Speakers' Corner Line-up: Two Stories About Women in Our Families
Join us this week as we focus on the work of two genealogists: Bill Moore and Aryn Youngless. They'll dig into their archives to share stories about extraordinary women in their family trees.
I’m excited to host our September 2025 Speakers’ Corner event for Projectkin later this week. Two experienced family history researchers and writers will join me, and each will tell a story about researching women in our family trees. I’m collaborating with Projectkin on this series; you’ll see my publications at Tracking Down the Family, Haverford West History, Gold Fields, and Family Ties. — Jennifer Jones.
Allow me to introduce my guests:
Bill Moore from Family History with Bill Moore
Bill has been researching his family history for more than 25 years and has, since his retirement, begun telling stories based on the research he has collected. He has family members who lived remarkable lives and also ordinary, everyday people. Bill believes that they all contributed to making him the person he is.
Bill is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the New York Biographical and Genealogical Society, and the Rochester Genealogical Society, where he currently serves as 2nd Vice President and chair of the Technology Interest Group.
On Speaker’s Corner, Bill will discuss his experience researching his two great-grandmothers, one he knew well as a boy, and another who died before he was born. He will outline a few of the ways he researched each and the information he was and was not able to find for each grandmother.
Most family history researchers would understand the frustration of researching the women in their families. Bill Moore will use stories to show his research on how he overcame his difficulties and successes.
Aryn Youngless from Genealogy By Aryn
Aryn writes posts dedicated to Genealogy 101 and historical pieces about different people throughout time, as well as From Research to Novel, helping to transform genealogical research into creative nonfiction and fiction stories. She encourages people to research their family history with free resources. She promotes the importance of genealogy and family history research, stressing how they help us better understand who we are and where we come from, especially in a world where history is often rewritten and people feel disconnected.
Aryn is a member of the Southern California Genealogical Society, the Los Angeles City Historical Society, and the National Genealogical Society.
At this week’s Speakers’ Corner, Aryn will discuss the European witch hunts, which cast a long shadow over genealogical research, particularly when tracing our female ancestral lines. With roughly 75-80% of those accused and executed being women, these systematic persecutions created massive gaps in family records and oral histories that we, as family historians, encounter even today.
Many of our female ancestors lived under the constant threat of accusation. Those who survived often saw their families stigmatized and scattered. At the same time, descendants of the accused frequently fled the area or changed their names out of fear that they would also be charged.
Join Us & Support our Speakers
Like all Projectkin events, our program is free, and recordings will be shared with subscribers a few hours after its conclusion.
Since our August event, the response to Speakers’ Corner has been enthusiastic. I would love to have you join us to share a story from your family history. Below you’ll see the schedule for upcoming programs through the balance of the year. Please note that the timing of each event is arranged for our speakers' convenience. Matching speakers and time slots is a special challenge, but I’ve done my best to make this work by referencing our two established Pacific- and Atlantic-friendly time windows.1
Why not join us for our December holiday special and tell a Christmas story about your family get-togethers, special foods, or holiday travel?
Drop me a message. I’d love to hear from you and am open to your ideas.
Also, I’m currently filling in the calendar for 2026, and we’d love to include you. Kindly complete this simple form to help me balance speakers, timing, and topics:
This is a community effort. Barbara and I wholeheartedly welcome your participation as an audience member and a speaker. As described in the initial post in June, all speakers will receive a video file with a copy of their talk after our program. We hope this will be of value to you and your family in future years.
Archives of past programs are available from Project.org/speakers-corner.
At Projectkin, we benefit from genealogists worldwide and host events from our home in California during strategic time windows:
“Atlantic-friendly” — best for Europe & the Americas
“Pacific-friendly”— best for Pacific Rim & the Americas
Learn more and explore the coming Spring/Fall seasonal changes here.
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|