"Nashi Predky-Our Ancestors" 2017 Conference

Please note: Online registration is now closed. There will be on-site registration available the day of the conference.

The 4th Annual Nashi Predky Fall Conference - Unlock Your Heritage: Discover Your Ancestry - will be held at the Ukrainian Cultural Center located at 135 Davidson Avenue in Somerset, NJ. The event features internationally known experts in Eastern European genealogy, and will span two days, including a full-day dedicated to DNA along with a Saturday's workshop on Using Cadastral Maps, opportunity for networking, and the choice of seven lectures.

View full schedule and speaker details

The Nashi Predky Family History Group is proud to offer a two full days of programming. Participants may register for either Friday or Saturday, or the full two-day conference at reduced pricing. In addition to the presentations, the event will have vendors and cultural display areas.

On Friday, October 6th, DNA Day offers participants three lectures, Q&A Panel open discussion and dinner. Registration opens at 2pmand a light dinner will be available. The presentations by Melissa Johnson, CG are: Genetic Genealogy: A Beginner’s Guide, Diving Deeper into Genetic Genealogy, and Using Autosomal DNA in Genealogy.  The DNA Panel Discussion will be hosted by: Melissa Johnson, CG, Natalie Asikainen, Bruce Romanchuk, an Administrator of the Facebook group "Lemko Ancestry & DNA", and Prof. Volodymyr Bodnar, the leader of the FamilyTreeDNA group "Ukrainian DNA Genealogy - Український ДНК-родовід".

On Saturday, October 7th, the second day of the "Unlock Your Heritage: Discover Your Ancestry" opens with registration at 8am with a light continental breakfast.  At 9am, the morning sessions start off with the presentation "Galicia: An Ethnic and Religious Melting  Pot" by Zbigniew Stettner where he will describe ethnic and religious mixture in Galicia and show how this knowledge can help you trace your ancestors.

After the opening session, a dual-track day begins with presentations by Rhoda Miller, CG, "Finding Families in Russian Era Ukraine: Census Records and More", and by Rev. Dr. Ivan Kaszczak "Ukrainian Catholics in America: A History".

Participants will be offered a buffet luncheon featuring ethnic food and networking time during the lunch break.

The afternoon sessions continue the dual-track offerings: "1920s-1940s Polish State Archives Records for Lemkos" by Zbigniew Stettner; "Ten Ways to Jumpstart Your Eastern European Research" by Lisa Alzo; "Did My Great-Grandmother Have a Family?: A Problem Solving Case Study" by Rhoda Miller, CG; and "Immigrant Cluster Communities: Past, Present and Future" by Lisa Alzo.  An optional workshop "Using 19th century Cadastral Maps to Trace Our Galician Ancestors" hosted by Zbigniew Stettner will show how to find the records in archives, interpret them and teach how to compare cadastral maps with current maps using various software and websites.

The two-day event concludes with the door-prizes at 4:30pm.