German Genealogy

Today my mom and I ventured to Brookings, about an hour north of where I live, for an all-day seminar on German genealogy.  I didn't know anything about the organization hosting (the Brookings Area Genealogical Society) and I don't have any German ancestors, but I figured there's always something useful to learn.  My husband does have one great-great-grandmother of 100% German parentage, and I'd love to learn more about her roots.

The speaker was Roger P. Minert, Associate Professor of Family History at Brigham Young University, and he was fantastic. Really, if your local genealogical or historical society is looking for a speaker on German genealogy or German history, this is your guy.  I was so impressed by the depth of his knowledge and his use of real-life examples to teach about German records.  I have a Master's degree in German, so I probably know more about German history than the average person, but Dr. Minert put history in perspective in a way that I loved.  I left very intrigued by German genealogy and my husband's and daughter's Wagner ancestors.

I want to send out my thanks to the Brookings Area Genealogical Society for putting together such a great program, too!  I'll definitely be attending their future workshops.

Census Day

Was anyone else sort of disappointed in the 2010 census?  I couldn't believe that there were so few questions!  If they're going to go to the effort of getting every single household in the US to fill this out, why not get more information?  This is going to be practically useless to my great-great-great-granddaughter someday.