Why was Our American Mosaic chosen as the Conference Theme?

The theme of the 2022 conference is Our American Mosaic, celebrating the rich diversity of the United States, as well as the country’s most populous state, California. Appropriately, the official logo of the conference represents the compass points from which our ancestors came and how they have all contributed to the American story.  This theme was chosen to highlight the constantly evolving and changing stream of immigrants mixed with our native population that make America unique in the world.

California epitomizes America’s diversity.

* According to World Population Review, California is the most diverse state in the union based on six different diversity measures.

* More than one fourth of California residents are foreign born, a greater percentage and overall number than any other state and more than double the national average.

* Half of all California children have at least one immigrant parent.

* No single ethnic group is a majority in California.

* Latinos are the largest ethnic group with 39%, followed by whites at 36%.

California’s 40 million residents make it the most populous state in the union.

* The largest Hispanic and Asian populations are found in California and the largest Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations after Hawaii.

* California also has the largest population of Native Americans spread across more than 100 tribes, 20% of all the federally recognized tribes.

So how has all this California diversity impacted what you can expect for the 2022 conference?

The official program will not be released for another few weeks, but it will have 19 different tracks.  Look for the usual strong tracks around methodology, skill-building, DNA, technology, records and repositories, writing, land and maps (more than 80 talks).

In addition, there will be equally strong tracks around Westward Migration and Western States (more than 20 talks) and strong tracks covering Chinese American and Asian and Pacific Islanders. Included on the program is opening day keynote speaker, Stanford University Professor Gordon H. Chang, who will talk about the importance of Chinese Americans in building the first transcontinental railroad.

There will also be a strong Hispanic and Latin track as well as tracks for African American, Jewish and Native American genealogy.  In all there will be 176 talks given by 100+ speakers.

Early hotel reservation numbers indicate that the NGS 2022 Conference will be popular, so be sure to make plans to attend soon!