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From: "Noles, Robert B." <>
Subject: [LAWASHIN] Megan Smolenyak Seminar in Mandeville, Louisiana
Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2008 06:17:35 -0600


Hello Folks,

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, the Chief Genealogist for Ancestry.com,
author, and genealogy lecturer will be in Mandeville for a series of
five presentations on Saturday, June 21, 2008. This event is jointly
sponsored by the Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association and the St
Tammany Genealogical Society.

Reservations for the Smolenyak lecture series in Mandeville are a
must. Space is limited. Reserve Early! The Flyer for this event
which includes an application form for your reservations is available
via the following link:

http://www.sttammanygs.org/images/Smolenyak_Flyer_June_2008.pdf

A short biographical sketch for Megan is posted below.

Event: Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak Seminar

Date: Saturday, June 21, 2008

Location: Life Church
5200 Louisiana Route 22
Mandeville, LA 70471
(across from the Beau Chene subdivision)

Cost: $35 per person (lunch is included)
Reservations after March 1st: $45 per person

I hope you will be able to attend the Megan Smolenyak
Seminar. Please make your reservations early to assure your space at
the Seminar. Space is limited.

Happy New Year,

Robert B. Noles
1st Vice President, St. Tammany Genealogical Society
STGS Newsletter Editor (STAR)
St. Tammany Parish Ancestor Database Manager
West Florida Parishes Regional DNA Project
Regional Coordinator for Louisiana & Mississippi, International
Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)
www.StTammanyGS.org
____________________________________________

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, that's her real name), author of
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),
Tracing Your Roots with DNA (Using genetic tests to explore your
family tree) and They Came to America (Finding Your Immigrant
Ancestors), has been an avid genealogist since the 6th grade and is
skilled in many aspects of family history research.

Megan is honored to serve as Chief Family Historian and North
American spokesperson for Ancestry.com, the largest genealogical
company in the world. She is also co-founder of Roots Television, a
pioneering and popular online channel of genealogy and
history-oriented programming. Among the many shows available for
viewing is the New York City press conference about Annie Moore,
where Megan corrected history by revealing the true story of the
first immigrant through Ellis Island. This story was featured on the
front page of The New York Times and in a variety of other
publications, such as the Irish Echo, Time for Kids, and The Wall
Street Journal. The story was also covered by NPR's Morning Edition,
PBS's Out of Ireland, and numerous other TV and radio shows. More
recently, she made another interesting Irish connection when she
traced a branch of Barack Obama's family to Moneygall in County Offaly.

Megan also made news when she discovered a startling connection when
requested by Austin Fenner of the New York Daily News to research the
roots of Rev. Al Sharpton. Much to her astonishment, she learned that
Rev. Sharpton's great-grandfather had been owned by relatives of
Strom Thurmond .

After Megan walked Rev. Sharpton through his family tree, she
traveled with him to Edgefield, SC to see first-hand the plantation
and slave quarters (still standing) where his family had lived and
the slave cemetery where some of his family is likely buried.

Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family
Tree, her latest book (co-authored with Ann Turner, M.D.), has been
featured in Newsweek, The New York Times, on NPR, and in the Book of
the Month Club.

Megan has appeared on Good Morning America (featured in roots
segments on Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo and Sam
Champion), the Today Show, CNN, BBC Breakfast, Ancestors, TimeWatch,
NPR, BBC Radio and a number of local television and radio shows, and
has spoken at the National Genealogical Society, Federation of
Genealogical Societies, Who Do You Think You Are LIVE! and numerous
other genealogical, historical, military, ethnic and literary events
(21 states, Washington, D.C., England, Canada and Mexico so far!).

As lead researcher for the PBS Ancestors series, she delved into over
5,000 genealogical stories and developed much of the content for the
companion website. She has subsequently consulted for other
television programs, including They Came to America and African
American Lives for PBS, and BBC's Timewatch (regarding the
identification of sailors' remains recovered from the USS Monitor).
Since 2000, Megan has also been a consultant with the U.S. Army's
Repatriation project to trace families of servicemen killed or MIA in
Korea, WWII and Vietnam. The intent is to develop a DNA-database
from relatives' blood samples so that remains that are now being
repatriated can be identified and interred. She has supported this
and more than 75 other genealogical initiatives through her Honoring
Our Ancestors Grants Program.

Formerly an international marketing consultant, she has traveled to
more than 70 countries and holds a BSFS in Foreign Service from
Georgetown University, MBA in International Business from George
Washington University and MAS in Information Technology from Johns
Hopkins University.

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