On Wednesday, April 14, at 7 p.m., the National Archives will host Megan Smolenyak, author of Who do You Think You Are?, a comprehensive guide for conducting genealogical research and the official tie-in to the NBC show of the same name that traces the genealogy of a famous person. Smolenyak, chief family historian and spokesperson for Ancestry.com, will be joined by Andrew Carroll, editor of the New York Times bestsellers War Letters and Behind the Lines.

Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080925/DC35252LOGO)

This event is free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building, which is fully accessible. A book signing of Who Do You Think You Are? will follow the program, and the book is available at a discount from the Archives Shop (202-357-5271) before and during the event. The program is presented in partnership with the National Archives Sixth Annual Genealogy Fair, to be held April 14-15th, 2010.  The Genealogy Fair is free and open to the public, and presented in partnership with the Foundation for the National Archives.

The National Archives Building is located on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW.  Winter hours (through March 14) are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Spring hours (March 15 through Labor Day) are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily. Admission is free, and the building is fully accessible.  Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station.  To request an accommodation (e.g., sign language interpreter) for a public program, please e-mail public.program@nara.gov or call (202) 357-5000 at least two weeks prior to the event. To verify the date and times of the programs, view the Calendar of Events online at www.archives.gov.

Background:  National Archives staff in Washington, D.C., and New York City worked closely with the producers and researchers of this genealogy-based program for over a year to identify National Archives documents that help tell the story of famous Americans featured on the programs.  

National Archives records are an abundant resource for genealogical research. "Who Do You Think You Are?" features many such records – including pension applications, census schedules, and Freedmen's Bureau records – that are used by thousands of researchers every year.  A new National Archives web page links to some of the most popular records of genealogical interest, including records used in some of the shows (http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/topics/who-do-you-think-you-are.html).

The web page also includes information about how to begin genealogy research.  Interested viewers can also email questions to National Archives genealogy experts at WhoDo@archives.gov.

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