Rick Crume's Lecture Topics & Speaking Schedule

Speaking

I am available to present lectures to your society or organization on the following topics. E-mail me for more details.

Family Secrets: Exploring Crime and Conflict in Your Family History

Whether your ancestors feuded with their neighbors or found themselves on the wrong side of the law, records probably exist to document their disputes or crimes. In this presentation, you’ll learn how to use newspapers, as well as court, church and prison records, to uncover details about your ancestors' conflicts and transgressions.

How to Trace Your Family Tree on FamilySearch

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to research your family history. FamilySearch.org, a free site, has a large, growing collection of historic records, books, photos and family trees. In this class, you’ll learn how to search the databases on FamilySearch and how to share and preserve your own family’s photographs and historic records on the website.

Ancestry.com: A Guide

Ancestry.com boasts a huge collection of more than 18 billion records, plus digitized books and more than 80 million family trees. AncestryDNA has DNA samples from more than 2 million people. Rick will share search strategies and expert tips, as well as advice on how to use Ancestry Member Trees to organize and share your family history.

Tree-Keeping

If you’re very serious about genealogy, you need tools to help you record names, dates, places, relationships and sources, not to mention family stories and photographs. You’ll also want to take advantage of huge collections of online records and family trees and share your family history online. Genealogy software, an online tree or a combination of the two can help you accomplish those tasks. Rick will compare the most popular options, including RootsMagic and Family Maker software, Ancestry Member Trees and the FamilySearch Family Tree. He’ll also describe how you can synchronize your family trees on your computer, mobile devices and online family trees.

DNA Testing for Genealogy

DNA testing can reveal insights into your ethnicity, find your relatives, identify inherited health risks and prove or disprove relationships. Sometimes the results are a surprise. This class will compare the major DNA testing companies for genealogy (23andMe, AncestryDNA, Family Tree DNA, Living DNA and MyHeritage DNA) and show how you can use third-party tools, such as DNA Painter, to learn even more from your DNA test results.

How to Find Your Family History in Online Newspapers

Newspapers rank among the top sources for information on key events in our ancestors’ lives. Birth and marriage notices, anniversary celebrations and obituaries all provide facts that form the framework of our family trees. But newspapers also reveal biographical insights you won’t find anywhere else. Rick will cover free sites, including Chronicling America from the Library of Congress, as well as subscription sites, such as GenealogyBank and Newspapers.com.

Rick Crume

Genealogist, Writer and Speaker

Speaking

Chase Race