Genealogical Research Institute of Virginia - GRIVA

04/30/2026

Our friends at Heritage Books are having a sale on books related to Virginia and West Virginia!

Hello Virginia and West Virginia researchers. Heritage Books, Inc. is offering a special discount on over 3,400 Virginia and West Virginia titles! From genealogy and county histories to biographies and local records, these books bring the past to life.
Enjoy 25% off all books related to Virginia and West Virginia.

📅 Sale Dates: April 29 – May 5, 2026
💸 Discount: 25% off Virginia and West Virginia titles
🛒 Shop Now: https://heritagebooks.com/

Use the discount code VIRWV at checkout for the discount.

04/29/2026

Did you miss our fascinating program tonight with author Karen A. Chase talking about Eliza Trist? Fear not! The recording is now available at

GRIVA: Karen A. Chase – Eliza Trist: Tracking and Tracing a Woman’s Journal of Westward Exploration

04/07/2026

Check out this webinar this Wednesday from our friends at the Virginia Genealogical Society! FREE to register and attend!

Our free April webinar—The Power of the People: Voices via Petitions with Diane L. Richard, MEng, MBA is next week. Register now: https://www.vgs.org/event/webinar-the-power-of-the-people-voices-via-petitions-with-diane-l-richard-meng-mba-8-apr-2026/

03/25/2026

Did you miss Jeff Joyce's great presentation about the history of Memorial Day? Fear not! The recording is now available! See

GRIVA was pleased to host Jeffrey Joyce on 24 March 2026. A history of Memorial Day, from the early decoration of Civil War graves with flowers (Decoration D...

01/24/2026

It's National Handwriting Day, so we thought we'd remind you of several crowdsourcing transcription projects that you can help with, from the Library of Virginia, Library of Congress, the National Archives, the North Carolina State Archives, and more! Check out our Transcription Projects page at https://griva.org/research-transcription-projects/griva-transcribes/ for more information, as well as resources to help you read old handwriting.

Might be a good activity for those stuck inside during the winter weather!

More and more records are being digitized and made available online now than ever before. Many organizations are digitizing records, and then crowdsourcing the transcription and indexing to regular…

01/12/2026

GRIVA board member Paula Williams is not only doing our DNA SIG tomorrow night, but you can also join her tomorrow afternoon at Legacy Family Tree Webinars to learn about using MyHeritage as part of your DNA testing plan! The webinar is free to attend, as is the DNA SIG in the evening!

We often need other family members to take a DNA test for us to help us solve our genealogical problems. We’ll discuss ways MyHeritage can help us find,...

12/25/2025

12/23/2025

We're canceling one more meeting of the German SIG (January), but Sylvia will be back in February! We hope you'll join us then!

12/02/2025

Part of GRIVA's mission is to preserve the priceless heritage bequeathed to us by our ancestors. You can donate to one of our two funds to help us achieve these goals! We have the Historic Records Fund, which identifies and adopts documents of significance in need of conservation.

The Andrew Hogwood Memorial Fund was established to fund scholarships at Clover Hill High School, the Memorial Fund has expanded to include projects of preservation, acquisitions, collaboration, and of course, genealogical scholarship.

Visit https://griva.org/donate/ for more information and to contribute to help conserve our history.

GRIVA is an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. (EIN: 52-1258689). Established in 1981, we are an all-volunteer organization. GRIVA’s diverse membership is comprised of fa…

11/27/2025

GRIVA has wrapped up for the year except for next month's DNA SIG, but we invite you to visit our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com// to catch up on programs you may have missed.

One of our programs in 2022, about the history of Thanksgiving, was not recorded, but the speaker recommended this from our friends at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture: https://virginiahistory.org/learn/first-thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/26/2025

Did you miss Nonna Good's fascinating presentation about Obtaining Colonial Land in Virginia? Fear not! The video is now available on our YouTube channel for a limited time. See

11/24/2025

One of the best values for genealogical education out there at full price, let alone half off! This gets you access to their webinar library of over 2500 webinars and counting, from over 400 genealogical speakers. Check it out!

📣 Genealogists, this is THE deal of the year!
Our Black Friday Sale is live: 50% off new annual memberships!
That’s a full year of expert genealogy education for only $24.98.
Sale ends Nov 30th — get it while you can!
🔗 https://legacyfamilytree.com/checkout/?add-to-cart=93260
[new memberships only]