"Modern Genealogy", with an emphasis on innovation and modern approaches to family history research. The group's focus would be on integrating traditional genealogy with cutting-edge technology, including Artificial Intelligence and any future advancements in the field. It would include using the new AI features that are becoming a part of Ancestry, FamilySearch and other genealogy-related websites. This would allow us to explore how these tools can enhance our research and help us make new discoveries, including organizing our family history.

The meeting will take place via Zoom on the fourth Tuesday of each month (except December) from 1 PM to 3 PM ET. If you're an MVGS member and would like join the "Modern Genealogy SIG" or have any questions, please email moderngenealogysig@gmail.com.

UPCOMING MODERN GENEALOGY TOPICS

THE AI SIG WILL BE ON BREAK FOR MAY AND JUNE 2025. We will be back via Zoom on July 22, 2025 and again on August 26, 2025 ready to explore how AI continues to change the way we do genealogy.

Virginia SIG

The purpose of the Virginia SIG is to bring together folks interested in Virginia, to learn about her genealogy related topics and resources; to share knowledge with each other; to help each other with brick walls, technology challenges; and whatever else folks want to address/do.

Meetings are planned for the 4th Mondays of each month, from 1-2pm in the Research Library, room 214 at HHSC. However, we'll have the room until about 3:30 if we decide we need more time.

Meetings will likely be in-person or on zoom, depending on what works best at the time. There will be informal presentations and discussions to help us learn about a topic or repository; folks sharing our successes and problems; computer time when needed; and anything else that helps us with our research in Virginia.

A few of the potential topics that have been mentioned so far are:

Background on the history of Virginia, county formation, settlement patterns, etc. What brought folks to Virginia in early 1900’s? What roads were there in 1910?
What areas of West Virginia and Kentucky may still have records here in Virginia? Is there somewhere to find info on who moved away, and when, and with whom?
All about the repositories in Virginia, their resources, availability, etc.
Maybe do by geographic areas, e.g., Fredericksburg/Central Virginia; Northern Neck; Middle Peninsula, e.g., Gloucester, Williamsburg, Jamestown; Southeast Virginia; Southwest Virginia, etc.
What kinds of valuable info do folks find in various types of records/repositories?
Learn about using Virginia church records, road orders, land records, chancery records, David Rumsey maps, and more.
Look at different groups of folks in Virginia , e.g, Native Americans, Huguenots, African Americans, Germans, Scots-Irish; early Quakers, etc.
Get help on navigating the Library of Virginia website.
Genealogy resources available on social media,

Field Trip/Road Trip SIG

What a succes we had with our first scheduled field trip on May 7, 2025 to the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex. Dave Heiby and nine (9) of our members enjoyed a beautiful sunny day as we toured 7 of the 13 cemeteries located at 1475–1501 Wilkes Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. SWe will schedule a future trip to see the remaining cemeteries if interest warrants.

The next field trip will be to the Research Center, National Archives, 700 Pennesylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. Date and time to be determined. Preliminary research is suggested before going on site. If you would like to ask questions of the Research Room, send an email to archives1reference@nara.gov

African American Special Interest Group (AA-SIG)

The African-American SIG was formed to explore the rich history of our ancestors and their experiences. A combination of learning tools (group discussions, computer searches, lectures, presentations, case studies, site visits, etc.) will assist the genealogist in uncovering clues that help tell and document their stories. Generations to come will appreciate and enjoy the care that went into preserving this bit of history.

The African American Special Interest (AA SIG) Group continues to do in-depth research on several families from Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and Cabo Verde (West Africa).

Denice Sequeira, encountered brick walls because of misspellings and variations of names. With the assistance of RL volunteer, Jeff Welch, she was able find her maternal grandfather and identify the ship he arrived on in the United States. She found the ship manifest of alien passengers on the Elizabeth Doyle arriving in New Bedford, MA on May 5, 1912. Other documents she was able to acquire were the declaration of Intention to apply for citizenship and naturalization and census records.

Carol Campbell, using National Archives military pension files, was able to research her paternal great-great grandfather. The records contained copies of a 1866 United States Colored Troop (USCT) discharge certificate, and many deposition statements used to validate her great-great grandmother’s widows pension ($12 in 1908). Regular volunteers that assist with the AA SIG are Paul Phelps, Karen Torpey and Amy Breedlove.

Meetings are normally scheduled on the second Tuesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 pm in the MVGS Research Library, Hollin Hall Senior Center. If you’d like more information or have a question you’d like help researching, send an email to MVGSaaSIG@gmail.com.

There will be no group meeting on June 10, 2025. Members can come to the RL and work independently. The next group on-site meeting will be July 8, 2025.