Virtual Workshop
German Genealogy:
Emigration Experiences and Documents

December 14, 2024, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm Central Time
with Antje Petty

Register here by December 12, 2024

Every immigrant first was an emigrant. This workshop will discuss the experiences of German-speaking Europeans as they left their home countries, as well as the records that were created during the emigration process.

Session I: Emigration Experiences
This session will provide an overview of emigration from German-speaking Europe with examples from different states and regions. It will show how emigration requirements and processes changed over time, resulting in a variety of records that can be useful to genealogists today.

Session II: The Journey
Passenger manifests are among the richest resources for genealogists. This session will examine how to effectively use ship records in the search for German-speaking ancestors.  It will also introduce other valuable types of records that were created for or during the migration journey.

Session III: Documents Brought to America
Many immigrants carried with them records that were important to them. These included documents of identification, professional qualifications, property ownership, personal correspondence, and many others. We will discuss how such documents help us create more detailed images of our ancestors and may lead us back to Europe to find more information there. 

Antje Petty is the Associate Director of the Max Kade Institute. She has worked extensively with German and German American genealogical records.