This course centers on one of the most challenging and evolving aspects of genealogy: understanding and recording parentage in all its forms. Each day, we will look at diverse and nuanced topics, from tracing parentage in historical and modern records to navigating delicate family secrets with accuracy and respect. Whether you’re faced with the mystery of an orphaned ancestor, exploring parentage within enslaved communities, or documenting complex family structures in today’s world, you’ll gain essential tools and creative strategies to bring every story to light. Highlights include sessions on adoption, illegitimacy, polygamy, LGBTQ+ parentage, and the role of DNA in confirming relationships. We will also explore the ethical responsibilities of recording family histories that challenge traditional norms and how to approach sensitive findings with compassion.
None
Sessions will be recorded and available through Friday, 11 July 2025, at 11:59 PM ET.
All times are listed in Eastern Time.
Live sessions may be subject to schedule adjustments by your course coordinator.
| Day | Session | Time | Session Title | Description | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 23 June |
Intro |
10:00 – 10:30 AM | Class intros | Meet and greet your fellow classmates | Morgan |
|
1 |
10:30 – 11:45 AM | Intro: Accuracy of Parentage | This presentation focuses on determining parents in genealogy. We will cover why it’s essential to record all parent relationships accurately, even if those relationships challenge historical models and rules of parentage in family history. This presentation will give students an overview of the coming week and lay the foundation for creative research strategies for locating parents and defining their role in the tree. | Morgan | |
|
2 |
Noon – 1:15 PM | Overview of Parentage Records | This presentation will provide an overview of general parentage records. We will cover finding parent information in common records and unexpected sources. By closely examining various records, we’ll look at how we can identify parents using clues and determine if we’ve found reliable evidence for a parent relationship. We will also discuss why omissions or parentage errors might be found. | O’Connell | |
|
3 |
2:15 – 3:30 PM | Resolving Conflicts in Parentage Records | This presentation focuses on resolving conflicts in records of parentage. We will cover common reasons for conflicts and how to weigh evidence to identify parents accurately. By examining and resolving real cases, we’ll practice analysis and align our methods with the Genealogical Proof Standard. This presentation will help students determine if the parent they’ve found is the parent that belongs on the tree. | O’Connell | |
|
4 |
3:45 PM – 5 PM | Case Study: Parentage Complications | This presentation focuses on a case study of a woman with complicated parent relationships in every aspect of her life. After being abandoned as an infant in a children’s home, she was placed illegally in a foster family and later remanded to an orphanage. As an adult, she had children in and outside legal marriage for various reasons. This presentation will look at the research methods needed to identify all parent relationships created in her lifetime correctly. | Morgan | |
| Tuesday 24 June |
5 |
10:30 – 11:45 AM | People Without Parents | This presentation focuses on people without parents. We will cover research hurdles faced in cases of orphans, displaced children, and children with only one recognized parent. We will also discuss the choice of removing a parent from one’s history and genealogists’ responsibilities to record history accurately. This presentation will help students construct family trees that don’t follow the typical two-parent structure. | Morgan |
|
6 |
Noon – 1:15 PM | Illegitimacy | This presentation focuses on children with biological parents who are/were not married to each other. We will cover a history of illegitimacy and the family tree and how to recognize illegitimacy in records through verbiage and social clues. By looking at real cases, we’ll identify strategies to determine biological parentage in cases of illegitimacy. We will also discuss how the treatment of their illegitimacy in a person’s lifetime might affect how we build that story in our family history. | Morgan | |
|
7 |
2:15 – 3:30 PM | Enslaved Families: Children as Property | This presentation focuses on enslaved families and the complications that arise when children are treated as property. We will cover looking for parentage clues in the records of enslaved children. We will also discuss parent/child displacement and separation due to enslavement. This presentation will help students determine parentage as accurately as possible when someone in the family tree has been enslaved. | Holman | |
|
8 |
3:45 PM – 5 PM | Enslaved Families: Enslaver as Parent | This presentation will examine situations in which an enslaver is potentially the biological parent of an enslaved child. We will look at clues in historical records that an enslaver and an enslaved child had a biological connection. We will also discuss the treatment of an enslaver parent in the family tree and our responsibilities as genealogists to both history and the living. | Kearns | |
| Wednesday 25 June |
9 |
10:30 – 11:45 AM | Abundance of Parentage | This presentation introduces hurdles that arise from an abundance of parentage (people with more than two parents). We will cover the historical treatment of multiple parents in genealogy and how we record multiple parents on the family tree today. | Morgan |
|
10 |
Noon – 1:15 PM | Adoption Journeys: Ethical and Accurate Family Tree Building | Adoption plays a significant role in many family histories, often creating unique challenges for genealogists. This course will equip participants with the tools to approach adoption research with sensitivity, accuracy, and ethical responsibility. Students will learn how to uncover relevant records, recognize clues and document biological and adoptive families into a cohesive family tree. | Sexton | |
|
11 |
2:15 – 3:30 PM | Stepparents | This presentation focuses on the parent relationships of stepparents. We will cover how to identify stepparents and clues about the stepparent relationship and its significance in a person’s life. By researching the stepparent relationship, we can more accurately construct the parent relationship in our storytelling. | Morgan | |
|
12 |
3:45 PM – 5 PM | Mary Ann, A Plural Wife: Mormon Polygamous Ancestors Through a Historical Lens | This presentation focuses on the history and challenges of 19th-century Mormon polygamy. We will cover essential resources, such as church records, censuses, and family journals, while providing context around the cultural, social, and religious dynamics that shaped polygamous families in early Mormon communities. By integrating historical insights, we’ll uncover societal forces influencing their lives. We will also examine genealogical research challenges with these families, including lack of records, imprisonment, and endogamy. This presentation will help students better understand 19th-century alternative lifestyles and how those influence today’s families. | Philibert-Ortega | |
| Thursday 26 June |
13 |
10:30 – 11:45 AM | Complex Parentage | This presentation introduces new complexities in parentage. We will cover advances in science and changes in social culture that have created new parentage records. We will also discuss the challenges faced using traditional methods to record modern families. This presentation will help students build family trees that are flexible enough to reflect all parent relationships. | Morgan |
|
14 |
Noon – 1:15 PM | LGBTQ+ Parentage | This presentation focuses on LGBTQ+ parentage. We will cover changes in U.S. law that led to different records and recognition of the parent relationship. We will also take a brief look at the status of LGBTQ+ family recognition and records internationally. | Traiman | |
|
15 |
2:15 – 3:30 PM | Genetic Donors | This presentation will discuss genetic donors as part of genealogy. We will cover a timeline of scientific advancements, records associated with genetic donation, and how we can include genetic donors in the family tree. | Traiman | |
|
16 |
3:45 PM – 5 PM | Transgender Parentage | This presentation focuses on transgender parentage and how genderqueer parents affect the paper trail. We will cover a brief history of transgender people navigating life in America, a vocabulary lesson on common transgender terms, and record changes associated with transgender people. We will also look at best practices to accurately record the parent role and relationship. | Morgan | |
| Friday 27 June |
17 |
10:30 – 11:45 AM | DNA and Parentage | This presentation focuses on DNA and parentage. We will cover using DNA clues and handling unexpected discoveries that establish or disrupt parent relationships. | Traiman |
|
18 |
Noon – 1:15 PM | Passing Down Family Secrets | This presentation will close the week with a discussion of passing down family secrets. We will cover ways of sharing the information you’ve recorded/uncovered using discretion, compassion and common sense. Theis presentation will help students navigate delicate situations where emotions run high while balancing their responsibilities as historians. | Morgan |