Subject: More OGS Conference News John Colletta to Lecture at 2005 Ohio Genealogical Society Conference Popular genealogical lecturer John Colletta will be presenting three lectures at the 2005 Ohio Genealogical Conference in Akron, Ohio. The theme for the conference, scheduled for April 14-16, is "From Farmland to City Streets: Our Ancestors' Changing Environment." In "Passenger Arrival Records, 1820-1957," he will discuss the U.S. passenger arrival records of 1820 through 1957, which are available at the National Archives in Washington, DC, as well as at the thirteen Regional Archives around the country, any one of thousands of Latter-day Saints Family History Centers around the world, many libraries, and on the Internet. Colletta will explain what facts family researchers need to know to begin their search for an immigrant ancestor's ship, as well as how to conduct the search. Using specific examples, he will illustrate how to exploit National Archives indexes, published indexes and other pertinent research tools, including CD-ROMs and Internet websites. He will also address how to find the ship of an ancestor who arrived before 1820. In his lecture, "Italian Ancestry: Researching in the United States and Italy," he will explore key resources available here in the United States for tracking a family back to the immigrant ancestor from Italy, then describe the broad spectrum of civil and religious records available in Italy for taking that family far back into the past, generation by generation. He will discuss how resources both here and there may be accessed in the following ways: 1) in person; 2) by mail; 3) using microfilm via the Family History Library; 4) the Internet; and 5) hiring someone in Italy. In his third lecture, entitled "The Library of Congress: An Introduction and Overview for Genealogists," John Colletta will take the mystery out of using our national library, which he believes is a resource underutilized by genealogists. He will "walk" his audience through the institution, reading room by reading room-all twenty of them-and highlight the resources available. He also will discuss the extraordinary web site of the Library of Congress, plus make many practical suggestions (the lecturer has lived within walking distance of the library for twenty-six years). Finally, he will make a persuasive argument that a trip to Washington could advance your family research tremendously! Based in Washington, DC, John Philip Colletta, PhD., conducts workshops for the National Archives and teaches courses for the Smithsonian Institution and local universities. He lectures nationally and is a faculty member of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. His publications include They Came in Ships and Finding Italian Roots. His latest book is Only a Few Bones. The 2005 OGS Conference and accompanying exhibition will be held at the Quaker Square Convention Center in downtown Akron. The adjoining Crowne Plaza Hotel will serve as the headquarters hotel for the conference. The Ohio Genealogical Society is the largest state genealogical society in the nation, with over 5000 members in 94 chapters around the state and elsewhere in the U.S. It publishes The OGS Quarterly, OGS Genealogy News, Ohio Records & Pioneer Families, and Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal. For more information, contact OGS at 419-756-7294 or [email protected] The conference program is available on the society's website at www.org.org.