If you have not already heard this news, I am excited to announce that I am coordinating and teaching in a new institute course focusing exclusively on Mexican and Mexican-American genealogy. This new course is part of TIGR’s (the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research) 2023 course lineup. TIGR will be virtual again this year. Seating is limited and the discounted Early Bird registration rate ends on April 15^th, so grab your seat by registering today!

About My Course

Researching Families of Mexican Descent on Both Sides of the Border

This course focuses on sources, strategies, and essential background information for researching families of Mexican origin. It covers colonial Mexico (New Spain), the independent country of Mexico, and people of Mexican ancestry living in what is now the United States. Families of Spanish and then Mexican origin have been repeatedly crossing and living on both sides of what is now a 2,000-mile-long border for centuries, which has created situations unique to Mexican and Mexican American genealogy. The course emphasizes records available online while also introducing lesser-known records that need to be viewed at or requested from physical archives. It is suitable for those still new to Mexican research yet challenging enough for those with more advanced knowledge. Case studies, problem solving techniques, and active learning exercises will deepen student learning. Fluency in Spanish is not necessary, but some familiarity with reading it is helpful.

Logistics

• Format: Virtual:
  • Live & pre-recorded lectures with live Q&A sessions.
  • All lectures & Q&A sessions will be recorded and available to view through June 30, 2023.
• Dates: Monday, June 12 – Friday, June 16, 2023 (see Course Schedule).
• Cost:
  • Early Bird Rate : Through April 15^th : TxSGS Members $375 / Non-Members $425.
  • Full Price Rate: May 1^st – 31^st: TxSGS Members $425 / Non-Members $475.
• Registration: Registration is open, so grab your spot today!

Prerequisites

Registrants need not be familiar yet with doing Mexican or U.S. Southwest research. However, registrants do need to already be familiar with basic U.S. record collections as well as how to search and navigate around major genealogy websites such as Ancestry and FamilySearch.

Faculty

I will share more about my faculty team in future posts, but these genealogy educators bring to the the course extensive expertise in topics critical to doing U.S.-Mexican borderlands genealogy.

• Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS, Coordinator
• Henrietta Martinez Christmas
• Arturo Cuellar, AG®
• Judy G. Russell, CG®, CGL(SM)
• Marian L. Smith
• Lynn Turner, AG®
• Paula Stuart-Warren, CG®

Why This Course?

It has been exciting to start to see Hispanic genealogy courses now being offered in some of the genealogy institutes, and I have greatly enjoyed and felt honored to be on the teaching teams for some of those courses. Genealogy courses focusing on descendants of the Spanish-speaking world need to become regular offerings by ALL genealogy institutes. While “Hispanic” might seem like the most inclusive choice to reach the broadest audience of interest, that umbrella term Hispanic focus rightly so needs to include class sessions focusing on the entire Spanish-speaking world. But having to take that broader focus comes with a trade-off, which is not being able to focus more in-depth on a specific region. This new U.S.-Mexico borderlands genealogy course allows us to take a deeper dive into Mexican and Mexican-American genealogy. The Texas State Genealogical Society (TxSGS) – the host organization behind TIGR – has been regularly committed to providing genealogy education offerings for Mexican and Mexican-American genealogy, so this new course is a natural fit for TIGR.

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Not familiar with genealogy institutes? Stay tuned for my next blog post!