ROOTS & BRANCHES

It’s not too often—OK, well this is the first time!—that I’ve been able to give a “review” of a conference before the dates of that conference.

This is the case because normally how are you going to review something that hasn’t happened, right?

Well, I’m able to that with PaGE 2026—Pennsylvania’s Genealogy Event—because in what I consider a genius move, the all-virtual conference had the speakers for its main sessions pre-record their presentations and made them available for viewing starting July 20, so I’ve been immersing myself in watching the lectures before the conference “actually” begins on Thursday.

The first PaGE was in 2023 and it was the first statewide conference in the Keystone State that had been held in almost two decades.

Sponsored by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, live virtual events for the conference will run from Thursday to Aug. 9 but in addition to the speaker sessions being available for viewing ahead of time, they’ll also be online for watching (or rewatching) for 90 days afterwards (Nov.10).

Another beauty of doing this as a virtual conference is that registration is available through Tuesday, and its price of $200 is a true bargain for an event of its size.

In addition to methodology presentations, several of the lectures will be case study–based, including attorney/genealogist Justin K. Houser’s “Chasing a Scandalous Ancestor: A Case Study.”

I watched Sunny Morton’s “Clergy Connections: Tracking Ministers, Pastors and the Records They Left Behind” lecture since these can be an important but often overlooked resource.

 Other speakers and topics include Sharon Cook MacInnes (“Pursuing Pennsylvania Patriots: Two Vital Trails to Follow—State AND Federal” and “Hidden in Plain Sight: Keystone Records for Pennsylvania Research”), Jeanette Sheliga (“Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps for Genealogy”), Kimberly F.B. Bucklaw (“Timeline Techniques for Urban Genealogy”), Cari A. Taplin (“Harvesting Family History in Agricultural Records”), and so many more!

 With the presentations already being available, registrants are about to come “locked and loaded” for live Q&A sessions with the speakers during the days of the conference (No more watching a live lecture and only thinking of your question the next day with no way to ask it!). These moderated Q&As will give attendees the opportunity for deep and focused conversation.

In addition to the presenters and their Q&A’s, there will also be virtual roundtable sessions called “Gatherings” scheduled during the conference.

Among the topics for these Gatherings will be “Indigenous Presence and Responsible Research in PA Narratives” and “Anthracite Coal Region Lives: Accidents, Unions, and Company Towns.”

There will also be 15-minute sponsor sessions during the event, too, from vendors large and small.

All in all, this conference is worth taking a last-minute look at!

For more information or to register for the conference, go to the URL, https://events.genpa.org/