Genealogy research issues? A course that provides some assistance!

Paula Stuart-Warren  GRIP, GRIP Genealogy Institute  , ,  1 Comment

One of the many reasons I love coordinating and teaching in a certain course is that we provide a chance for a student’s ongoing genealogy issue to be solved or at least a path provided. I’m beginning work on my mid-April letter to those registered for the upcoming June 22-26 GRIP Genealogy Institute virtual course, “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills.” This letter will provide the registered students with extra details about the course and the interactive parts. One section is about the opportunity to participate in an interactive group consultation to provide research ideas and paths to solve problems, brick walls, and even simple issues in this U.S. course. A professional genealogist leads the discussion, and other students add their ideas for the person presenting the research problem. Everyone knows something different and should feel comfortable contributing ideas.

I look forward to what the students send in and make some notes immediately that may help them when their case is discussed. Already registered so you will receive this letter? Great! Not registered yet? Don’t miss this opportunity! More details on the rest of the course sessions, instructors, and registration link: 

 

Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills

MyHeritage DNA kits Easter Sale

Paula Stuart-Warren  DNA  ,  Leave a comment

News Release from MyHeritage.

MyHeritage DNA has an Easter sale for just $19.90 in the U.S. (excluding CA, WA, and MD). Order a MyHeritage DNA kit . On the MyHeritage website, free standard shipping for 2 kits. Be sure to check all the details on the order page and especially for when this deal expires. 

“To put that in context, MyHeritage DNA helps people uncover their ethnic origins across 79 ethnicities, find relatives around the world, and unlock powerful genetic genealogy tools — all from a simple cheek swab. It’s one of the easiest and most impactful ways to grow a family tree and make meaningful discoveries.”

 

 

Online Seminar: Understanding Ancestral Occupations

Paula Stuart-Warren  Railroads, Seminars  , , ,  Leave a comment

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society presents individual webinars and multi-day seminars among other educational offerings. In May, “Work, Craft, and Calling: Understanding Ancestral Occupations” is an online seminar.  As one of the presenters, I am doing a special version of my railroad talks, “Research in Railroad Records and History: Methods for Tracking Workers.” It has more of a New York and surrounding states slant along with some of the basics for railroad research. 

May 15 & 16, 2026, 10:30 a.m.–4:15 p.m. ET | Online via livestream

“This online two-day seminar will explore eight different professional paths of our ancestors as well as available resources and how to locate and interpret key records. All sessions will be recorded and made available to registrants for on-demand viewing through July 16, 2026. Early registration discount ends April 13, 2026, so ensure $26 in savings now! Learn more and register.” 

 

 

 

Spring is near along with big changes for this genealogist!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  , , , , ,  2 Comments

March has been an extra busy month for me. I am temporarily house sitting for a friend while I search for an affordable apartment in my area. Affordable is a tough search. All this means I have moved out of my current apartment after another dramatic rent increase. Some of my belongings came with me to the house sitting stint and most went into storage. Whew.


I notified clients of my sudden change in address and all that was involved and begged them for patience. I didn’t notify readers of some sparse blog postings, so this is my explanation.

All this while in the midst of preparing handouts and PowerPoint slides for upcoming genealogy presentations. Even bigger was the completion of the syllabus material for the GRIP Genealogy Institute course “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills.” My sections are completed and I am happy with the results. The four instructors teaching in the course did a fantastic job with their syllabus sections.

How could I pack, store, donate, and sell some furniture during all this? Then donate many books to the Minnesota Genealogical Society (painful part of downsizing)? Mainly it has been with the help of my daughter Katie and her daughter Kendall. Kendall spent much of her spring break from the university helping me. They kept going like Energizer bunnies! My son Jim and grandson Nate also put in some time helping. Friends kept me going with silliness and advice.

I am blessed to have a great family. We even took a break for a baby shower. My second great grandson is due in June. His mother, oldest granddaughter Kaylene, is obviously unable to help. Oldest grandson Ryan had just left the state for training in a new job. Just a few family changes!

 

 

 

Conference Keeper, Grip Genealogy Institute, and me!

