Michigan Genealogical Council

05/14/2026

We're proud to welcome Alec Ferretti of Reclaim the Records to speak at this month's MGC Board meeting on "Advocacy for Genealogy." This is a special pre-session for the Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar, which begins tomorrow in Lansing and virtually via Zoom. Ferretti presents this topic at 10 a.m. tomorrow, May 15, 2026. Click through to register for this session or to register for the full seminar May 15-16 in-person in Lansing or virtually. Tap or click the link for more details.

Genealogists need records but access is constantly under threat. Whether it’s new privacy laws or underfunded archives, the obstacles are real. This session is a call to action: Learn what’s alread…

05/14/2026

Interested in learning more about mental health records at the Archives of Michigan? Join us just before this week's Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar for "Mental Health Records at the Archives of Michigan" with archivist Rachel Clark. She presents this topic at 10 a.m. this Friday, May 15, 2026. Attend the full seminar in-person in Lansing or virtually May 15-16. Tap or click the link for more details and to register.

Interested in learning more about mental health records at the Archives of Michigan? Join us for this pre-seminar offering. The presentation will be open to the public as well as seminar attendees.

05/13/2026

Michigan’s statehood commenced a period of rapid growth and change for the Upper Peninsula region. Join us as Adam Oster of Library of Michigan discusses migration and development in the U.P. at 2:50 a.m. this Saturday, May 16, 2026. Attend the full seminar in-person in Lansing or virtually May 15-16. Tap or click the link for more details and to register.

Michigan’s statehood commenced a period of rapid growth and change for the Upper Peninsula region. The discovery of mineral resources, the arrival of diverse immigrant communities, and the shift to…

05/13/2026

Think NARA records are only accessible on microfilm or in-person? Think again. "Finding Digitized NARA Content" with featured speaker Alec Ferretti guides researchers through finding digitized gems from the National Archives, including millions of records now available online. He presents this topic at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16, 2026. Attend the full seminar in-person in Lansing or virtually May 15-16. Tap or click the link for more details and to register.

Think NARA records are only accessible on microfilm or in-person? Think again. This session guides researchers through finding digitized gems from the National Archives, including millions of recor…

04/29/2026

They fought for the Union in the Civil War, and their wives fought for federal survivor benefits afterward. In her presentation Finding Community Through a USCT “Widow’s Pension,” researcher and blogger Jessica Trotter discusses the importance of these records in African-American research. Learn about potential finds in these “gold mine” records at this year's Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar. Trotter presents this topic at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16, 2026. Attend the full seminar in-person in Lansing or virtually May 15-16. Tap or click the link for more details and to register.

This session discusses the pension process, the challenges to widow’s seeking support, and the possible finds in a pension file, and features a “gold mine” file that helped connect the dots i…

04/23/2026

Do you have research targets in New York? Register now for "The Mess of New York Vital Records," presented by Alec Ferretti, a genealogist and board member of Reclaim the Records, at this year's Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar.

Ferretti presents this topic at 10:10 a.m. Saturday, May 16, 2026. Attend the full seminar in-person in Lansing or virtually May 15-16. Tap or click the link for more details and to register.

Women’s citizenship in the U.S. has been anything but straightforward. This session unpacks the laws that shaped women’s nationality status from marriage laws that revoked citizenship t…

04/20/2026

We all have immigrant ancestors, and the Archives of Michigan is helping to make them easier for genealogists to find. Researchers now have free online access to these important records from nearly 75 counties across the state. Find out more as we welcome archivist Kris Rzepczynski back to the Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar for his presentation "Accessing Michigan’s Naturalization Records!" Attendees will learn about the naturalization records themselves, counties in the queue for rollout, and how best to maximize their Michiganology searches.

Attend the full seminar in-person in Lansing or virtually May 15-16. Tap or click the link for more details and to register.

With the release of the Michigan naturalization records project this past fall, researchers now have free online access to these important records from nearly 75 counties across the state, includin…

04/17/2026

How exciting to see the restored 1835 Constitution of the State of Michigan! Thank you to the Michigan Daughters of the American Revolution for funding this preservation, and grateful to the Archives of Michigan and the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office for sharing it with us. Glad it's home!

04/10/2026

I'm a little late posting since it's been out for a few weeks, but here's our latest MGC Quarterly. (Hey, we're all busy people doing busy people things ...) Lots of good stuff in there, including a schedule for our Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar and tips for protecting those online genealogy presentations we all love so much from intellectual property bandits. Click or tap the link, then select the latest issue from the list.

Click here

04/08/2026

What's the latest on Michiganology? Sign up for "New Updates to Michiganology," held in person at the Michigan Library and Historical Center in Lansing at 4:20 p.m. May 15, and virtually via zoom. Hear about the latest record sets and other updates. It's part of the 2026 Barbara J. Brown Family History Seminar, held May 15-16. Click or tap the link for more information and to register.

Using Facebook, Instagram and more to assist in finding cousins and locating information about ancestors and the places they’ve lived, learn to use social media for own research. The importan…