Talks and workshops
Family history talks, in person
Warm, practical talks for libraries, historical and heritage societies, senior centers, churches, clubs and retirement communities, within about 75 miles of Granby, Connecticut. Every talk ends with time for questions and stories from the room, and everyone takes home our printed guide, The Family Story Starter.
Choose a topic
Questions to Ask Your Family, and How to Keep the Answers
About 40 minutes
How to start the conversation with parents and grandparents, the questions that bring out real stories, and simple ways to keep what you hear. A 20 to 30 minute version suits a club meeting.
The Holiday Table Edition
About 40 minutes, November and December
Questions to ask when the family gathers for the holidays, and how to turn one long dinner into something the grandchildren will keep.
Did Ellis Island Change Your Name?
About 45 minutes
The family stories almost everyone has heard, and what passenger lists, naturalization papers and census pages really say about them.
Saving the Shoebox
About 45 minutes
How to label, store and scan old photographs and papers so they last, and how to put names back on faces before the people who know them are gone.
Finding Your Italian Town
About 45 minutes
How to find the town your Italian ancestors came from, and how to read its birth, marriage and death records online in Italy's free national archive.
From Records to a Story
About 45 minutes
How a stack of census pages, church registers and passenger lists becomes a story a family will actually read, with examples from the Does, our fictional sample family.
What it costs
Community groups
Libraries, historical and heritage societies, senior centers, churches, service clubs and other nonprofits. Any topic. If your group usually offers an honorarium or mileage, that's kind, but it's never expected.
Retirement communities, businesses and private events
Any topic, about 45 minutes plus questions, with printed guides for up to 40 people. A family reunion counts too.
Hands-on workshop
For up to 20 people. Everyone brings their own photographs and papers, and leaves with their family chart started.
Farther away? Any topic can be given over Zoom. Virtual talks for groups outside our area are $125 a talk. In-person visits beyond 75 miles are possible too, with mileage added.
No selling, ever. Every talk is educational. Nothing is for sale, there's no sign-up sheet, and the examples come from a fictional family, so nobody's private history is on the screen.
Booking a talk
- When: weekday evenings and weekend afternoons
- What we need: a screen or TV with HDMI for a few slides (we can also do without), and a rough headcount, so there's a guide for everyone
- Where: your library, hall, church or community room
Tell us a little about your group, the topic you'd like and a few dates that might work, and we'll write back within two business days.
Ask about a talkNot ready to book? Get one family history question a month by email, free.