Idaho Genealogical Society: Genealogical Research Using Railroad Records

The Idaho Genealogical Society presents Kim S. Harrison who will provide an overview of the different types of records or sources that were created by the railroad or the people who worked on them. A quick look at the value these records tell us about our railroad ancestors.

Kim S. Harrison has been doing genealogy since 1974, and in 1998 was fortunate to turn her passion into her vocation. She had the privilege of working in the library community by representing some of the big online providers of information (Gale, Otherdays.com, ProQuest, NewsBank, and Ancestry) before relocating to Arizona for seven years and now back in Michigan (May 2023).

Her genealogy membership since the 1970s has been the NGS and the Ohio Genealogical Society as well as being past President of the Michigan Genealogical Council, founding member of the Grand River Trails Chapter of the DAR (MI), and past President of the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board. During the 1980s she lobbied the National Archives to stop the destruction of the Railroad Pension Application files. Later she wrote a grant for the preservation of the investigation in the Sultana Disaster, which is now available (free) on Fold3. Her most interesting ancestor was Lot Little, and she was able to join the DAR under his service. Lot was a freed slave from New Hampshire.

To learn more about this event and the Idaho Genealogical Society, visit idahogenealogy.org