Session: Sifting Through the Cookbooks for Our Female Ancestors
One resource that is great for finding our elusive female ancestors: cookbooks and recipes! Sift through the history of home cooking and how to use these recipes, cookbooks, and experiences to help further genealogical research and family history presentation. (B,I,A)

Session 1: Finding Thomas Byrnes Birth Location with no Direct Evidence
Thomas Byrnes, age twenty, arrived in the United States from Roscommon, Ireland in 1859. His marriage record listed his parents as Patrick and Hanora. This should have been enough to find Thomas’ baptismal record in County Roscommon. But none was found. Using shared DNA matches and building out their family trees, we found Thomas’ birth location. (I,A)

Session 2: Enhancing Genealogical Research with AI Assistant
This presentation explores how Artificial Intelligence can support genealogists in research, writing, and organization. AI chatbots are particularly good at language tasks, such as summarizing records into a format you define, transcribing handwritten documents, and providing approximate translations.(I,A)

Session 1: How to Evaluate Sources and Resolve Conflicting Information
Learn how to evaluate sources, resolve conflicting evidence, and make informed genealogical decisions. This session will offer practical strategies for analyzing sources and data, making it valuable for intermediate and beginner genealogists alike. (I)

Session 2: Researching Pre-1850 Records in the Upper Midwest
Explore how to use pre-1850 census records, including tax lists, voter registrations, court records, probate files, and newspapers, to uncover vital family information before the full census data was recorded. This session will cover challenges and techniques for interpreting early census records in the Midwest. (I,A)

Session: Finding my way: researching your ancestor in cities
This course will discuss bringing together genealogical sources to track people living in cities. We will combine details from census records, city directories, deeds, newspapers, and maps to illuminate your ancestor and their neighborhood FAN club. (B,I)

Session: The Lay of the Land: Using deeds to solve genealogical problems
Land records can be a valuable source of genealogical information, but they can be hard to find and use. We'll look at varying ways these valuable sources are indexed (or not), how/where to find them, and how to use them to solve our genealogical problems. Several examples from the United States and Canada will be discussed. (B,I)

Session 1: I Took the DNA Test, Now What?
Have you received your test results and don’t know what to do next? Chelley will guide you through understanding, sorting, and making sense of those names, clusters and centimorgans. You will leave with a next steps plan and an understanding of where to begin your DNA journey. (B)

Session 2: Telling Family (Hi)Stories to Children
Who will tell the stories when I am gone? How can I get my younger relatives interested? Chelley will share her extensive learning, as a children’s literary and verbal arts facilitator, to offer tips and techniques to hook those younger listeners. Chelley will guide you through crafting your own story, so bring your most intriguing family anecdote! (B,I,A)

Session: Off the Beaten Path: New-to-you Midwest Genealogy Web-Resources
Most genealogists rely on a handful of favorite online resources for most of their research. It’s our trusted and beaten path. This presentation shares a collection of lesser-known websites that can provide deeper information for Upper Midwest family researchers. A bonus feature will show how to instantly return to the online locations of your downloaded documents and images. (B,I,A)

Session: What AI (Artificial Intelligence) Can Do for a Genealogist
There are multiple, fun and useful AI tools available that can assist with your genealogy: from automatic photo colorization, enhancement, repair & animation, to transliteration, and detection of facts and repositories. Daniel will showcase some tools available and how to use AI technology to enhance your family history research. (B,I)

Session: From Handwritten to Digital: Saving Notes with Photo Metadata
Preserve your family photo details by adding metadata! Scanning handwritten notes doesn’t ensure they stay connected to the photo. Learn how to embed information—like dates, locations, and people—directly into digital image files using professional, freeware, and cloud-based tools. Keep family history intact and searchable for future generations! (I)

Session 1: Migration Patterns- British Isle to Canada onto Minnesota
Learn about how migration patterns demonstrate the movement of people. You will learn to look for the underlying reasons. Once understood, you can apply to your research. This session concentrates on the Scottish and Irish migration from the British Isle to Canada and into Minnesota from a geopolitical, economic, and environmental events. (B,I,A)

Session 2: Putting it all together - Your Family History Presentation
How do you know its time to put your family history in writing? How do you present your research? In this session you will learn where to start and how to finish as we all feel there is more to tell. We will discuss groups such as the MGS Writers Group and how to get published in a journal. At the very least you will gain confidence! (B,I,A)