July 26, 2025
REGISTERSomos Familia: Tracing Your Mexican Ancestors on Both Sides of the Border
This seminar introduces key record collections and strategies for researching families of Mexican descent on both sides of the border. This knowledge will help you make the most out of the time, money and soul you put into your family history research. Even non-Spanish speakers can be successful at this research.
- Foundational Concepts and Reference Tools for Mexican Genealogy – This presentation reviews social and cultural customs, and tools for learning about jurisdictions and key terminology. This invaluable information will help us make sure you are tracing the right people in the right place and at the right time. It is suitable for those still new to Mexican genealogy as well as more experienced researchers.
- Working with Mexican Catholic Parish Records – Spanish colonial and Mexican Catholic parish registers are the oldest vital records system in what is now Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. They are rich in genealogical information, well preserved, and have a considerable extent available online. This session will discuss the laws, customs, and significance of church baptism, marriage, and burial records. It will also help you find and analyze the records.
- Working with Mexican Civil Registrations – Mexico implemented federal registration of births, marriages, and deaths in the 1860s. These records are packed with genealogical information, are well preserved, and have a considerable extent available online. This presentation will help you locate these records and glean the most information out of them.
- Essential U.S. Registration Records for Researching Your Mexican Ancestors – Did your Mexican ancestors immigrate to the United States in the late 19th or 20th centuries? This period of history witnessed significant waves of Mexican immigration to the U.S., both permanent and temporary. The types of immigration records introduced or refined during this era provide a wealth of biographical and kinship information for tracing individuals and families on both sides of the border.
Location & Recordings
Join us live at the Dallas Public Library or online on Zoom.
The syllabus PDF will be emailed to you before the seminar. There will be no printed syllabi available at the event. Free parking available under the library. Enter the parking garage from Wood St.
Session recordings will be available to registered participants from Sunday July 27 through Sunday August 10.
Schedule
Saturday July 26 (all times CT)
| 9:30 | 10:35 | Foundational Concepts and Reference Tools for Mexican Genealogy |
| 10:35 | 11:00 | Break |
| 11:00 | 12:00 | Working with Mexican Catholic Parish Records |
| 12:00 | 1:00 | Lunch |
| 1:00 | 2:00 | Working with Mexican Civil Registrations |
| 2:00 | 2:30 | Break |
| 2:30 | 3:30 | Essential U.S. Registration Records for Researching Your Mexican Ancestors |
Cost (USD)
| | By July 7 | After July 7 |
|---|---|---|
| DGS Member | $60 | $80 |
| Others | $75 | $95 |
Box Lunches will be available for $16 (must be ordered with a registration by July 21).
Join DGS REGISTERRefund Policy: Requests for refunds made prior to the early-bird cutoff date (July 7, 2025) will be granted (less a $10 handling fee). DGS will not issue refunds after 5:00 pm on July 7, but we will provide a syllabus (PDF) and access to the recorded lectures for two weeks after the presentation.
Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS, FTxSGS, is a professional genealogist, academic librarian, college educator, and digital storyteller. She is a nationally recognized genealogy educator specializing in methodology; Mexican, Mexican-American, and Hispanic research; 20th century immigration research; WWI & WWII military research; libraries and archives; and technology.
Colleen has coordinated courses for the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR) and has taught in courses for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), SLIG Academy for Professionals and the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). She also coordinates the Mexico Research Series for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
Colleen is the Digital Scholarship Librarian at California State University, Fullerton, where her work focuses on teaching digital tools and strategies as well as genealogy methods and sources. She has also taught an online, graduate-level, genealogy methods and librarianship course for San Jose State University since 2016.
Colleen is a self-proclaimed Latina Leprechaun who has been researching her family history since 1997, and she is passionate about helping others do the same. Her Mexican roots are from California, New Mexico, and Texas, and the Mexican states of San Luis Potosí, Chihuahua, Durango, and Tamaulipas. Colleen has recently started digging further into her County Mayo, Ireland roots as well. She blogs about genealogy research and technology strategies and her family history adventures at htps://www.colleengreene.com/.
