Webinar: Our Black Sheep and Their Prison Records
Speaker: Eleanor O. Brinsko
When: Monday, February 20, 2023 at 8:00pm Eastern
Program Description:
Family trees often have ancestors that are not “acceptable” topics of conversation. But why is that the case? A common reason is they were in trouble with the law. In this presentation, we will explore three different case studies on how to learn about the ancestors our family members will not talk about by using prison and legal records, archives, online databases, and newspapers.
Speaker Bio:
Eleanor has been collecting tools for genealogy her entire life. Raised by two historians, her passion for discovering and telling the story of her ancestors grew strong in her. Eleanor gained her training while working at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Area Research Center, answering questions by phone, letter, email, and in-person by patrons around the country. She holds a Bachelors of Music Education from UW-River Falls as well as a Masters in Music History (specializing in radio history) and a Masters in Library and Information Science from UW-Milwaukee.
In 2020, Eleanor was made adjunct professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s iSchool where she teaches a 1-credit graduate-level course on genealogy! Her perspective when teaching this course is from both sides of the reference desk: what would a genealogist need from a librarian and what resources does the librarian need in order to help promote genealogical resources in the library.
VGA Members can register for this webinar via the Zoom link in the Upcoming Webinars area of the Members Center. Please contact info@virtualgenealogy.org if you have any questions.
