One of the biggest challenges we face when writing family histories is how to turn the bare facts into tales worthy of being read, but our ancestors were real people, not just names, dates and places.  We’ll explore four different approaches that can help us to understand them in the context of the time and place in which they lived, and to look for unexpected clues in the information we’ve already gathered.  By digging deeply into the genealogical details, we can bring our ancestors’ stories to life.

Pam Vestal is a professional genealogist and national speaker who turned her focus to her longtime love of genealogy after a 20-year writing career. Her articles have appeared in the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly and the National Genealogical Society Magazine, and her lectures take her from coast to coast.  Pam specializes in conducting genealogical research and then transforming that information into illustrated stories that even non-genealogists can enjoy.