Presenter Profile: Elizabeth Shown Mills

Genealogical audiences on three continents have dubbed Elizabeth Shown Mills “The SuperGenie,” the “Pied Piper of Family History,” the “Mother of Modern Genealogy,” and “the person who has had the greatest impact on genealogy in the post-Roots era.” For a quarter century, she has pushed the cutting edge of research methodology, standards, and quality, serving as president of both the Board for
Certification of Genealogists and the American Society of Genealogists, as well as an officer or trustee of other major organizations.
During her 16 years as editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Elizabeth made that journal into the leading forum for the teaching of research methods and principles. For even longer, her Advanced Methodology Track at the Samford University Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research has been a rite of passage for serious family historians. Two of Elizabeth’s 500+ publications, the award-winning Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian and Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians, are considered “absolute essentials” for both personal and professional genealogists. Her 2004 historical novel Isle of Canes, an epic account of a Creole family through four generations as it rose from slavery to rule Cane River’s fabled Isle (a story drawn from Elizabeth’s personal research in the archives of six nations) was declared a “masterpiece” by Historical Novels Review who promised its readers “You’ll never look at American History the same way again.” Her latest book, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, earned Library Journal’s Best Reference 2007 designation.

Elizabeth is teaching "Smith & Jones: How to Cope with Families of Common Name" Wednesday at 2:30pm, "What Kind of Document is This: Original? Derivative? Primary? Secondary? Or Whatchamacallit!?" Thursday at 11am, "Hell on the Home Front: Damages & the Claims They Generated" Friday at 11am and "Finding & Using Birth, Marriage, & Death Records Prior to Vital Registration" on Saturday at 11am