Jamboree. His Friday Genealogy Jamboree talk (“Newspapers:... (Read More)