Okies, Fire Insurance Maps, and the Enslaved in Newspapers–Ari Wilkins

SESSION: W124 TRACK: Land and Maps          TITLE:  Reconstructing Communities Using Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Census Records, and City Directories

SESSION: T242  TRACK:  African American      TITLE:  Tracing the Enslaved and Formerly Enslaved in Newspapers

SESSION:  F315  TRACK: Westward Migration   TITLE: The Okies: Migrants Heading to California

Ari Wilkins is a genealogist and library associate at Dallas Public Library. A frequent lecturer at national and regional genealogy conferences on numerous family history topics, she specializes in African American research. Her first lecture will demonstrate how to build a map in Google Maps using Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, census records, and city directories. On Thursday, she will discuss researching different types of newspapers, information that can be gleaned from advertisements, and how newspapers can lead to other sources. On Friday, she will address researching migrants from the Great Plains to California; the push/pull factors of migration; and the records used  in tracing Dust Bowl ancestors.

Remember that online registration for the NGS 2022 Family History Conference ends May 13. Onsite registration opens May 23 in Sacramento for those who choose to register upon arrival.