Speaker: Carolyn Schott

Carolyn Schott has researched her German ancestors for 20+ years, following their wanderings through Eastern Europe before arriving in the U.S. She is a founder of the Black Sea German Research Community (www.blackseagr.org), a former board member of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS), and author of the book, Visiting Your Ancestral Town. Her writing has received several awards from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors.

Schott's research has required her to research records in the U.S., Germany, Ukraine, Moldova, and Poland. The Black Sea German Research Community is a website dedicated to helping people with hard-to-find information on their ethnic German ancestors who lived in areas bordering the Black Sea.

Carolyn has been speaking on genealogy-related topics since 2007 and has been a regular speaker at the Germans from Russia Heritage Society, the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia meetings, the International German Genealogy conventions, and genealogy societies in Washington.

"Expanding Your German Research Beyond Ancestry and FamilySearch"

All genealogy roads seem to lead to FamilySearch and Ancestry. But sometimes it pays to take a less well-traveled road when researching your German ancestors. We’ll discuss some of the powerful resources available for German researchers beyond the “standards”— such as the online Meyers Gazetteer, Archion, Matricula, Compgen.de — reviewing each resource and how to navigate them even if you don’t speak German.