Using Social History to Build an Ancestor's Story

What happened between the who, what and when of census data and birth, marriage and death certificates? Researching social history, the study of time and place of everyday people, lets you develop intriguing narratives that will transport readers back to the world your ancestor inhabited. Websites, archives and libraries for discovering a variety of social history themes will be discussed.

Susan Mayer holds a master‘s degree in library and information science with a certificate in special collections from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is a full-time researcher, DAR member and presents classes on genealogy around the Midwest.