Description

Harford County Public Library's 5th annual Genealogy Conference will be held Saturday, March 24, from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Bel Air Armory, 37 North Main Street in Bel Air.
 
Attendance is limited and advance registration is required by visiting hcplonline.org or by calling any Harford County Public Library. There is no fee to attend the conference.
 
Harford County Public Library's 5th annual  Genealogy Conference kicks off with a presentation on "Baltimore: The Golden Door for Immigrants" by Debra A. Hoffman. Baltimore was a major entry point for immigrants to the United States. Participants will learn about information sources available to document individuals who arrived through the Port of Baltimore. Hoffman, vice-president of the Maryland Genealogical Society, is a professional genealogist specializing in Maryland and German research.

Hoffman then facilitates a session titled "Maximize Your Census Research: More than Households." Through a Baltimore case study, Hoffman will explain the information and methodology used in a census to discover information beyond just the individuals living in a household. 

Following a lunch break, Sandra MacLean Clunies, CG, will discuss "Finding Forgotten Females" and will provide strategies to identifying "the lost ladies" in researching genealogy. Clunies is an active family historian, author, lecturer and researcher. She specializes in colonial New England, federal lighthouse records and lineage society applications. 

The conference's final speaker, Shannon Christmas, MCP, will discuss "How to Get More from your DNA with GEDmatch.com." Christmas, an experienced genealogist specializing in genetic, colonial American and African American genealogy in Virginia and the Carolinas, will explain how to mine genealogical gems from autosomal DNA with the world's most popular genetic genealogy toolbox.

Resource table exhibitors include Coyle Studios, Digital Maryland, Enoch Pratt Free Library, FamilySearch, Colonel Aquila Hall Chapter of the Maryland Sons of the American Revolution and Hereditary Order of the Signers of the Bush Declaration, Harbor of Grace Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Harford County Public Library Genealogy Databases, Historical Society of Harford County, Living Treasures: Harford County Oral Histories and Gov. William Paca Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.