Skip ahead a few years and after graduating college at St. Rose I began volunteering with the National Archives and Records Administration in Pittsfield, MA. I thought I knew a lot, but I still had a lot to learn. I volunteered there for five years before their closure due to budget cuts. Jean Nudd Elliott, the archivist, soon became my mentor and champion, supporting me as I began to teach and lecture on various topics.
Fast forward to the present: I teach beginning genealogy classes, lecture on French Canadian genealogy (that’s a whole other story) among other topics, and earlier this year I started a monthly genealogy Club at the Chatham Library, called Chatham Roots.
On the first Thursday of the month, we start at 2 pm and have an hour of Q&A, useful for beginners getting started on their research, followed by an hour-long topic from 3-4 pm, and wrap up with more advanced Q&A from 4-5 pm. Fellow NARA volunteer, Lisa Dougherty, is a frequent visitor and an asset for those looking for their Irish roots.
We are free and open to everyone. I hope you’ll join us!