Registration is OPEN for FGS in Washington, D.C., August 21-24, 2019

The FGS 2019 Annual Conference will be held August 21 – 24, at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, DC. Hosted by the Federation of Genealogical Societies in cooperation with sponsoring local societies, corporate sponsors, and partner organizations, FGS 2019 offers a new full four-day format jam-packed with topics of interest to every genealogist. The theme for this conference is “Come Home to our Washington, DC.”

Conference Highlights

Pre-Conference Guided Research Opportunities: Six guided research trips are offered on Tuesday, August 20 to three of the most popular research repositories in Washington, DC – the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library.

Librarians’ Day: Librarians’ Day will be held at the Library of Congress on Tuesday, August 20, 2019. These full-day sessions are sponsored by Pro-Quest and the Library of Congress and are designed for librarians, archivists and other information professionals serving family history researchers.

Keynote Speaker: Nationally recognized speaker D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS will kick off FGS 2019 as the opening session keynote with his talk, “Coming Home: Finding Our Place in America’s Tapestry.”  Josh’s talk will explore the need to document, preserve and celebrate the rich American tapestry unearthed through family history.

Learning Tracks: The FGS 2019 program is filled with exciting new presentations by family history experts. There are a variety of tracks for every skill and interest level. America’s Resources, Mid-Atlantic Region, Women’s Studies, Colonial History & Settlement as well as three separate DNA tracks will be offered. New this year are “In a Flash” mini-sessions, which are 30-minute sessions that will cover topics such as the University of Maryland’s Global Journeys project, how to reclaim copies of previously inaccessible archival records, using Baltimore Catholic Sacramental records, and Ireland Poverty Relief Loans.

Focus on Societies: This 2019 conference brings a focus on societies throughout the entire conference week with a full Society Management track and daily sessions related to societies. The Focus on Societies Dinner and Annual Meeting on Wednesday, August 21 will include a complimentary dinner for society leaders as well as an opportunity to network with peers.  At the Annual Meeting, the ever-popular “Society Shout-Out” will take place again which gives members a chance to share the exciting projects and activities their societies have in the works.

Special Friday Night Event: “Swing Back to the 30s with Your Ancestors.” This special event will bring guests back to the 1930s as they dine, dance, and socialize with their ancestors to the music of a live traditional jazz band. Guests will be encouraged to dress as their favorite 1900s-era ancestor with an opportunity earlier in the week to create some 1930’s-styled accessories. This exceptional evening of nostalgia will be the talk of the conference.

To register, visit the conference website at https://fgs.org/annual-conference/ and for additional details including links to the conference hotel, additional workshops and more. Keep up with the conference news and announcements by reading the FGS Conference blog at https://fgs.org/category/fgs-conferences/