Mrs. McComb Went to Washington

 I recently returned from a work trip to Washington, D.C., where we led 27 genealogists on a research tour, which included the National Archives (Archives I) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library. It was an amazing week! It has been almost 20 years since I visited the DC area to visit the Smithsonian museums. I pulled a few files to review at the National Archives, which I will put towards existing and new lectures. Having the experience of doing the research onsite at the National Archives and the DAR Library will help me prepare other genealogists for this onsite work. I also left with a new project which I will be working on (more details to come in the future). 

I did get some tourism in and went to many different sites, including the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War I Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Air and Space Museum, and the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum. So many emotions ran through me to finally see the World War II memorial which I helped fundraise money for back in high school; lighting a candle at the Holocaust Museum for my grandfather, who served with the Thunderbirds who liberated Dachau concentration camp; being in the same boarding house that Clara Barton worked out of to reunite families with missing soldiers from the Civil War; walking past the Emmett Till casket.

I've included some photos below from my trip. Have you been to Washington, D.C.? If so, what's your favorite places to visit. 

World War I Memorial

                                          Me in front of a Clara Barton cutout at the Missing Soldiers Office

Me with cherry blossoms in the background

                                                       Me in front of the New York column of the WWII Memorial

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It is a time to celebrate our Irish heritage. I will be making the Irish soda bread scones today. You can learn about this family tradition and make your own: https://www.theshamrockgenealogist.com/2017/03/irish-soda-bread-family-recipe-passed.html. There will be corned beef, and bangers and mash for dinner tonight. 

I recently participated in a few podcasts where I talked about Irish genealogy. Enjoy! 

Rediscovering Latinidad - We also talked about if Christopher Columbus was Jewish, the "Black Irish", Celtic, and Jewish genealogy. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/los-misterios-del-adn-los-celtiberos-los-irlandeses-negros-y-fue-cristobal-colon-un-judio--64883119

Irish Radio Canada - I discuss the various Irish settlements in Canada pre-and post Famine. This includes information from my recent talk at RootsTech https://irishradio.ca/podcast/?name=20250316a1.mp3 

How are you spending St. Patrick's Day (if you celebrate)?

RootsTech Day 2 and 3

I am very delayed with my recap of RootsTech 2 and 3. That's just how much fun I was having!

Day 2

My day started bright and early with my "Using Tax Records in My Family History Research" presentation. I had over 150 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed attendees hearing all about the U.S. tax system through history and different examples of records. 

At 9:30 I attended the Innovation and Tech Forum where I heard presentations from Stephen Nielsen of Adobe Photoshop, Uri Gonen of MyHeritage, Laryn Brown of Storied, Paul Allen of Soar.com,  Charlie Greene of Remento, and Hunter Cannon of Ancestry. The presentations showed the many uses of AI (artificial intelligence) to build family trees, describe photographs, transcribe documentation (including recipes), and more. I was very excited about MyHeritage's Cousin Finder feature. It's like viewing a DNA match list but without the DNA - I can see all of the myHeritage users that I share a common ancestor with. Some of these I knew but I started to identify cousins from different lines. It's definitely a feature I will explore more. 

I skipped the General Session and explored more of the Expo Hall. I came across a new (to me) vendor called Arcanum Newspapers. Their newspaper locations include Romania, Poland, Ukraine, and more. They also are using AI features, and I'm hopeful that I can get further into my maternal family tree using their collections. I also upgraded my Kindex account to a paid account (after receiving a very detailed demo) and hope to start uploading and transcribing the many photographs and family letters I have. I also had a free mini photograph made of my maternal great grandfather, Anton Gailunas, made up by a vendor called Paper and Roots. 

I attended a class "Using English Equity Courts to Trace Family Disputes" by Dr. Nick Barratt. It was interesting to hear about the legal process and the types of court cases that would come through the courts. 

I also attended my colleague and friend David's talk on 17th Century Migration to New England, which included a touching moment of silence to genealogist Robert Charles Anderson (who headed the Great Migration Project) who recently passed away. 

Friday night was time to party at MyHeritage's Influencer Social. This year we were at Dave N Buster's for a Mexican buffet, drinks, and some karaoke. And yes I went up to embarrass myself (I mean sing). It was a fun night with friends. 

Day 3

Saturday morning I attended the Community Impact Forum, which included inspiring talks by Navajo photographer Mylo Fowler, bassist Victor Wooten, and my colleague, Lindsay Fulton, of American Ancestors. Lindsay shared the story of Elizabeth Freeman and how a direct descendant of hers was tracked down, who was also in attendance in the audience. 

