Guess What’s On Tap for Next Weekend? A Conference! (Are You Surprised?)

After spending the last week writing about conferences, what do you think I’m doing at the end of the week? You guessed it – we’ll be exhibiting at a conference, wearing our “Jonathan Sheppard Books” hats.

This time, it’s the Annual Spring Conference hosted by the Virginia Genealogical Society in Richmond.  The conference is spread out over two days.  This year’s theme is:  "Civil War Confederate Records: Bringing the Gray Ghosts to Life."

The first day (Friday, May 20) will be a guided research day at the Library of Virginia in downtown Richmond along with a talk about the Museum of the Confederacy.  The following day – Saturday, May 21^st – you can treat yourself to four top-notch talks from Sharon Hodges and Rick Sayre.  In the morning, Sharon will talk about the Southern Claims Commission records, plus present a talk titled “Ladies of the Civil War”, focusing on the varied – and sometimes surprising - roles that women played during the War. 

In the afternoon, Sharon will discuss Confederate records in the National Archives and Rick will talk about Civil War maps.  If you don’t come away from this event with lots of new information that you can use in your own research, I’d be greatly surprised.

And, by the way, the Library of Virginia is more than just a world-class library; it’s also the Virginia State Archives, charged with preserving the history of the Old Dominion and its records.  Perhaps you’ve never researched there.  If that’s the case, check out their website here to see what you’ve been missing.  (If you have Virginia ancestry, you KNOW you want to come to this event!)

There will also be a vendor area at the conference on Saturday. We (Jonathan Sheppard Books) will have related maps, and books about the Civil War, as well as a selection of highly worthwhile genealogical references. Other vendors will have goodies as well.

There's a reduced rate for members, of course.  if you do any Virginia research, and if you are NOT a member of the VGS, you need to re-think what you're doing.  Seriously.  

If you want to see real value for your dollar, check things out here.

For more information about the conference, here’s the direct link to online version of the conference brochure.  Likewise, the direct link to the registration form is here. 

You can register online until the close of business tomorrow, May 17^th.  After that, you can register by phone or as a walk-in, but the Saturday lunch meal (included in the registration price) cannot be guaranteed. So, get a move on.  There’s still time. 

If you live near Richmond, drive in.  If you're some distance away, come anyway.  Hotels and motels are quite reasonable in Richmond.

Bring your "significant other" along;  you've heard the hype:  Virginia is for lovers.

You know you want to.  Life is short… come join us!