Hundreds of attendees are gathering at the Georgia Center in Athens to take part in a genealogy expo this week. The University of Georgia is hosting the week-long conference of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. A crowd of about 300 is exploring a wide range of courses.
Attorney Ben Spratling is President of the National Genealogical Society. He’s an instructor as well as an attendee. He says the conference is a good fit for both novices and those with experience.
“It’s designed so that people are who are just beginning and want to learn more, can start at the beginning, so to speak,” Spratling said. “And then as they get more experience they can come back at a later year. It’s only offered once a year, and they can take a more advanced course, then they can branch out from that and get into specialty areas.”
This is the 61st year of the event and the first time it has been held at UGA.
The conference runs through Friday. Members of the public can attend evening sessions from 7 to 8:15 Tuesday and Wednesday nights for a $15 fee.
The conference was held at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama before moving to Athens.
