The Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting the eighth annual Hispanic Family History Conference on Saturday, 15 October 2005. Co-hosts for the conference are the BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy and Legado Latino, the Hispanic chapter of the Utah Genealogical Association. The conference is free to the public.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. in the lobby of the Family History Library, located directly west of Temple Square . There will be an opening forum at 10:00 a.m. The guest speaker is Dr. George Ryskamp, noted author and lecturer on Hispanic family history research from BYU. Various classes will be taught throughout the day. The classes will be taught in Spanish and will include hands-on computer workshops, as well as classes for specific Latin American research areas and records. Consultants will also be available at the Family History Library to help with individual family history questions.
Attendees at the conference will also receive a free CD entitled Latin America Family History Resources, which includes research guidance outlines and a genealogy software program for recording and preserving family history in Spanish, Portuguese and English.
“The purpose of the conference is to instruct Hispanics on how to preserve their family history and culture, and acquaint them with the records available right here in Salt Lake,” said Carlos Alvarez, president of Legado Latino.
The Family History Library maintains the world’s largest repository of genealogical resources with vital records from over 110 countries, territories and possessions. There are over 4000 branches of the library (family history centers) in more than 70 countries. For additional information, please contact Carlos Alvarez at (801) 240-6084, Ruth Gomez Schirmacher at (801) 240-1530, or log on to http://familyhistory.byu.edu.