AGS Celebrated it's 50th Anniversary

           Lianne Krüger

Through the Prairies to the Rocky Mountains:  Records of Western Canada

If your family moved to Western Canada for land and open spaces, this session will help you find their records using Homestead records, genealogical and cultural societies, museums, provincial and federal archives, as well as FamilySearch and Ancestry.  To help organize records available, a Table of Records is explained.

       Les Campbell

AGS:  Unleashing and Maximizing the power of ARNI and ANI databases and the Homestead Index for research in Alberta

Alberta Records Name Index (ARNI) Database

An AGS resources consisting of over a million records collected by AGS volunteers since 1974.

Alberta Name Index (ANI) Database

Contains various sources, including Probates, Local Histories, Obituaries, Coroner Records, Land Records (not early homesteads), Newspapers and more.

Homestead Index

This database was compiled by AGS volunteers transcribing the Applications for land patents, including all surnames.

             Kim Farrell

Breaking the Silence – The History of British Home Children

Who are the British Home Children?
From the late 19th Century until the 1970's thousands of children,  of all ages coming from poor and culturally marginalized families in the British Isles were sent to Canada (and various parts of the British empire) in a little-known migration scheme.
Find out more about the British Home Children history and learn what Home Children Canada is doing to advocate, educate and support descendants, and other organizations as well as government agencies who want to learn more.
You might have one in your family tree! 

           Jars Balan

Exploring your roots in creative ways:  tips on how to immerse yourself in the Ukrainian experience in Canada

Anyone seriously engaged in genealogical research will be aware or can learn of different sources that can be tapped to obtain basic information about their ancestors in the old country and those that immigrated to Canada.  My talk will focus on less conventional ways of fully connecting with one's heritage.

The Irish in Western Canada 

Since European immigration to North America began, the Irish have been coming to Canada, starting in the east and eventually heading west.  Why did they come?  Where did they settle? And how can we trace their genealogy?

Terry Boucher  &   Laura Horne

The History of the Métis in Alberta

The ethnogenesis of the Métis within our homeland, their importance to Alberta's history, and the steps taken to build our Nation.

Jean-Yves Vanier-Verbeek

        Denis Perreaux  

Centuries of Francophone Settlement in Alberta

This presentation is the perfect pairing of history and genealogy.  The history of Alberta's Francophonie will explain the transcontinental and international arrival of Francophones to Alberta.  From the early 1600s to present, each of the various epochs will be paired with proven methods of Francophone genealogical research of selected family lineages within those same communities.

Peeling Back the Grid:  the 77 Township Project

Animated maps and graphics illustrate how a disconnected jigsaw puzzle of diverse and scattered archival information can be reconciled to reconstruct our earliest communities, revealing the hidden footprint of family units as they were in the years before the west was carved up by the Dominion Land Survey Grid

Part  1 of 2

Defining the archival "jigsaw puzzle"

           Colleen Andriats

Preserve and Connect:  Digitizing Edmonton Public Library's North of 52 Collection

There are over 50 Alberta Genealogical Society publications - primarily cemetery recordings - included in the North of 52 Collection digitization project.  See how digitization can preserve these publications and allow for free remote access using Controlled Digital Lending through Internet Archive's Open Library Project.

            Leslie S. Kozma

Relatively Speaking - The Vital Role of Railways in the Immigration to and the Settlement of Alberta  

Railways were the economic engine of the West; and they were transformative - enabling a dramatic shift from a fur trading economy to one of agriculture and industry - impacting the landscape of western Canada, both for the White settlers and for the First Nations, whose lives were irrevocably changed.  Railways facilitated the movement of western products to market, returning essentials, manufactured, and finished goods from the eastern industrial heartland.  This is the story of railways in Alberta, and their influence and impact on the immigration to and the settlement of this province in the seven decades between 1880 and 1950.

                  Dylan Reade

Peeling Back the Grid:  the 77 Township Project

Animated maps and graphics illustrate how a disconnected jigsaw puzzle of diverse and scattered archival information can be reconciled to reconstruct our earliest communities, revealing the hidden footprint of family units as they were in the years before the west was carved up the Dominion Land Survey grid.

Part 2 of 2

Early Settlement Surprises

Germans in Alberta:  Background and Resources for Genealogists in Search of Their German Roots in the Province

German immigration to Alberta truly began in the 1880s.  This presentation examines that migration including from where these settlers came and the reasons that brought them.  It will review German history in Alberta including where they made their homes and how they adapted.  It will present resources available for researching one's German roots here.

4:30 - 5:30 PM - Courtyard B

(Feature Plenary Session)

               Daniel Horowitz

How to Use MyHeritage Library Edition: 

A great Member Perk