Happy Primary Day in New York!

I know, I’ve been tweeting and blogging and Facebook posting about the New York State Family History Conference for the last week, and it’s finally Day 1 of the conference, but instead I’m talking about… voting?

Yup. Because here’s something you might not know about me:

I am Nuts About Voting. I think it is so important. I even became a poll worker in 2016 because I love voting so much. Working the polls is one small thing that I can do to help facilitate the democratic process.

I am even more enthusiastic about voting than I am about the New York State Family History Conference.

I know that seems impossible given the sheer volume of tweets in the last couple of days, but it’s true.

The conference officially begins later this afternoon. If you’re a New Yorker planning to attend, please, please, please vote in the primary election beforehand. Who knows, maybe by voting you’ll end up creating a new record on yourself for your descendants to find. What genealogist can’t get behind that?

#merylsNYSFHCpicks

As readers of the blog know, I’ve been tweeting my favorite sessions at the New York State Family History Conference. Here is the complete list, plus a few additions:

Thursday, September 13:

• 1:15-2:30pm, Unlocking Roman Catholic Records on Findmypast with Jen Baldwin, Findmypast

• 3:15-4:30, A Tour of Upstate New York Genealogical Research Repositories: Some Gems with Jane E. Wilcox

Friday, September 14:

• 9:45-10:45am, Courting the Empire State: New York’s Early Court Records with Judy G. Russell

• 11:15am-12:15pm, DNA 101: From Taking the Test to Understanding the Results with Mike Mansfield, MyHeritage

• 2:00-3:00pm, African-American Families in The Hills Community, 1830s-1890s, Westchester County, New York with Edythe Ann Quinn

• 3:30-4:30pm, Using the Law for African-American Genealogy in Pre-Emancipation New York with Meryl Schumacker (hey there!)

• 5:00-6:00pm, Genealogy Resources at the Center for Jewish History with J.D. Arden, Center for Jewish History

Saturday, September 15:

• 9:15-10:15am, Shared Matches and Genetic Networks with Blaine Bettinger

• 11:00am-12:00pm, Genealogy in Context: Using History to Find (More than Just) Family Facts with NYPL

• 1:45-2:45pm, Writing Your Family History with Kyle Hurst, NEHGS/Newbury Street Press

• 3:15-4:15pm, Turnpikes, Canals, and Railroads: Transportation and Migration in New York State with Karen Mauer Jones

For those unable to attend the conference, watch for more content here on the blog and on Facebook and Twitter. Have a wonderful election day and see you at the conference!

Meryl