Discover Family History with Gail Blankenau

05/05/2026

A Webinar Well Worth the Wait!
(Webinar originally scheduled for February)

Tune in on May 7th @ 1pm CT to hear former GGS President Barbara Pieh explain how and why to use Archion.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GsWSnaziH/

02/25/2026

📢 WEBINAR PROGRAM UPDATE— Tomorrow (Same Time, Same Link)
Due to illness, “Archion: How to Use It and Why” has been postponed and will be rescheduled soon.

Join us instead for:

Gail Shaffer Blankenau — Top Tips in Reading German Parish Records
*Learn practical strategies and tools to help you read old German handwriting, work through challenging entries, and use parish records more effectively in your research.
*These skills will be especially helpful when the Archion webinar is rescheduled, as Archion provides digitized images of many German church records.

🕒 Time: Unchanged
🔗 Your original registration link still works
🎥 Recording available to members after the webinar

Feel free to share with anyone researching German ancestors.

12/10/2025

https://maureensantini.substack.com/p/kids-who-know-their-family-history?fbclid=IwY2xjawOm0WFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF3dmg2bDVFVGNKRjd5aTNSc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHtoy6A9z8jvGzYM-VrhzYQISVRFmXkj2BKtQYWQ3Jpk0iKJlWccgUMQXnY9P_aem_vqvyhbNRaWlj2bPeBSi6fg

Write Your Life Story for Posterity

09/08/2025

I’m excited to share that I’ll be part of the South Dakota Festival of Books this fall—September 26–28, 2025—in its new host community of Spearfish! 📚✨

The state’s premier literary event, the Festival brings together readers and some of the best regional and national writers for conversations, presentations, panel discussions, book signings, and special events.

I’m honored to take part and can’t wait to connect with fellow book lovers in the Black Hills this September!

Here is my schedule: https://sdhumanities.org/gail-shaffer-blankenau/

08/15/2025

Nebraska Book Award! Read the official announcement here: https://nlcblogs.nebraska.gov/ncb/

07/09/2025

Do you have ties to Rhineland-Palatinate?
The modern German Land named the Rhineland-Palatinate was the source of many immigrants to North America during both 18th and 19th century waves of immigration. Learn in the next GGS webinar about the history of its German predecessor states and what records and repositories exist for it today. Also included will be a flavor for traveling in this area of Germany.
Date: July 24, 2025
Time: 8pm Central
Presenter: James M. Beidler
Register now at ggsmn.org!

06/30/2025

A blog post I wrote after this year's IGGP 2025 conference -- shout out to those who had extra artificial intelligence platforms to point out.

Following the AI-focused presentation at the International German Genealogy Partnership (IGGP) conference, it’s clear that there is growing curiosity—and even more questions—about how artificial intelligence can assist genealogists, particularly those researching German ancestors. This post ex...

06/18/2025

Going to Norfolk Public Library for their Summer Speaker Series!

06/11/2025

International German Genealogy Partnership conference! My two sessions are both HIGH attendance! Hope to see you there.

05/10/2025

https://mipa.org/midwest-book-awards/