NGS 2023 Speaker Spotlight—C. Ann Staley
March 21st, 2023 by Teresa Kelley
 C. Ann Staley, CG®, CGLSM, is an educator, consultant, and lecturer. She is the education chair for the Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc.; the membership chair for the Genealogical Speakers Guild; on the faculty of The National Institute for Genealogical Studies; a volunteer on a number of committees of the National Genealogical Society; and a volunteer of the Florida State Genealogical Society. She is the compiler of the Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc. Quarterly Full Name Index, Volumes 1 through 4, 1973 through 1976, the author of several articles for the NGS Magazine, and the co-author of the NGS Research in the States Series-Florida. Ann has been researching her family from Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, and Virginia to France, England, and Germany. Her specialties are methodology, vital records and their sources, computer research resources, and conference planning. |
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| Session Number: F253 Skill Level: Intermediate Title: From Despair to Cargoes of Hope: WWII’s Displaced Persons |
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| Many immigrants entered the US under the Displaced Persons Act after World War II. The purpose of the act, and its amendments, was “To authorize for a limited period of time the admission into the United States of certain European displaced persons for permanent residence, and for other purposes.” Based on specific criteria, eligible displaced persons (DPs) could be admitted to the US if they would not become a public charge and have safe and sanitary housing and employment without displacing another person. The displaced person or refugee was the concern of the International Refugee Organization. For the US, the Displaced Persons Commission was put into place to oversee the act’s enactment.
Is your ancestor named in the record sets created? Many records were created by the US Government and the organizations that took care of the DPs. We will be looking at newspaper and magazine articles covering the “Cargos of Hope” (the transport ships carrying the DPs); Records of the International Refugee Organization; Records of the Displaced Persons Commission (Record Group 278); Orphan Children’s Case Files and Correspondence; National Catholic Welfare Conference Records; and more to discover what is available to us and how they can be utilized in our own stories. |
Registration is now open at https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/.
