Book Me: Speaking Topics

I speak for genealogy conferences, family reunions, senior communities and other events where perspectives on legacy and heritage are welcome. Now booking full-day, in-person seminars and other in-person and online events through 2024. Please contact me at sunny@sunnymorton.com about specific dates and speaking fees.

Click on a category to jump right to it, or scroll to explore my topics:

INSPIRING KEYNOTE AND BANQUET TALKS

Why–and How–to Share Your Life Story. One of the most powerful and unique legacies you can leave behind is the story of who you are and where you came from. Your life stories and lessons matter–and have important effects on younger generations. Young people who know something about their family history are more resilient (even when you think they’re not listening!). Those who know their family stories have a deeper sense of identity, purpose and connectedness. I’ll share strategies for starting to reconstruct and share your memories and stories.

Finding the Truths in Old Family Stories. Many families hand down stories, but how do you know if they’re true? Though we may never be able to fully prove (or disprove) some tales, you can judge for yourselves the results when I investigated stories about two immigrants on my family tree: a fabled hero and a fabled scoundrel. The audience has a chance to weigh in on each story after hearing my evidence.

How to Reconstruct Your Ancestors’ Amazing Stories. A heroic rescue, a love story and a 30-foot wall of water. That’s just part of my ancestors’ experience in the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. Come learn how to reconstruct fascinating experiences from your own family history by combining clues from your family’s knowledge, documents from genealogy websites, good historical research and Googling to fill in the gaps. All while learning the riveting story of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history.

FEATURED TOPIC: US CHURCH RECORDS

Intro to U.S. Church Records: Why We Care Where Grandma Went to Church. U.S. church records of many denominations can reveal ancestors’ vital events, family relationships, overseas birthplaces and other residences and religious lives. From the co-author of the acclaimed book How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records, learn what these records may look like, how to identify an ancestral church, locate extant records and access them.

NEW! Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians—Oh My! These 3 faiths dominated the 1800s religious scene in the United States. Learn a little of their intertwined history; explore a variety of sample records; and learn strategies for finding church records for Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians.

Find Your Family in Catholic Church Records. Roman Catholic sacramental records often contain vital events, relationships, and overseas hometowns. They’re also confidential, so they can be tricky to access–except that millions are coming online. Learn about Catholicism in the U.S., what’s in sacramental records and what they look like, how to identify an ancestral parish, and tips for accessing Catholic records. You’ll take home a handout packed with tools for tracing your Catholic ancestors’ records.

On the Record Trail of My LDS Immigrant Ancestor. Explore unique and fascinating historical records about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons or LDS) in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Using research on my own ancestor, I’ll share examples of–and tips for finding–congregational membership records; group immigration resources; missionary diaries; ward minutes, and local histories of areas settled by LDS pioneers.

OTHER U.S. RECORD GEMS

NEWLY UPDATED IN 2023! Born to be Filed: A Story of Civil Birth Registration in the United States. Ever wonder why you can’t find infant birth records for relatives even when they should exist? Or what delayed birth records are and whether they are worth finding? Follow with me the fascinating story of how infant and adult civil birth records came about in the United States. We’ll look at the who, what and whys through the lenses of local newspapers and the larger social conversation. We’ll focus especially on little-known adult delayed birth records: what they look like, how to find them, and what they might reveal.

Directory Assistance: Finding Your Family History in City Directories. Looking for records in-between U.S. censuses that may reveal your family’s relationships, movements, occupations and other stories? Directories may help you build year-by-year narratives about their lives. You’ll learn what’s in city directories, how to explore them in major online collections and elsewhere, and how to use them in conjunction with other resources to reconstruct more detailed, nuanced narratives about your family’s history.

What’s So Special about Special Censuses? Learn to find and use fantastic “extras” from US censuses (1840-1910), many of which are now online: the Veterans, Mortality, Slave, Agriculture, Manufacturer and Social Statistics Schedules. These often reveal details about ancestors’ vital events, work, health, military service and communities, in the process pointing to additional records. This lively lecture shares the stories behind each of the special censuses–why the government gathered this information at this time–and offers clues that help you know when to look for an ancestor on a special census.

How Social Security Can Help Your Family History Research. The U.S. Social Security system produced lesser-known record types key to tracing families during the late 1800s/early 1900s (during a period of intense immigration, before widespread birth records and during the 1890 census gap). See genealogical discoveries made using original Social Security applications, not one but TWO important Social Security indexes, and delayed birth records, which were often created for Social Security purposes.

