"Even in the Best Families: How to Research and Share the Skeletons in Your Family Closet" was presented by Karen Wallace Steely at our October general meeting. You may remember Karen from our September 2024 meeting when she spoke about using photographs in your research.

Finding skeletons in your family history may be disconcerting but can also provide an opportunity to uncover new information about your ancestors. We discussed a variety of less common record sources which may be created when an ancestor behaves badly, as well as the challenges of deciding how to handle those skeletons in family histories and research reports. Three short case studies were included, highlighting specific strategies that can be used to uncover and use these uncommon records.

Karen is the principal genealogist for The Past Matters^® LLC (www.ThePastMatters.com) and specializes in researching old photographs. She has served on the board of directors for the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and is a member of the Daguerreian Society and the DAR. Karen lives in Vancouver, Washington with her husband and three cats.