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Shakin’ Out the Smiths: Researching a Common Surname
Shakin’ Out the Smiths: Researching a Common Surname
presented by Nancy Calhoun, Oklahoma
Many of our genealogy brick walls come from common surnames on our family trees. The speaker is no exception with a mother named Ann Smith. She will share some tips and tricks for overcoming this obstacle, using examples from her over 40 years of Smith research across four states. Some include examples of what NOT to do. It ends with a surprise for everyone, including the speaker.
Nancy Calhoun has been chasing relatives for over 40 years. While in Teacher Corps and graduate school in Kansas, she enrolled in a semester long genealogy class and has been pursuing family, both her own and others’ since that time. She found it to be a perfect combination with her bachelor degrees (history, English, vocational home economics with a minor in photography) and a masters in curriculum and instruction. With a teaching background and 20 years in newspaper work and publishing, she often used her research skills in the classroom and in writing.
Nancy was the Department Head of Genealogy and Local History at Muskogee Public Library in Muskogee, Oklahoma, for 13 years when she went to work for Oklahoma Historical Society. She then retired due to a stroke.
She has attended several NGS and FGS national conferences, in addition to area educational opportunities. She was the recipient of the librarian scholarship to attend IGHR and the Richard S. Lackey Memorial Scholarship for the 2017 session of Genealogical Institute on Federal Records. Her writings have placed in the annual contests held by the International Association of Family History Writers and Editors.
Memberships include APG, NGS, DAR, United Daughters of the War of 1812, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Oklahoma’s First Families of the Twin Territories, First Families of Wythe County, Virginia, Mayflower Society, and several county and state genealogical organizations. She is a board member of the Oklahoma Genealogical Society and Gen-Fed Alumni. Speaking opportunities have taken her all over Oklahoma and into Arkansas and Texas. Since the pandemic and a stroke, she is doing Zoom presentation for Texas, Oklahoma and California societies.
Her personal research includes Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as Oklahoma.
Running Down Grandma: Researching Your Female Ancestors Handout
Shakin’ Out the Smiths handout