GSP webinar presented on Sept. 19, 2024 with Michael L. Strauss, AG
The history of the draft and the conscription of men for military service dates back to the Revolutionary War. Individual colonies were given the authority to draft men that were called up for militia service. It wasn’t until the Civil War that the first national legislation in 1862 was passed that would enact a national draft. Since then, several Selective Service Acts in 1917, 1940, 1948, and 1967 have accounted for men who would serve their country in times of crisis.
About the speaker:
Michael L. Strauss, AG works for Ancestry as a research manager and senior genealogist. He is a native of Pennsylvania and a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. Michael is a court qualified expert witness in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia is forensic estate matters. He is a national genealogical lecturer and instructor and faculty member at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR) where he coordinates the military research courses. Michael has media appearances on episodes of Roots Less Traveled in 2021, and Australian television program Every Family Has A Secret in 2023, and as the film historian for the 2015 Academy Award nominated movie Finding Vivian Maier. He has been a Civil War reenactor for more than twenty-five years.
