Next Meeting Saturday, February 21st 2026, 1:30 PM
at The Gaelic League, 2068 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI 48216
Please join us for the January 2026 monthly meeting of the 2025 - 2026 season featuring Kassidy Cobb as our featured speaker. Reminders for this meeting will be emailed out to members as the date approaches. Zoom invitations are sent out to members only due to capacity limitations. Non-Members will be charged $10.00 to access our Zoom presentations.
"Deciphering Records: How to Figure Out Just What Historic Documents are Telling Us"
If you’ve been a researcher for five minutes, you’ve likely noticed something…historic writing is everywhere. Yet, even if you can read cursive writing, that doesn’t mean deciphering antique records is easy. On the contrary, it’s often frustrating and–all too often–these documents aren’t transcribed correctly, which can literally change the way history or your ancestor is viewed. After pouring through thousands (upon thousands!) of diaries, censuses, letters, and other records independently and via my work with National Park Service, I’ve learned several tricks for analyzing antique writing. In this presentation, I’ll share this information with you through hands-on examples and fun stories of past transcriptions. Trust me, I’ve uncovered some fascinating information through properly transcribing documents, and I want to help you do the same in your search, too.
With a Bachelor of Science in History/Creative Writing Minor (Liberty University, 2024) and a love for the past that inspires her to pursue her Masters in History (Liberty University, 2027), Kassidy is serious about sharing history in authentic and relatable ways. Even Mike Wolfe (star of American Pickers) called Kassidy “energetic” about history. Recognized by Congress, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, DAR, SAR, DUVCW, and countless others for her efforts to promote the past, Kassidy has found that history isn’t just a career–it’s a way of life.