I had my media interview with Olympians Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall. They were such a cute, loving couple and were very gracious in answering our many questions. I asked about a favorite ancestor and they both shared how they had ancestors with the first name "Rose," one that has been passed down in my paternal side of the family too! After the interview was over, I quickly got into the meet-and-greet line and was one of the last few to get a photo taken with them. They also kindly autographed my nametag, a true treasure to keep. 

After lunch (which I promise was more than just Nothing Bundt Cakes bundlettes), I had my last in-person presentation. This was "Oh Yes I Went to the Front! Women in the Civil War." I talked about women's roles during the Civil War including nurses, doctors, spies, and even soldiers in disguise. I met a patron who I corresponded with a few months before my talk about his ancestor possibly being named in a newspaper article about disguising herself as a man and boarding a ship with her lover to fight in the Civil War for the Union cause. I included a few slides about this story and have been working with him offline to help see if we can prove or disprove it - so far it's looking likely! 

I sought out the last few people I missed in the Expo Hall for a quick intro/catchup, selfies, and last minute swag. I even had a chance to get a new photo with genetic genealogist Cece Moore, who I haven't seen in many years at RootsTech.

What an amazing conference! What was your favorite part? 

RootsTech Day 1 Recap - Lobsters and AI

The first day of RootsTech 2025 is in the can. And what a day it was! 

I started the day off bright and early with a breakfast from Storied. We learned about the new features for NewspaperArchive, new collections coming soon, and the features of StoryBook Studio. Attendees can receive a free product activation code at their booth; virtual attendees receive a 50% discount code with promo code ROOTSBOOK.  

You may be wondering why lobsters and AI is in my sub-title. The opening session included a short talk by the President and CEO of FamilySearch, Steve Rockwood. He related a story about how one of his direct paternal ancestors thought of raising lobsters and other seafood in the Great Salt Lake. It didn't go well but imagine if it did. We would be sitting around eating Rockwood lobster rolls. He likened his ancestor's lobster business as being a type of genealogical prize, finding your lobster in the sea of records. A lobster came down from a drone, and then several streamer cannons went up with big fanfare, releasing several streamers across the room. It was quite the memorable surprise! 

Ancestry was the sponsor for today. Crista Cowan, the Barefoot Genealogist, talked about how she would write her obituary. She then introduced Ancestry's Networks tool to go beyond our direct family members and add our FAN Club including military comrades, associates, and more. We had a brief video message from singer and songwriter Rachel Platten. She was unable to attend in person but recorded her video with her song "Girls." We did have a life performance of a father-daughter duo, the Shaws. They had beautiful voices and good storytelling. 

I attended three lectures today, one on the Ancient DNA historical matches for 23andMe, my colleague David's Scottish genealogy talk, and one from my friend Claire Bradley on a crash course in Irish genealogy (always good to get a perspective from someone who lives in Ireland - I learned a few good tips). 

Today, I also conducted my first group media interview with Michelle Barber, Senior User Experience Designer at FamilySearch. We asked our questions related to the FamilySearch full-text search tool, which has over 1.2 billion images from 29 countries. There is more of a focus on underserved areas and communities around the world. It's going to get better and better with each iteration. I asked a few questions about metadata. I will try to edit my video interview and post in the next few days. 

I gave my first live broadcast (ever) at RootsTech. It was a live webinar I gave from one of the conference rooms in the Salt Palace. We had a minor glitch. Overall, it went well and had nearly 150 people tuned in for my talk "Escaping the Famine: Irish Settlement in Canada."

I've only just started to explode the Expo Hall. I also tried out one of the FamilySearch tree swings.  I tried the VR Experience area to use the Wander app to go to different ancestral locations, including Riga, Latvia, and Prince Edward Island. 

Tomorrow, I start bright and early with an 8 AM talk "Using Tax Records in Your Family History Research." If you're at RootsTech, it's in Room 155 EF.

What was your favorite part of Day 1 at RootsTech?

RootsTech 2025 Survival Guide

I am bringing this blog out of the "cemetery". It's almost time for RootsTech 2025, which is held annually in Salt Lake City, Utah. This event runs from Thursday, March 6th through 8th, and includes hundreds of classes, vendors, keynote speakers, and more! It's my favorite genealogy conference and what pushed me to become a professional genealogist when I first attended in person in 2017. 

Classes

There are so many different types of classes that you can choose from within the same time block. It's best to review via the mobile app for any class updates (including room changes, cancellations, etc.). You can also review a list of classes via the website at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule. 

