Kate Townsend, Genealogist

09/10/2025

In case you missed it, my lecture, as well as the lightning talks on "Blue Collar Ancestry: Researching Your Steelworker Ancestor," at the Heinz History Center, is now available online!

Take a deep dive into the lives of your steelworker ancestors with the Detre Library & Archives. The first session focused on Western Pennsylvania steelworke...

08/11/2025

I am so excited and proud that the lecture series "Blue Collar Ancestry" that I am involved in at the Heinz History Center was featured in Pittsburgh Magazine. The kick-off lecture, "Tracing Your Steelworker Roots," is tomorrow night at 6:30 PM both in-person and online. A recording will also be available following the lecture.

The Heinz History Center is giving you the opportunity to find out more about your Pittsburgh ancestors, with the first of many workshops in a new genealogy series on blue-collar industries deep in the city’s lineage.

07/17/2025

My last day giving lectures at GRIP Genealogy Institute was today! I had an amazing time connecting with students and faculty this week.

In between my lectures, I stopped by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to look at a microfilm reel film for a client project. I had to document the fact that I was wearing a dress to do work in an archive (usually I’m not due to dust!).

07/16/2025

I really love my job, and today was no exception! This morning and early afternoon, I was at the Heinz History Center for my class at the GRIP Genealogy Institute. Later this afternoon, I was downtown looking at tax liens and criminal records for a client.

05/06/2025

I had a great time connecting with colleagues and promoting GRIP Genealogy Institute last week with course coordinator Cecelia McFadden at the conference. If you have coal miner ancestors, this is the course for you! We'd love to see you when we teach onsite at this July!

05/03/2025

In case you missed it, my Association of Professional Genealogists webinar on Writing Clear and Concise Client Reports is now available online and accessible to all members!

APG members can now access the recording of the 24 April webinar “Writing Clear and Concise Client Reports" in our Webinar Library, presented by Kate Townsend, CG® and underwritten by Goldie May. Log in at apgen.org, go to Members >Continuing Education >Webinar Library. CC available.

05/02/2025

I have been having a great time connecting with wonderful colleges like Civil War Records at !

04/21/2025

If you are a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, I would love to see you at my webinar on Thursday, April 24th!

Join APG on 24 April 2025 for our next members-only webinar, Writing Clear and Concise Client Reports with Kate Townsend, CG®. Learn best practices that will make you more efficient as a researcher and help you produce more effective client deliverables. This presentation is underwritten by Goldie May. More: https://bit.ly/4bSDx1h

04/09/2025

If you watched Finding Your Roots last night, you might have noticed my name in the credits for the work I did on the show!

03/24/2025

I will be delivering my lecture "Court Records without the Law Degree" to Polk County, Florida via Zoom this Saturday, March 29th at 10 AM ET. If you're interested in attending, details are available here. I would love to see you there!

Join the Polk County History Center for this month's Genealogy Speaker Series and explore methods for searching court records as a genealogical resource.

03/20/2025

Proof that I have gone on a repository trip since my maternity leave ended. I recently had a great time at the Detre Library and Archives at the Heinz History Center researching within their collection on Pittsburgh Public Schools.

03/20/2025

It's not every day that your brother-in-law texts a photo of you on local television in Philadelphia! I had a great time discussing research on coal miners on Tuesday night. Thank you so much for having me on!

If you're interested in the topic, consider enrolling in "Mining and Extraction: Building Skills with the Coal Industry" at GRIP Genealogy Institute this summer, hosted by .