Rebecca Smith, director of HNOC’s Williams Research Center

Marguerite Scully, professional genealogist and lecturer

Participants will explore how to make sense of the voluminous paperwork they gather and how to best organize it so that research findings can be mined for useful information. In this presentation, Marguerite Scully will demonstrate how organizing information can help identify the records and information gaps that exist in one’s research and how to keep track of the sources one has already searched. 

Jari C. Honora, HNOC family historian

One in five Americans has completed an ancestral DNA test, and DNA testing has become an essential tool for genealogists. As with any source, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the amount of information included in genetic test results. In this session, Jari Honora will cover how to effectively use one’s DNA results in family history research, including how to decide between multiple testing companies and how to interpret types of DNA tests and test results.

Ask our staff about a variety of lunch options available nearby in the French Quarter.

Mallory Taylor, HNOC associate curator

Families pass down photographs to each successive generation, filling albums with any number of images—tintypes, cartes de visite, Polaroids, and now digital media. Photographs are wonderful sources that give us clues about family composition, special events, religious and cultural practices, and even fashion. In this session, HNOC associate curator Mallory Taylor will instruct participants on how to organize and properly store their photographs, providing clues on how to date photographs using the medium, photographers’ imprints, clothing, and more.   

The workshop concludes with a question and answer session with our experts.