 Yours truly is giving two in-person classes and a broadcast webinar (details below - all times are in Mountain Time)

• Escaping the Famine: Exploring Irish Settlements in Canada
• Thursday, March 6th at 3:00 PM - online only on www.rootstech.org (it should be recorded and available for replay)
• Using Tax Records in Your Family History Research 
• Friday, March 7th at 8:00 AM - Room 155EF
• "Oh Yes I Went to the Front!" Women in the Civil War
• Saturday, March 8th at 1:30 PM - Room 155A

Expo Hall

The vendors are in a very large area of the Salt Palace Convention Center. You will see large windows overlooking the space. It's very close to the ballrooms and the rooms where the keynotes are held. You can find major vendors like Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast, specialized DNA companies (GEDMatch, DNA Painter, Banyan DNA, and more), individual vendors showing their latest tech tools, book sellers (like Deseret), and others. Many vendors will have RootsTech specials on DNA kits, memberships, books, and more! 

The hours for the Expo Hall are 9:00-6:30 on Thursday, 9:00-6:00 on Friday, and 9:00-3:00 PM on Saturdays. Thursday night from 5:30-6:30 PM is Night at the Expo Hall. This gives you a little more time for shopping! 

There is a Expo Hall Passport you can bring to vendors to get stamped. If you visit the required booths, you are entered to win some great prizes. One year I won a Dell laptop backpack. 

If you need to ship anything home, there is a local UPS store at 32 W 200 St, about 2 blocks from the Salt Palace. They have daily hours, including Sundays. 

Update: Here's a floor plan of the Expo Hall - https://rootstech2025.mapyourshow.com/8_0/floorplan 

General Sessions and Keynotes

Every day during the conference, there is a General Session at 11:00 AM where you can hear from multiple speakers across the major genealogy companies sponsoring the event. They talk about the latest tools released around RootsTech (if not that day). In-person keynotes are also done toward the end of the session. Unless specified otherwise, they are held in Hall E (the Main Stage room) of the Salt Palace near the staircase at the front of the convention center. Here's a schedule of what to expect:

• Thursday, March 6th - 9:30 AM 
• FamilySearch Global and Tech Forum 2025 - hear from leaders from FamilySearch as they showcase new features and highlights from around the globe. https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/familysearch-global-and-tech-forum-2025

• Thursday - March 6th - 11:00 AM - General Session  with Keynote Dana Tanamachi (New York City-based artist and designer) - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/speakers/dana-tanamachi/en 
• Friday - March 7th - 11:00 AM - General Session with Keynote Rachel Platten (Emmy Award-winning multi-platinum artist, singer, and songwriter) - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/speakers/rachel-platten/en 
• Friday - March 7th - 12:15 PM - Ballroom B
• Virtual Keynote Screening - bring your lunch and hear from the following keynote speakers: Ysabelle Cuevas, Los Chicaneros, and Ndaba Mandela (Nelson Mandela's grandson)
• Friday - March 7th - 1:30 PM - Industry Highlight Forum 
• Saturday - March 8th 9:30 AM - Impact Forum with Mylo Fowler and Lindsay Fulton
• Saturday - March 8th - 11:00 AM - General Session with Keynotes Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall (the Olympics power couple)  - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/speakers/tara-davis-woodhall-and-hunter-woodhall/en 
• Saturday - March 8th - 1:30 PM - Family Discovery Session 

FamilySearch Library

Late night hours are back at the FamilySearch library! From Monday (3/3) through Saturday (3/8), the library is open 9 AM to 8:00 PM. The library is just a few blocks away from the Salt Palace, located right near Temple Square. 

Dining

Lots of options throughout the city, including the general area around the Salt Palace and Temple Square. City Creek Mall has a big food court for a quick meal. For restaurants, I highly recommend going a little earlier for dinner and possibly making a reservation. Within the Salt Palace, there are food trucks in the Expo Hall, some food vendors (where you can buy pizza, pretzels, etc.), and also a mini mart where you can buy some hot food and other snacks (chips, soda, juice). This one has a limited capacity as it's one where you use your credit card to enter the turnstile, so if there is a long line, you may want to skip it until later. 

Other Logistics

• Wear comfortable sneakers! I can't emphasize this enough. It's a lot of walking. 
• Show up to sessions early enough to get a seat. If the room is full, you will need to find another session to attend. 
• There is a coat check on the lower level near the ballrooms. I can't recall if there is a charge. You may want to bring a sweater with you if you get cold. 
• Many rest rooms throughout the Salt Palace
• There are lots of places where you can plug in your phone and computer to charge up or work. 

Let me know if I missed anything you want to know about! It's going to be a great week, and I hope to see you there to catch up and get those RootsTech selfies. 

See you soon!