The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP)
THE GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF PITTSBURGH
Earlier this year GSP received a press release announcing an exciting new educational opportunity for genealogists located right here in Pennsylvania, called the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). Founded by Directors Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL, [i] and Deborah Lichtner Deal, GRIP offers genealogical researchers in the Mid-Atlantic area an in-depth, week-long, high caliber education, similar to the Institute for Genealogy and Historic Research (IGHR) at Samford University and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) in Utah. Only, for many of us, GRIP is much closer to home.
Be prepared to immerse yourself into a specialized course from Monday, July 23rd through Friday July 27th. Registration for the intensive week-long tracks opens 7 February 2012, and there are four separate courses of study from which to choose. The GRIP Directors tell GSP the Institute “emphasizes hands-on learning utilizing problem-solving techniques in a community environment” taught by instructors who are among the most knowledgeable and experienced researchers and lecturers working in the genealogy field. Each course consists of eighteen 75-minute lectures which include the following topics, among others:
Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper with Paula Stewart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA:
- Beyond basic records; civil & criminal court records, institutional records
- Sharpen analytical skills to evaluate record sources
- Original manuscripts and finding aids
Advanced Research Methods with Thomas W. Jones, Ph. D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS, also with instructors Claire M. Bettag, CG, CGL and Richard G. Sayre, CG:
- Develop advanced genealogical research, analysis, correlation and compilation skills
- Developing a hypotheses, planning an exhaustive search and applying analysis and interpretation skills once research is underway
- Special problems – immigrant and migrant origins, female ancestors, identifying the landless, enslaved, peasants and impoverished
Beneath the Home Page: Problem Solving with Online Repositories with D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS:
- Developing a logical research plan for online searching
- Problem solving exercises based on case studies
- Online finding aids; federal and state libraries and archives, colleges and universities, religious archives and local public libraries
German Genealogical Research with John Humphrey, CG:
- Where to go and what to do when traditional US resources are exhausted
- Problems with German names, handwriting, transcriptions and translations (the Gothic Alphabet)
- Finding places of origin, church records and newspapers for your German ancestors
A much more extensive explanation for each course can be found on the GRIP website under the “Courses” tab.
The founders and directors of GRIP have a combined 40 years of genealogical research experiences, which includes thousands of hours of volunteer work with genealogical societies. Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL, is a Trustee for the Board of Certification of Genealogists and instructor for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Elissa is the coordinator for the Professional Genealogy course at the IGHR at Samford University, and creates and instructs part of the fourteen-week Genealogical Research Certificate course offered through Boston University.
Deborah Lichtner Deal is a Trustee of the Ohio Genealogical Society and for ten years has organized the week-long OGS Summer Workshop. She has attended both the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the IGHR at Samford where she won the Walter Lee Sheppard Jr. award in 2010.
Credit is due to these two women for their vision and dedication that the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh exists. The Institute came to fruition fully when a ‘Home Base’ was found at La Roche College, a small, private college in McCandless Township, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh.
The course costs are reasonable considering the level of immersion and the knowledge and experience of the faculty; each course fee is $380 before June 1st, and includes daytime and evening sessions, syllabus notebook materials, social activities, snacks and an optional polo shirt. This cost will increase to $400 after June 1st. The (en-suite) dormitory accommodations at La Roche College are available for a private room at $280 per person, or to share, for $245 per person, which includes fifteen meals in the campus cafeteria. The classrooms at La Roche are state of the art and equipped with Wi-Fi and AV equipment; photographs of both the dorms and classrooms can be found on the GRIP website.
When asked if GRIP would consider expanding the institute to other weeks during the year, Elissa and Deborah tell GSP that “for the foreseeable future GRIP will remain as a one-week institute in the fourth week of July due to space availability at the college.” We were also curious to know if any repository visits might be included during the week, and the Directors said “we recognize that many people will want to take advantage of the local repositories…scheduling during the week [is] such that a student will not want to miss their course or the evening lectures and activities.” And at least one of those evening lectures will be about Pennsylvania resources.
Elissa tells us the institute will end on Friday, and after lunch “students are free to go wherever they wish.” So, local repository visits might be self-scheduled for that afternoon, or for the next day at any local library or archive that has Saturday hours. The Directors are already hard at work preparing a course schedule for GRIP 2013, which “will include more courses than the premier four being offered in 2012.”
You can subscribe to email updates on the GRIP home page to keep informed about registration opening and any changes, revisions or updates within the class schedule, or other information relevant to the institute. Expect these courses to fill up fast!
[i] CG, Certified Genealogist, CGL, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are Service Marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluations by the Board.
Follow Us: