Directory of Members

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  • Michelle Spencer

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  • Ms Michelle Spencer

  • Roma Mary Grace Historical Research
  • AL
  • United States
  • (336) 649-0114
  • (GMT -6:00) Central Time (US & Canada), Mexico City
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  • (If you click on the PDF icon and nothing happens, the member has not yet uploaded a file.)
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  • https://www.romamarygrace.com
  • https://www.romamarygrace.com/blog
  • Michelle L. Spencer began her family history odyssey as a teenager absorbing family stories from cherished friends and relatives. Her professional life blossomed elsewhere taking her from her Missouri roots to Washington, D.C., Germany, and Alabama, stopping at many foreign locales in between. A resident of Alabama for over sixteen years, she has learned to love the backroads and history of Alabama, almost as much as those in her native state.
    Michelle has more than twenty-five years of speaking, research, and writing experience. She enjoys speaking on subjects including family business research, small town records, unusual military and government records and how to unite the records with ephemera and photos to create a compelling family story.  She is an avid collector of ephemera and weaving the history of things, places, and events into the stories of those who have gone before us.  She has co-authored more than fifty building/property nominations to the National Register of Historic Places conducting building and genealogical research across Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, as well as Germany and the U.K. Her genealogical research for clients including two seasons of the Television Show Who Do You Think You Are? and the PBS Television Show Finding Your Roots. For more information see her website: romamarygrace.com.

  • 2022 Outstanding Service Award, Missouri State Genealogical Assn.
  • business research, small town research, material culture, pandemics, historic preservation, military, and government records
    1. Lure Your Ancestor out of the National Register of Historic Places
    2. Don't Forget to Misspell! Getting the Most from Digital Newspaper Research
    3. A Genealogist's Guide to Sanborn Maps
    4. Researching Your Ancestor’s Brick & Mortar Can Help Break Down Your Brick Wall
    5. Using Postcards, Letters and Memorabilia to Unlock Your Family History
    6. Grip, Grippe and the Spanish Lady: The 1918 Pandemic and Your Family Records
    7. Using Unusual Government Documents to Discover Your Ancestor
    8. Using City Directories to Fill in Historic Context: Two Case Studies
    9. Research Your Family Business Using Sanborn Maps and Newspapers
    10. City Directories: Google for a Different Generation
    11. Sanborn Maps and City Directories: A Genealogist's Guide
    12. Historic Context from Unusual Sources
    13. Roma: A Small-Town Life (dinner talk)
    14. Uncle Bud’s Trunk (dinner talk)

  • I enjoy both in person or virtual presentations.  I use Zoom regularly and am comfortable with almost any virtual platform.

  • 11 October 2023.  Mecklenburg, NC Genealogical Society. Researching Your Ancestor’s Brick & Mortar Can Help Break Down Your Brick Wall. 

    7 October 2023. Northland Genealogical Society. Patriotism, Prohibition, and (k)ein Prosit: Being German in 1920s America.

    21 September 2023.  Genealogy Center. Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN. A Genealogist’s Guide to Sanborn Maps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnmnUTcS84

    19 September 2023. Autauga County Genealogical Society, Prattville, AL. Don’t Forget to Misspell! Getting the Most from Online Newspaper Research.

    5 September 2023. Utah Genealogical Association ProTalk. Researching Your Ancestor’s Brick & Mortar Can Help Break Down Your Brick Wall. Members can view here: https://ugagenealogy.org/blog.php?sid=5

    7 August 2023. Ozarks Genealogical Society. Lure Your Ancestor out of the National Register of Historic Places.

    5 August 2023. Missouri State Genealogical Association Conference. Columbia, MO.
    Lure Your Ancestor out of the National Register of Historic Places.

    (Un)usual Suspects: Old and New Sources for Genealogical Research.

    17 July 2023. Central Florida Genealogical Society.
    Don’t Forget to Misspell! Getting the Most from Online Newspaper Research.

    9 June 2023. Heartland Family History Conference. Topeka, KS.
    Lure Your Ancestor out of the National Register of Historic Places.
    Research Your Ancestor’s Brick & Mortar.

    5 May 2023. Kansas Historic Preservation Conference. Independence, KS.
    A Historian’s Guide to Sanborn Maps.

    18 April 2023. Autauga County Genealogical Society, Prattville, AL.
    A Genealogist’s Guide to Sanborn Maps.

    1 October 2022. Birmingham Public Library Double Header. Birmingham, AL.
    Don’t Forget to Misspell! Getting the Most from Online Newspaper Research

    Sanborn Maps: A Genealogist’s Guide.

    4 June 2022. Northland Genealogical Society, North Kansas City, MO. Researching Your Ancestor’s Brick & Mortar with City Directories & Sanborn Maps.

    May 19, 2022. Eudora Area Historical Society and the Eudora Community Museum, Eudora, KS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8MUl1_ZKbA. A History of the Sunflower Village: A Celebration of Eighty Years.

    May 13, 2022. Heartland Family History Conference, Topeka, KS.
    A Genealogist’s Guide to Sanborn Maps.

    30 April 2022. Ohio Genealogical Society Conference 2022, Mason, OH.
    National Register of Historic Places, Breweries, and Their German Entrepreneurs.

    Patriotism, Prohibition, and (k)ein Prosit: Being German in 1920s America.

    16 April 2022. Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Jacksonville, FL.
    Researching Your Ancestor’s Brick & Mortar with City Directories & Sanborn Maps.

    4 April 2022. Ozarks Genealogical Society, Springfield, MO.
    A Genealogist’s Guide to Sanborn Maps in the Ozarks.

    2 April 2022. Northland Genealogical Society, North Kansas City, MO.
    Don’t Forget to Misspell! Getting the Most from Online Newspaper Research.

    6-7 August 2021. Missouri State Genealogical Association Conference. Columbia, MO.
    Ten Ways Postcards Can Add Leaves to Your Family Tree.

    Sanborn Maps, City Directories, and Newspapers: Connecting the Dots Between Family and Business Research.

    1 May 2021. Genealogical Society of Central Missouri.
    Our Ancestors’ Experience During the 1918-1920 Influenza Pandemic.
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