The immigration saga—leaving a homeland for a new life in America—tends to be the most dramatic and momentous chapter of American family history. This course explores sources and methods for reconstructing the lives of ancestors who came from foreign lands.
John Colletta, along with Deborah S. Gurtler and D. Joshua Taylor will explore the sources and methods for reconstructing the lives of ancestors who came from foreign lands.
From the 1590s, when Europeans first settled in territory that would become the Southwest and Florida, through the British colonial period of the 17th and 18th centuries, to the newcomers of every nationality, hue and creed who made the United States their home in the 19th century, this course embraces the panorama of immigration history up to about 1900.
Topics covered include:
- Discovering and locating the town of origin overseas;
- Leaving home, crossing an ocean, and reaching the place of settlement;
- Putting down roots;
- Ferreting out biographical detail that personalizes each immigrant’s experience; and
- Preparing for research in European records to trace family lines back in the Old Country.
Registration for SLIG 2020 opens July 13, 2019 at 9:00 am MDT. For more information, go here.
Rich Venezia, the owner of Rich Roots, started researching his family after his grandmother's death. His passion for genealogy has only increased as has his desire to help others find their "rich" roots. "He believes that learning about your ancestors allow you to learn about yourself."
Rich's own family research has provided him with ample immigration expertise. Only one of Rich's 32 3x-great-grandparents was born in the United States! The knowledge he has acquired over the years is the basis for his coordination of SLIG's Course 2: Beside, Through, and Beyond the Golden Door: Immigrants to the United States. The unique case of late 19th- and 20th-century immigrants is that, as federal laws were codified and strengthened, the paperwork needed to enter the USA, and continue to reside there, expand exponentially. Students in this course will learn about these records. While covering immigration, this course is not ethnicity-specific, and will include examples about and record sets related to immigrants all over the work. For more detailed information on the course and the week-long schedule of lectures, go here. To register, go here.
Like SLIG's 2-part law course, this course is also meant to partner with John Philip Colletta's immigration course, which will be offered at SLIG in 2020. Rich and John have collaborated to create comprehensive courses that build on one another.
You can find out more about Rich on his website, Rich Roots Genealogy. You can also access his TEDx talk from his website on "How to Grow Empathy From Uncovering Your Roots."
Rich is a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker who will educate and inspire you to learn about your immigrant ancestors!
