October Genealogy News

Good morning! It is the beginning of October and Fall is in the air. I was out walking this morning and it was only 72 degrees. This is probably the best time of the year in Florida. October is also Family History Month. Take some time this month to discover your ancestors, pass along stories, and preserve your memories for the future.

So, what is happening now in the genealogy world? Well, MyHeritage is celebrating German Unity Day with free access to their German record collection between October 2 and 6. MyHeritage hosts more than 280 million records across 77 German collections, including vital, church, and emigration records. MyHeritage recently updated their German newspaper collection and now have over 20 million records in that collection alone. This is a great opportunity for those of us who are of German descent to do research. I will definitely be investigating this over the next couple days.

Next up, RootsTech has opened registration for the 2026 conference which will be in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 5-7. Early bird registration is $99 for a 3-day in-person pass.  Virtual attendance is free but still requires registration. What can you expect from RootsTech? There are hundreds of online and in-person classes addressing topics from beginning genealogy to advanced research. The Expo Hall will have interactive displays showcasing the latest innovations in genealogy from over one hundred vendors. The Main Stage will have celebrity guests, performances, and inspiring content. The virtual conference will have over 200 online sessions in 26 languages. This is always a great conference to attend whether it is in-person or virtually. Stay tuned for further updates as we approach the conference. I will be at RootsTech doing three presentations, participating as a media representative, and working in at least one Expo Hall booth. Come find me if you are there.

Another great piece of news is that Elephind is back online. Elephind is a newspaper search engine and was my go to place for newspaper research up until they stopped operations in 2023. But now they have returned better than ever. Their search engine currently accesses over 23 million newspaper pages and that number is growing daily (yesterday it was 19 million pages). They plan to add over 150 million pages more pages to their collection. This site is free but there are paid subscriptions for those who want to support their growth.

That is a lot happening so far this month. I'll try to be better at posting to my blogs now that I am officially retired. I hope you are able to celebrate Family History Month and take some time to be with family as we approach the holidays.