Digging Up Your German Roots: Finding Ancestors from Germany (Genealogy Speaker Series)

Are you one of the millions of Americans who has German ancestry? How do you find out more about your ancestors who came from Germany? What were their lives like coming to America? This talk will set the stage by describing social, cultural, historical and economic factors for emigration from Germany to the United States. Learn about useful resources in the U.S. for identifying towns or regions of origin in Germany. Finally, explore what we can learn through digital collections of civil and religious historical records from German-speaking regions.

Sarah Busse Spencer holds a doctorate in sociology and has taught sociology and research methods in many universities across the U.S. and in Russia. Spencer has lived in Germany and Russia, speaks German and Russian and reads German, Russian, Latin and French. She has been practicing genealogy research for six years with a specialty in 18th and 19th century German and French records. She loves to help clients find and translate German records and use them to assemble ancestors into family groups.

This is a hybrid virtual program. The presenter will appear virtually, but guests are invited to join us at the History Center to participate in the Zoom. For Zoom details, contact the Polk County History Center at (863) 534-4386 or ShannonGraham@polk-county.net.