HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL NR 2020-03-02 Genealogy Seminar Highlights Military Records
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
March 2, 2020
Media Contact:
Leah Kosin, Assistant Public Information Officer
lkosin@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2781
5th Annual Genealogy Seminar to Highlight Ways to Research
Family History Using Military Records
Pre-registration is required for the seminar, which will take place on
Wednesday, May 20, 2020.
Leesburg, VA (March 2, 2020) - Jonathan Webb Deiss, a professional independent researcher,
will lead a seminar on researching family history with military records at the Thomas Balch
Library on Wednesday, May 20 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The seminar will explain how to use military records most effectively in researching your family
history. Deiss will go over the intricacies of searching for family members in military records,
how to locate a family member, how to understand the records you find, and what to do when
you don’t find what you are looking for.
Pre-registration is required and is $25 for members of Friends of the Thomas Balch Library, $30
for non-members, and $35 at the door. Seating will be limited. For more information, call 703-
737-7195.
Jonathan Webb Deiss is a federal records specialist, with an emphasis on military, Native
American, land, court, and legislative records. He runs a small research firm and serves on the
Board of Directors of Reclaim the Records, a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to providing public-
domain documents to the general public. He has been involved with lineage society work for
many years, and was most recently the Staff Genealogist for the National Society Colonial
Dames of the 17th Century. From 2002-2005, he worked at the National Society Daughters of
the American Revolution on the President General's Project to prepare the society's large
collection of membership applications for digitization. He is a member of the National Society
Sons of the American Revolution. Deiss, who has developed a unique relationship with the
National Archives, was honored in December 2010 with the title Citizen Archivist, by the
Archivist of the United States, in recognition of “...exceptional service promoting public
awareness of NARA records and historical research.”
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