Programs & Group Classes: Sample Topics

An introduction to the CT State Library website: Perfect for a CT organization, this program familiarizes Connecticut residents with the resources of the Connecticut State Library.
Accessing Connecticut Land Records: Designed for an intermediate audience, this program helps explain Connecticut’s complex system of record keeping.
Beyond the Gravestone: Researching Death Records in Connecticut: Your ancestor’s death is part of their story. This program will introduce attendees to resources that can document a Connecticut ancestor’s death, including death records, gravestone transcriptions, church records, burial transit permits, and more.
Connecticut Research: The Basics: Designed for an audience with Connecticut roots, this program walks an audience through the basic sources they’ll need to learn more about their family.
Connecticut “History Mystery”: Designed as a flipped classroom program, this program will use a sample item from the local area to teach research techniques. Participants will be prompted to identify a question they want to answer; to suggest resources that might answer their question; and to work together to solve a “history mystery.” The presenter will support with details on how the sources work and how to access, suggest potential solutions, or highlight issues where needed. An ideal way to teach genealogy research while highlighting local history, this program can be offered as a one or multiple session virtual program or a prerecord or social media hybrid.
Cradle to Grave: Documenting Birth, Death, and Marriage in Your Family Search: Learn how to access and use Connecticut vital records, church records, gravestones, and more to learn more about someone in your family.
Getting Started with Connecticut Genealogy: This program is an expanded version of the “Connecticut Research: the Basics” program. Using a Connecticut ancestor as a sample case study, this program introduces the most commonly used sources for Connecticut research: vital records, church records, gravestones, land records, and probate files. It will delve deeply into the process of locating and using these sources, including the best ways to access them online, what sources may or may not be digitized, and why they may or may not work for the ancestor in question. Attendees will leave with a strong understanding of the foundations of Connecticut research.
Discover Connecticut Newspapers: From the social pages to obituaries, Connecticut newspapers can provide valuable details on our ancestors’ lives. This program will introduce attendees to the ways they can locate and access newspaper records.
I know there was a will. But where is it?: While most states have county level probate courts, Connecticut uses districts. District boundaries have changed over time, making finding your ancestor’s records a challenge. This introductory level program will walk participants through the basics of testate and intestate estates, identifying the appropriate probate district, locating digitized records, and what to do if the records have yet to be digitized.
In the Vault: Connecticut’s town clerks hold more than just vital records and deeds. This program discusses some of the more unusual sources found “in the vault” – and how they can help build your family tree.
New England’s Many Colonies: Ten European colonies once held territory in the six states now called New England. This presentation will provide a short history of each colony, explaining how its existence can impact migration patterns, records storage, and more.
Trace an African American Patriot from Connecticut: The stories of many of Connecticut’s African American Revolutionary War veterans still wait to be told. This program will introduce the resources needed to piece together their history. We will begin with an overview of sources that can used to identify the family’s structure and major life events, such as births, deaths, and marriages. While so doing, we will identify and learn to work around some of the challenges the clerk’s racial attitudes can create in this research. Second, we will tackle manumission records as a way to learn more about the soldier’s legal status. Finally and most importantly, we will delve into service records and piece together the soldier’s contribution to the Revolutionary cause.
Trace Your Connecticut Revolutionary Roots: Did your Connecticut ancestor support the American cause during the Revolution? This introductory to intermediate program will introduce you to the major sources that trace their “service” during the War, from pension files to town meeting records. Whether you want to join DAR or SAR or simply learn more about your ancestors’ activities, this program will give you the resources needed to tell their stories.
Who’s Lived in Your House? (Includes Accessing Connecticut Land Records): This two part series helps attendees trace the history of a historic home. The first session will guide participants through building a timeline of the home’s ownership. The second will help them discover the home’s story through maps, photos, local histories, and more. Ideal for a community with a number of historic homes.