Paula Stuart-Warren  GRIP, GRIP Genealogy Institute  , , , ,  Leave a comment

Do you know about https://conferencekeeper.org/? A great website to learn about genealogy events, both in-person and online. Tami does an excellent job with the website and with the weekly email update. Sign up for that at the URL at the top of this post. I was scrolling down today’s email and suddenly stopped when I recognized the person in this ad. Yes that’s me and the title of the GRIP Genealogy Institute course I coordinate and teach along with several fantastic instructors. Please join us in June for a week of virtual learning, interaction, a bit of fun, and delving into more records and more records. An extensive syllabus/workbook is being put together for our students and will be shared a week before the week of June 22d. Learn more about the course in general and about each session during the week at https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/courses/digging-deeper-records-tools-and-skills/ If you sign up soon, you will be eligible to send me a U.S. research problem of your own and have it discussed during the week with amazing suggestions provided.

Minnesota Historical Society new accessions list and more online finding aids

Paula Stuart-Warren  Minnesota Historical Society  , , , ,  Leave a comment

Have Minnesota historical and genealogical connections? Take a look at the recent records accessions plus a long list of newly online finding aids (inventories and other information) for other collections held at the Minnesota History Center in downtown Saint Paul. Before visiting be sure to check the open hours for the Gale Library as it has more limited research hours than the rest of the history center.

No known Minnesota connections? If you take a look at these, I bet some of you will be wishing all county, state, and provincial archives and historical societies matched the Minnesota Historical Society’s continued production and accessions. (Of course, there are some other repositories that do similar excellent projects.)

 

https://www.mnhs.org/

 

GRIP Genealogy Institute Interviews on YouTube!

Paula Stuart-Warren  GRIP, GRIP Genealogy Institute  , , , , ,  Leave a comment

This is a great opportunity to learn more about the 2026 courses offered by GRIP. My interview about Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills for the June virtual week is on the National Genealogical Society’s YouTube channel. Jeanette Shilega does a fantastic job of asking coordinators some questions and understanding what we are saying! Check my interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBhv7gMOlSw&list=PLPuFl1BJIibMf9MdGOfo8rt0iKNKNb8jv&index=6. Be sure to hit subscribe for the NGS channel so you won’t miss anything about GRIP and other educational things from NGS.

RootsTech in Salt Lake City is this weekend March 5-7, 2026

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences  ,  Leave a comment

Don’t forget to check out the many deals being offered by vendors at RootsTech this weekend. https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/expohall/promotions. DNA kit sales, society membership discounts, genealogy software deals, and more.

If  you are not at RootsTech, do you know that many of the presentations are also online. For FREE. https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/registration/online/

Some vendors are posting sales on social media or on their own websites. One example:

AncestryDNA Family & Friends Sale. $34. https://www.ancestry.com/dna/  *Offer ends 18 Mar 2026 at 10am ET. Excludes shipping.

 

 

Cyndi’s List turns 30 today! A genealogy must have.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Cyndi's List  , , , ,  1 Comment

It was March 4, 1996 when Cyndi’s List was born. It began as a list of websites for members of the Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society from their own member, Cyndi Ingle. Thirty years later, it’s grown into a worldwide extravaganza of genealogy and history links. Thousands and thousands of links to help our genealogy research.

I suggest some anniversary gifts to help keep the list going and expanding. First of all, utilize the Submit a New Link tab and let her know about something she hasn’t yet discovered. Second, send a report if you find a broken link. No one can keep up with all the changes! Third, USE the list and help yourself by doing some general browsing under the extensive Categories tab. Fourth, let others know about this milestone. Fifth, look at the yellow Donate button and send a little gift to help the list get to 40 years! https://www.cyndislist.com/

May be a doodle of text

 

 

Swedish parish records added to MyHeritage

Paula Stuart-Warren  MyHeritage  , ,  Leave a comment

“If you have Swedish heritage, some of the most important records for tracing your family are now fully available on MyHeritage. We’ve completed the publication of the Sweden Births, Marriages, and Deaths collections, spanning 1850 to 1945 (1920 for births). Together, these collections include more than 33 million historical records drawn from Sweden’s Lutheran Church books — the core sources used by researchers to document families across generations.” The MyHeritage blog also added this explanation, “All 3 collections were indexed by MyHeritage from scanned images of the original documents, and the images are available to view alongside each record.”

Sweden Birth, Marriage, and Death Collections Now Complete on MyHeritage