Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Video: Who Do You Think You Are? Live!

Roots Television now has a short introductory video that was filmed at last weekend's conference in London, England. This 81-second video gives a very quick introduction to the show with quick shots of the various exhibits.

You can watch the video at http://www.RootsTelevision.com. More videos from the same conference will become available in the near future.

Reginald Washington on Roots Television

Reginald Washington is an archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. He is also a well-known expert on African American genealogy and the author of several books as well as a popular speaker on the lecture circuit. Megan Smolenyak had a chance to talk with him at the recent Mid-Atlantic African American Genealogy Conference, held in New Jersey. Roots Television was able to videotape the conversation and make it available to everyone on the Internet.

Down Under: the Flying Zacchinis

Roots Television has a new episode that features a search for the tombstone of Ildebrando Zacchini, the founder of the first "Human Cannon Ball Act," and his wife. If you have ever searched a cemetery for a particular tombstone, you know what this search felt like!

George Morgan and Drew Smith not only found the tombstone, they also pieced the family together by using genealogy techniques. You can watch to see how they did this research. This video provides an insight into a fascinating part of American history.

Video: Allison Stacy, Editor of Family Tree Magazine

At the recent Family History Expo in St. George, Utah, I had a chance to spend some time with Allison Stacy, Editor of Family Tree Magazine. She is an experienced genealogist, a journalist and an editor. Allison discussed the many articles being published in Family Tree Magazine, a "how-to" publication that features articles about genealogy basics, how to find records, product reviews, web site reviews, etc.

Video: Legacy Family Tree with Ken McGinnis

Ken McGinnis is Vice-President of Millennia Corporation, publishers of Legacy Family Tree, one of the leading genealogy programs for Windows. He and partner Dave Berdan have been publishing Legacy Family Tree for twelve years. Their program is easy-to-use and appeals to computer and genealogy novices and experts alike. It also has a great price: the Standard Version is FREE while the DeLuxe Edition sells for $29.95.

I had a chance to talk with Ken at the recent Genealogy and Family Heritage Expo in St. George, Utah. Ken described many of the features of Legacy Family Tree. He also brought along a large "billboard" that illustrated many of the reports available.

My Interview of DearMYRTLE

One of the things I enjoy most about genealogy conferences and expos is the opportunity to talk with people. I learn a lot from talking both with long-time friends as well as with newcomers. If the RootsTelevision video crew is around, we often record these conversations.

At the recent Genealogy and Family Heritage Expo in St. George, Utah, I had a chance to talk with long-time friend Pat Richley, a.k.a. "DearMYRTLE." She is a delightful person and always has something interesting to say, as you can see by the video at http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_conferences.php?bctid=1423436174.

Video: Family History Expo in St. George, Utah

I recently had an opportunity to attend the Family History Expo held in St. George, Utah. This very popular event always attracts large crowds and the 2008 event was no exception.

While at the Expo, I had an opportunity to talk with Holly Hansen, President of My Ancestors Found, the organizers of the event. Holly described the planning that went into the Family History Expo, some of the other events the company sponsors, and even dropped a hint or two about how to attract lots of new genealogists to an expo of this sort.

Down Under on Roots Television

George G. Morgan and Drew Smith recorded an interesting video for RootsTelevision.com called "Down Under." This program features the long-lasting memories illustrated by tombstones.

The new video is the first of three episodes and features a beautifully inter-racial story in Tampa from 1850 to the early 1870s. George and Drew then did some research to find more information about this couple. George and Drew  reveal that information in this fascinating video.

African American Lives 2

Public Broadcasting had an excellent program last year called "African American Lives." An encore, called "African American Lives 2" is now being planned for broadcast on February 6.  It will be hosted by noted Black American historian Henry Louis Gates.

You can watch a 30-second commercial for the program by clicking in the above image or by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR6lm9u2qb4.

Video: An Interview with John Cardinal

John Cardinal is well known amongst users of The Master Genealogist, a software program for Windows. He is the author of two popular add-on utilities: the first is simply known as "TMG Utility" while the second one is called "Second Site."

I had a chance to interview John on a recent genealogy cruise in the Caribbean and the RootsTelevision folks recorded it. In this video, John describes his two programs and tells what they accomplish.