Are you interested in finding out more about your family’s history? Attend the Land Records & Genealogy Symposium to find out more about genealogy, homesteading and records research.

The symposium, sponsored by Southeast Community College and the Homestead National Monument of America in Beatrice, will be held July 15-16 at SCC’s Beatrice Campus.

Participants may attend one or both days. The cost for one day is $79 or both days for $109. Tuition includes continental breakfast, symposium materials and lunch. There also will be a dinner on the evening of July 15 at the Homestead National Monument. Cost is $22 per person.

Registration deadline is July 6. Persons can register by going to www.southeast.edu/continuing and click on the REGISTER NOW button. In the key word search box, type in Genealogy.

On July 15 there will be four speaker presentations, including award-winning Australian journalist Christine Kenneally, who wrote the book, “The Invisible History of the Human Race.”

“Our new ability to read DNA and dig through other mountains of digitized data has given us an unprecedented insight into not only what happened, but also what gets passed down,” Kenneally said about her book.

Other presenters include Tina Beaird, who will talk about mapping and property records; Jake Ersland, who will focus on Civil War records; and photographer Bill Ganzel, who will share pictures and interviews from the Dust Bowl.

“Big ‘historical’ events only matter when they affect the lives of everyday people, and the Great Depression was a matter of simple survival for most Americans,” Ganzel said.

July 16 speakers include Evie Bresette, who will focus on land records; Dr. David McDonald, who will share stories about transcontinental migration; and Bob King, who will speak about homesteading in Alaska. Nancy Johnson will explore the myths of women’s madness on the plains.

“This presentation takes into consideration that the settlement society of the Great Plains was influenced by Victorian attitudes, changing roles for women, the way mental disorders were diagnosed and treated, and the larger context of a rapidly industrializing America,” Johnson said.