The National Genealogical Society 2015 Family History Conference will be held in St. Charles, Missouri, from May 13-16, 2015.  There are so many sessions available, covering a wide array of topics.  Following is a list of sessions geared toward German and immigration, two of my favorite genealogy subjects!  I’ve also included sessions related to other ethnic groups.  I did not include any luncheons (even though a good deal of the fit into this category) simply because they are a paid event and many of them are sold out.

There are so many to choose from, which makes me happy since I will be in attendance.  Some of them conflict with other sessions I’d like to attend, so I am also registering for the Live Stream immigration track so I can enjoy them all (I’ve noted “LS” for those sessions that will be part of the Live Stream immigration track).  I was pretty impressed with the Live Stream sessions presented last year (I registered for one track; watched two of the sessions live, and then watched the other three at my leisure). 

Registration for both the conference and Live Stream end on April 29, so be sure to head over to the conference website to register ASAP!  The entire conference schedule can be found on the NGS Conference website.

Wednesday, May 13

  • Gottfried Duden (Dorris Keeven-Franke, 11 AM)
  • Crossing the Border: How to Backtrack an Ancestor into Quebec from the U.S. (George Findlen, 11 AM)
  • German Digital Libraries (Baerbel K. Johnson, 2:30 PM)
  • Pity the Poor Pfhul: Proving Immigrant Identities (Warren Bittner, 4 PM)

Thursday, May 14

  • Introduction to German Church Books (Warren Bittner, 8 AM)
  • The Journey to America: Federal Passenger-Ship Records (Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, 8 AM, LS)
  • Seventeen Repositories, One Life: Uncommon Original Sources Portray a 19th Century Prussian Immigrant (John Philip Colletta, 8 AM)
  • So You Think You Want to get Married: Marriage Records, Laws, and German Customs (Baerebel K. Johnson, 9:30 AM)
  • The New York Gateway: Immigration and Migration (Jane E. Wilcox, 9:30 AM)
  • Becoming an American: Naturalization Records (Julie Miller, 9:30 AM, LS)
  • Back to the USSR: Tracing Your Russian Roots (Amy Wachs, 9:30 AM)
  • He Took Her Name: Understanding German Farm Names (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin, 11 AM)
  • Discovering the REAL Stories of Your Immigrant Ancestor (John Philip Colletta, 11 AM, LS)
  • Research Jewish Genealogical Records from Your Couch (Daniel Horowitz, 11 AM)
  • Unscrambling the New Orleans Passenger Lists (Beth Stahr, 2:30 PM)
  • Bads, Bergs, Burgs, and Bachs: Finding Locations in Germany (Warren Bittner, 2:30 PM, LS)
  • Reading Handwritten German Church Records (Carol Wright Whitton, 4 PM) [I have attending this presentation in the past…it is EXCELLENT!]
  • A Methodology for Irish Emigration to North America (David E. Rencher, 4 PM, LS)
  • Guidelines to Finding Polish Records (Amy Wachs, 4 PM)

Friday, May 15

  • Navigating the Best Online Sources for Irish Research (Donna Moughty, 8 AM)
  • Unpuzzling Ireland’s Church Records (Donna Moughty, 9:30 AM)
  • Scots-Irish Research (Robert McLaren, 11 AM)

Saturday, May 16

  • Five Proven Techniques for Finding Your Ancestor’s European Origin (Thomas W. Jones, 4 PM)

Many of these are on my list to attend in person.  Do you plan on attending any of these sessions?  What other conference sessions are you looking forward to attending?