2019 SCGS Genealogy Jamboree
The crowds descended on Burbank, Calif. the first weekend of June for the annual Genealogy Jamboree; put on by the Southern California Genealogical Society. This year happened to be the 50th anniversary of the conference, which makes it a jubilee! (The society neglected to recognize that distinction, but did let them eat cake, so all is forgiven!)
As you can see in the pic, I sported my “family tree” leggings during the Saturday sessions. I forgot to snap a photo of my “R.I.P. tombstone” leggings during Thursday’s cemetery preservation workshop with Daniel Earl. My biggest takeaway from that class was, if you don’t truly know what type of stone you’re dealing with, don’t do anything to it! Your amateur knowledge in headstones will do more damage than good if you attempt to clean one on your own without professional help or training. Do yourself and your ancestor a favor, and call an expert.
I enjoyed so many wonderful seminars, including one from Heritage Detective’s Annette Lyttle, who spoke about migration on The National Road. The path was constructed from Maryland to Illinois (and then eventually to Missouri) in the early to mid 1800s. I believe my 2nd great grandfather may have traversed this course around the 1860s from Washington County, Maryland to Livingston County, Illinois to avoid the Civil War battles in his hometown. Annette’s talk really gave some color to what it may have been like to take this route.
However, nothing competed with Sunday’s variety of classes! My day kicked off with a 10 AM lecture on the 1918 influenza epidemic by Michael Strauss AG®. And if you’re reading this blog specifically, I’m positive you also would have benefited by listening to him. His expertise on the spread of the disease throughout the troops during WWI was captivating, and he provided a very thorough handout that I have yet to digest. He is a nationwide genealogy speaker, and if you come across his name on a future conference syllabus, I highly suggest you grab a seat.
Next up was the 2nd Annual Jamboree Genealogy Game Show hosted by none other than the Barefoot Genealogist, Crista Cowan! I knew I had to attend this year because I made it to last year’s, and not only was it a hoot, but it’s super informative! I’m a huge trivia fan in addition to genealogy, so when you mix the two, it makes for one fun hour. Last year I had thought I was an intermediate researcher, but I learned a harsh lesson coming out of that trivia session. I was blown away by all of the aspects of genealogy I had not even come close to knowing. This year was different. This year I went into it having upped by education in genealogy over the previous year and once again labeled myself as an intermediate researcher. Turns out, I’ve made it! In fact, I tied for 1st place in the number of correct trivia answers with fellow classmates who were also self-proclaimed intermediates and won an AncestryDNA test kit! It was such a satisfying win, because I know how hard I’ve worked over the past year. And after the class, I officially met Crista, who I am so impressed by. She’s a class act.
Finally, I wrapped up the family history weekend with a talk on the hot button issue of DNA privacy. Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers tackled this one, and I have to say he did such a great job turning this “class” into a healthy debate and discussion. He was very tactful in how he presented the information, making sure not to overstep and preach his own philosophies on the topic, but instead offered up both the pros and cons to current issues. You immediately got the feeling that everyone in the room was utterly invested in what will unfold with all of the laws and regulations surrounding DNA in the next few years and decades. It’s an exciting time for genealogists with a lot on the line, and every attendee in that room was interested in what Thomas had to say on the subject. Myself included.
I can’t wait for the next Jamboree, but I’m going to have to, as they’ve just announced there will be a 1 year hiatus. SCGS will return with the next Jamboree in the year 2021! I guess that gives me more vacation time to block out for the 400th anniversary of the Plymouth landing.
Comments
Post a Comment