Press Release: August 28, 2010

National Archives at Kansas City

National Archives to offer September genealogy workshops

For More Information Contact:
Kimberlee Ried, 816-268-8072

Kansas City, (MO)…The National Archives at Kansas City will be offering the following free Genealogical Workshop Series during September.

Friday, September 10 – 10:00 a.m. Military Records at the National Archives - Archivist Trevor Plante will be presenting a talk on military records held by the National Archives in the Washington, DC, area and the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Attendees will learn about records that are available for researchers and how to obtain copies of military records.

Saturday, September 11 and Friday, September 24 – 10:00 a.m. American Indian Study Group – This presentation, taught by Shirley Donaldson, will explore Indian Boarding Schools, particularly those located in the central plains region including schools in Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Saturday, September 18 – 10:00 a.m. African American Resources on Ancestry.com – African American Research can be extremely challenging and labor intensive; Sabrina Petersen will teach you how to set a solid base for your research, and some helpful hints of where to research next. She will also show in depth information on what can be found on Ancestry.com and in the National Archives to help further your family research.

Wednesday, September 29 – 10:00 a.m. Genealogy 101 – Certified genealogist Evie Bresette and National Archives volunteer Carrie Kirk, will teach this introductory course on where to start looking for records and how to begin genealogy research at the National Archives.

These workshops are free, but reservations are encouraged. To ensure your seat call 816-268-8010 or register by e-mailing: kansascity.educate@nara.gov.

Additional information about the presenters

Evie Bressette is a Certified Genealogist with the Board for Certification of Genealogists and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and its affiliate local chapter, Heartland APG, which she represented on the Local Arrangements Committee for the National Genealogical Society’s Conference in the States for 2008 as co chair for Registration. She presented lectures at the conference on Greater Kansas City Research, WWI Alien Military Petitions, and the BCG Certification Workshop. A recipient of the Richard S. Lackey Memorial Scholarship for the National Institute for Genealogical Research in Washington DC and a past Registrar for the Sagamore Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. She has volunteered at the National Archives-Central Plains Region since 1993 and specializes in heir searching and due diligence.

Shirley Donaldson is a native of Taylorsville, IL. In 1983 she retired from Western Electric and began to volunteer at the National Archives. Shirley enjoys all types of genealogy and specializes in Native American ancestry. She has taught the American Indian Study group since 1997.

Carrie Kirk has been a National Archives volunteer for nearly 20 years. She is self-taught and has been an active researcher and genealogist, specializing in family history, for over 30 years.

Sabrina Petersen is a professional genealogist, as well as a member of the National Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists, Fairfax Genealogical Society, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Currently, Sabrina works in Silver Spring, as Acting Director of Imaging for Ancestry.com. Sabrina lectures on a regular basis at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

Trevor K. Plante is an archivist in the Textual Reference Section at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC, who specializes in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century military records. He is an active lecturer at the National Archives and a frequent contributor to Prologue. He compiled Reference Information Paper 109, Military Service Records at the National Archives, and is a contributing author in the Encyclopedia of American Military History.

The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records. It is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies. Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108. It is open to the public Tuesday - Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for research, with the exhibits open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 816-268-8000 or visit us online.

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