GENEALOGY WEBSITES

NEW IN 2023! Comparing the U.S. Newspaper Giants. Over a billion digitized newspaper pages are now searchable at online historical newspaper archives such as Chronicling America, FultonHistory.com, GenealogyBank, NewspaperArchive and Newspapers.com. But which should you use? Is it worth subscribing to one of the premium sites? Learn how they stack up for total amount of digitized content; geographic coverage; unique features and tools; subscription options; and more. My tips, encouragement, and comparative analyses will help you more confidently choose and use newspaper websites. From the creator of the popular series, “Comparing the Giant Genealogy Websites” and a longtime Contributing Editor of Family Tree Magazine (US), which sponsored the research for this presentation.

Digging for Historical Records on FamilySearch. FamilySearch is arguably the world’s biggest free online portal to genealogical records. However, it’s easy to miss some of its valuable content, so join this insider’s tour of five places to find records on (and off) the site. This beginner-friendly lecture also helps more experienced researchers to understand why the site is organized like it is—and to find records they may be missing, especially in its post-microfilm-lending era.

GENEALOGY RESEARCH STRATEGIES

Relating to Relatively Recent Relatives. Recording the stories and facts of recent generations is foundational to accurate, meaningful genealogy. We’ll talk about stories and storytelling, 20th century records that reveal these generations, and the obstacle of objectivity for recent generations (because who is really objective about their own parents and grandparents? nobody). This talk will be available after April 2024.

Help! There’s No Class on Researching My Ancestral Homeland. If you haven’t been able to learn how to research your roots in a specific ancestral homeland, this class is for you. Learn about using the FamilySearch wiki; searching major genealogy websites by place of origin; an intro to DNA testing for finding overseas cousin matches; and other strategies for building your family tree in far-flung places. NEWLY UPDATED IN 2023!

Meet PERSI, and Discover Treasures in Genealogy Periodicals. (For intermediate to advanced researchers.) You may be missing out on 30% of genealogy discoveries if you’re not digging into history and genealogy newsletters, journals and magazines. Biographical profiles, stories about ancestral churches or schools, how-to tips for researching a locale, indexes and transcripts of local records are all among those treasures. Learn to find and access this content using PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, and other resources. See how to navigate PERSI on the new Allen County Public Library website portal, and success stories that can inspire your own foray into periodical research. RECENTLY UPDATED!

FAMILY HISTORY STORYTELLING AND WRITING

From Documents to Sentences to Stories: Rebuilding Family Stories. Turning your genealogy research discoveries into meaningful stories can be challenging. Follow the re-creation of one family’s story using hands-on, step-by-step, try-this-now story-building strategies. Turn a single record discovery into a simple paragraph, then a paragraph into a story by looking for the “plot” and other interesting elements that make up the most interesting stories. Teaser: in the story you’ll follow, one of the heroes is a dog, my son’s favorite “ancestor.”

Fable or Fact? Verifying Old Family Stories. Don’t you wish you knew just HOW true certain family stories are? Though you may never be able to fully prove (or disprove) some stories, this lecture demonstrates how to “de-mythify” handed-down tales into truer ones that may be even more compelling. See the results for two case studies from my family tree: that of an unlikely hero and an immigrant scoundrel.

How to Discover Your Ancestors’ Amazing Stories. A heroic rescue, a love story and a 30-foot wall of water. That’s just part of my ancestors’ experience in the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. Come learn how to reconstruct fascinating experiences from your own family history by combining clues from your family’s knowledge, documents from genealogy websites, good historical research and Googling to fill in the gaps. All while learning the riveting story of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history.

Turning US Census Entries into Stories. Boost your use of U.S. census records to reconstruct families and their stories! See from fascinating and inspiring examples what unexpected genealogical clues may appear in census population schedules, how original instructions for census-takers can clarify your understanding and how to use what you learn to take the next research steps.

Plan Your Next Family History Writing Project: Hands-on Workshop. Deciding what to write and how to write it can be a big barrier for many people wanting to write up their family history discoveries. That’s why this presentation comes with a hands-on worksheet you can begin to complete DURING the presentation, which will walk you through all the big, interrelated questions: prioritizing your writing projects; choosing your audience; addressing privacy concerns and family secrets; and selecting the best writing and citation styles for your audience and topic. This class is available in both one-hour and two-hour formats.

Adding Your Own Stories to Your Family History. Family history begins with YOUR history. Learn from the author of  Story of My Life: A Workbook for Preserving Your Legacy  what stories you have that are worth telling–and several inspiring reasons to write them. Review different kinds of memories, why some memories are more vivid than others, and how to flesh them out. Learn tips for researching gaps in your memories, how to turn a memory into a good story, what to leave out and several ways to share your stories. See how to integrate your personal stories, family memories and research discoveries. The handout includes a life story writing exercise worksheet to help you get started.

Please contact me with any questions!