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Online Event Applying Investigative Skills

from the Financial Crime World to Genealogy

Join former financial crime investigator, Kate Townsend, CG® to learn how to apply the skills she developed investigating fraud, money laundering, and high-net-worth individuals to your genealogical research, including investigative organization and visualization techniques and the investigative mindset. Registration is required. Zoom link will be emailed to registrants within 24 hours of the event start time. For more information, please contact 305-375-5572 or email specialcollections@mdpls.org. All Ages.

Presented by the Special Collections & Archives Division of the Miami-Dade Public Library System, located at the Main Library.

About the Program

Join former financial crime investigator, Kate Townsend, CG® to learn how to apply the skills she developed investigating fraud, money laundering, and high-net-worth individuals to your genealogical research pursuits. Kate will discuss how investigative organization and visualization techniques and the investigative mindset can be applied to genealogical research through real examples of their use.

About the Presenter

Kate is a former professional investigator turned genealogist, specializing in Pennsylvania genealogical research. She also has experience with records from Ohio, West Virginia, and New York City, as well as expertise in immigration, naturalization, and court records. She holds the Certified Genealogist® credential as of February 2024. Kate owns Family History Investigations LLC.

Kate has spoken at national and local genealogical societies, libraries, and conferences, including the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference, New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, Ohio Genealogical Society Conference, and RootsTech. She has served on the faculty at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.

Although Kate has been working on her own family history since she was sixteen, her interest in investigating and researching on a professional level was piqued when she served as an Archives Technician at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) while completing her undergraduate studies. She worked as a resource for both amateur and professional genealogical researchers, assisting them in conducting archival records research. Additionally, she gained experience with primary source documents in her first position with NARA, where she worked in the holdings maintenance department, preserving and cataloging records dating back to the 1800s.

About the Special Collections and Archives Division

The Miami-Dade Public Library System’s Special Collections & Archives Division preserves and provides access to rare and historically significant materials for the public and scholarly community. Its diverse holdings include the Helen Muir Florida Collection, the 16mm Film Collection, the Cuban Collection of Rare Books & Ephemera, the Genealogy Collection, and rare and antiquarian books dating back to the 17th century. The Division also manages the Library’s Permanent Art Collection, which features over 7,000 works displayed across library locations, and The Vasari Project, dedicated to documenting Miami-Dade County’s art history since 1945. Committed to accessibility, it offers materials for viewing and research both in person and online through the Digital Collection, which includes more than 40 freely accessible collections, featuring materials from the Library as well as contributions from outside collaborators and partner institutions. Spanning rare books, manuscripts, photographs, prints, paintings, sculptures, artifacts, audiovisual resources, and electronic media, these collections ensure that Miami-Dade County’s rich history, artistic legacy, and cultural heritage remain available to all.

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