Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
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Megan's Books

Megan's Books

April 20, 2009

Susan and Megan will look at the field of genealogy today. We will discuss her many roles that include Chief Family Historian for Ancestry.com, founder of RootsTelevision.com and founder of Unclaimed Persons. I am convinced she blogs in her sleep. This should be a jammed pack hour. Megan will be available to answer questions.

There is perhaps no other individual in the genealogy industry who has a pulse on what is going on today. Her activities stem from being the Chief Family Historian and spokesperson for the largest online genealogy site, Ancestry.com, She has also been a pioneer in creating RootsTelevision.com, an online channel of free, on-demand genealogy and history-oriented videos. He is also the founder of a non-profit organization, Unclaimed Persons, with over 400 genealogists are now offering their volunteer services assist medical examiners locate the next of kin for unclaimed persons. This is going to be jam packed hour.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, that's her real name) is an incurable genealogist and wears many hats in the family history world. A popular writer, speaker and TV guest, she serves as Chief Family Historian and spokesperson for Ancestry.com, the largest genealogical company in the world. She's also President of RootsTelevision.com, a pioneering online channel of free, on-demand genealogy and history-oriented videos that won four Telly Awards in its first year.

In these capacities, Megan does all she can to get the g-word out there and inspire others in their quest for roots. She enjoys solving mysteries, making unexpected discoveries and pushing the boundaries of conventional genealogy. Among her "greatest hits" are:

* Correcting history by revealing the true story of Annie Moore, the first immigrant through Ellis Island, a story featured on the front page of The New York Times
* Tracing Barack Obama's roots to Moneygall, Co. Offaly, Ireland (how she did it)
* Providing a decade of forensic consulting services to the U.S. Army to locate thousands of family members of soldiers still unaccounted for from WWI, WWII, Korea and Southeast Asia (see JPAC to learn more or click hereto read about just one of her many cases)
* Helping Chris Haley, nephew of Alex Haley of Roots fame, use DNA testing to confirm the family's oral tradition about their ancestry and meet his Scottish cousins (watch video)
* Figuring out who would be king of America today if George Washington had been king instead of president (how she did it)
* Using her sleuthing skills to help coroners and medical examiners locate the next of kin for unclaimed personsand establishing a group of volunteers to tackle this quiet epidemic (watch video or read more about this initiative)
* Uncovering a surprising connection between presidential candidates Al Sharpton and Strom Thurmond
* Finding serial centenarians a pair of relatives who knew each other and lived in the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries between the two of them (that's all the U.S. presidents except Washington and Obama!)
* Supporting more than 100 genealogical initiatives through her Honoring Our Ancestors Grants Program
* Tracking down relatives of the sailors who lost their lives in the USS Monitor in 1862 to try to identify skeletons found in the turret
* Playing detective to return dozens of orphaned heirlooms to their families of origin

Megan's books include Honoring Our Ancestors: Inspiring Stories of the Quest for Our Roots, In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History and They Came to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors. Winner of five writing awards from the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, Megan has written articles for Ancestry, Family Chronicle, Family Tree Magazine, Genealogical Computing, Heritage Quest, NGS NewsMagazine, Everton's Family History Magazine and APG Quarterly, among others.