Michael Willis

Michael Willis is an East Bay Area native who began his genealogical journey at the age of 8 when he memorized seven generations of his maternal line as told to him by his grandmother. An accomplished lecturer and trainer, Michael has covered topics such as oral history, genetic genealogy, the Freedman’s Bureau and African Americans in Civil War military records.He primarily specializes in Louisiana research, particularly in West Feliciana, Orleans, East Baton Rouge and Terrebonne Parishes. Michael is a member of the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC) where he currently serves on the Board of Directors. He is also a member Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, a non-profit genealogical support group for the Louisiana State Archives. A graduate of the University of California, Davis, Michael currently works as an IT Account Manager for the State of California.

16th Annual African American Genealogy Seminar

The 16th Annual African American Genealogy Seminar will be virtual on Saturday, March 12, 2022 from 8:30am-2:30pm. In addition to classes on Beginning Genealogy, Census Records, Researching at the Sutro Library and the California Archives, we are pleased to present new classes on “Identifying Ancestors Through DNA and Genealogy” by Nicka Sewell Smith “Hidden Treasures …

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NARA’s FREE tools in preparation of 1950 Census

Between March and May, NARA will be offering live instruction, Q&A, videos, handouts, and more to prepare researchers for the release and review of the 1950 U.S. Federal Census! For more information and schedule copy the following URL in your browser: https://www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-series/2022

The 1950 Census is almost here (Part II)

(Continued from previous post…) Next, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website will be releasing the digitized 1950 US Federal census images and providing FREE access to search by name and location, and by Indian Reservation for form P8 Indian Reservation Schedules. Similarly to Ancestry®, NARA will use the artificial intelligence / optical character …

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The 1950 Census is almost here (Part I)

For those who remember the release of the 1940 US Federal Census on April 2, 2012, it took weeks, if not months to completely transcribe and index records so that users could search their ancestors by name. In the meantime, NARA made the images searchable online, but the servers repeatedly crashed due to high internet …

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