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Fall Genealogy Keynote Speaker *

Cynthia K. Patton

Family historians and researchers will expand their military research knowledge and will get organized with professional genealogist Cynthia K. Patton, our Fall Genealogy Keynote Speaker.

FPL welcomes genealogist Cynthia K. Patton as our Fall Keynote Speaker. This is your chance to hone your research skills with the best! Cynthia K. Patton is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and professional genealogist. She will lead two workshops for genealogy enthusiasts and historians.

9 a.m. – Finding your Military Ancestors

Did someone in your family tell you that a great-great-grandfather served in the Union Army? Was your mother’s aunt a member of the DAR? Tracking down your military ancestors can be a challenging and rewarding task. Discover methods to identify military service and find the records that document your ancestor’s service.

·        Determine age for service eligibility

·        Best collections for military records

·        Proving Revolutionary War service

·        Civil War records – North and South

·        World War I

·        World War II – the Greatest Generation

·        Contemporary conflicts (Korea, Cold War, Desert Storm, OEF/OIF, etc.)

·        Honoring your Veterans

10:30 a.m. – Organizing your Digital Files (Color, Consistency, and Naming Conventions)

Having trouble finding that death certificate for Grandpa Johnson on your laptop? Cannot remember if you have a copy of the syllabus from a webinar you watched last week? Digital files are wonderful—but naming, filing, organizing, and searching them can be daunting.

Using the 3 C’s – color, consistency, and naming conventions—you will learn how to tackle the task and regain control of your digital files. We will explore cloud storage options, redundant backups, and provide many examples of best practices in organization.

·        Where do I start?

·        Backup, backup, backup

·        Naming conventions

·        Using color coding

·        Clean up as you go

About Cynthia K. Patton

Cynthia K. Patton is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and former owner of Patton Leadership Consulting.  Cynthia has a Bachelor's in Journalism and Master's in Political Science, both from the University of Southern Mississippi.  Now working out of Kansas City, Cynthia is a Professional Genealogist that writes and leads workshops for conferences, genealogical societies and libraries.  She is a Boston University Certification Program graduate and serves as the Registrar of the DAR Chapter in Parkville, Missouri.  She is a member of APG (Heartland Chapter); NGS; and numerous local historical and genealogical societies.

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