he Arkansas Genealogical Society (AGS) will host its annual conference October 11-12, 2002 at the Holiday Inn Airport- East in Little Rock. This year's conference marks and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the organization's establishment. Tony Burroughs, a professional genealogist, lecturer, author and teacher will be the featured speaker. Burroughs is scheduled for Saturday, October 12, 2002 where he will give an all day seminar on several topics including: The Nature of Genealogy, Mysteries of the Soundex, The Internet-Hype Versus Substance and Creating Order Out of Chaos. Tony is considered one of the leading professional genealogists in the country, lecturing throughout the United States and Canada on American genealogy, African American genealogy, and technology. His presentations which can be both humorous and serious are always detailed and Educational. Burroughs teaches genealogy at Chicago State University and is the author of Black Roots: A beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family (Fireside Division of Simon & Schuster, 2001). He has traces his own paternal lineage to 1835 and his maternal lineage back seven generations to 1781, Pennsylvania. He serves on the board of directors for the Association of Professional Genealogists, the New England Historical, Genealogical Society, GENTECH and the Friends of Genealogy at the Newberry Library. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Genealogical Society (NGS) in 1996, and was named a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Society in 2002. He appeared as a genealogical expert on the PBS Television series Ancestors and was a contributing author to the African American Genealogical Sourcebook (Gale Research) There will be classes on Friday night by local speakers and a reception celebrating the 40th anniversary of AGS. For more information on registration information, visit the Arkansas Genealogical Society Website at http://www. rootsweb.com/~args or contact Jan Davenport (501) 835-3961.