Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/14/2026
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Categories
Summary: Got a brick-wall ancestor? FAN research—investigating an ancestor’s Friends, Associates, and Neighbors—may hold the key to your breakthrough. When the paper trail runs cold and records fail to reveal a person’s origins or parents’ names, examining the wider social network can often uncover the missing clues.
In this presentation, Julie will demonstrate how FAN research can help you overcome genealogical obstacles. Through a series of compelling case studies, she’ll illustrate practical strategies, show how to identify the most promising “FANs” to target, and inspire you to look beyond your direct ancestors to find the answers you seek.
About our speaker: Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz is a genealogist, writer, and speaker with more than 30 years of experience researching her family’s roots in Poland, Germany, the United States, and Canada. Her passion for genealogy began when she received a copy of her great-grandparents’ marriage record as a gift. Seeing the names of a previously unknown generation of ancestors sparked a lifelong fascination with uncovering family stories.
Julie currently serves as President of the Polish Genealogical Society of New York State (PGSNYS) and has previously served as Vice President of the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, Inc., and Secretary of the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts (PGSMA). She also administers several genealogy-focused Facebook groups.
Her articles have appeared in the newsletters of the PGSNYS, PGSMA, the Polish Genealogical Society of America, the Western New York Genealogical Society, and the Irish Genealogical Society International. She is the author of the genealogy blog From Shepherds and Shoemakers, and has presented on Polish genealogical research at local, regional, and national conferences—including RootsTech 2025 in Salt Lake City.