RootsTech: Day 1
The Fun Begins
After all the waiting and anticipation RootsTech 2025 is finally here. Following are the sessions I watched. I couldn’t help thinking that there is always something to learn.
Making the Most of Your Family Search Affiliate Library presented by Julia A. Anderson
There are over 6300 FamilySearch Centers and 1700 FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries around the world. This class explained the best way to use these centres and the collections available. I was very surprised to find that there was a Family Search Affiliate Library in my city.
Virtual Keynote - Ysabelle Cuevas
Ysabelle Cuevas is a singer, YouTube creator with over 1 million followers and a nurse. Her family story is quite remarkable.
Virtual Keynote - Ndaba Mandela
Ndaba Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, shares his experience of living with one of history’s greatest leaders. He spoke of visiting his grandfather in gaol, when he was 8 years old, and going to live with him while his father went to University. This was an amazing presentation to watch as Ndaba Mandela told the story of his grandfather’s legacy.
I loved his quote “to know where we are going, we must know where we came from”.
This was my favourite session of the day. Ndaba Mandela is very inspiring.
Ndaba Mandela - Wikipedia
Funeral Traditions in the Victorian Era presented by Cathy Wallace
This session, about funeral traditions, taught us everything from mourning customs to mourning clothes, and traditions to superstitions. It was interesting to hear how families prepared their homes for a funeral, the food they ate when someone died, and even why ostrich feathers were important.
It was very interesting to see examples of how houses in mourning were decorated, the clothes worn during mourning, the funeral photography and even the floristry.
Apple - Tips for using built in Apple tools to preserve memories and records presented by David Rathbun
Lots of great tips here that I will revisit after RootsTech
Genealogy Source Citations 101: Getting Started
It never hurts to have a refresher about citing your sources. Great information and templates.
Australia’s Geographical Divisions and Historical Places Part 1 presented by Jenny Joyce
The information in this session was about counties and parishes and political divisions in Australia, and where to find Historical Maps of Australia.
Australian Military Records: from the Boer War to World War II presented by Shauna Hicks
Great information about where to look for indexes and digitised records for your ancestor who served in the military.
Virtual Expo Hall
I took a quick spin around the Expo Hall and will drop in again for a more indepth look.
RootsTech Ride Along
Image: projectkin.org
Projectkin and Mission Genealogy are providing a space for those attending RootsTech virtually, to join in the fun and connection. RootsTech Ride Along is a series of Live Videos, occurring each day during RootsTech week, with guests who will discuss their experiences and the fun they are having, both attending in Salt Lake City, and at home, virtually. I was very happy to be a guest, and enjoyed chatting to Barbara from Projectkin about Rootstech and a few little tangents.
