August 12, 2022—Boston, Massachusetts—In 2024, the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences will take place on U.S. soil for the first time in its 93-year history. American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)—a national center for family history, heritage, and culture—and FamilySearch, the world’s largest genealogy organization, have partnered to host the 36th Congress in the historic city of Boston, Massachusetts, surrounding NEHGS’s flagship location on Newbury Street from September 24 to 28, 2024. This biennial conference brings together scholars, historians, genealogists, heraldists, antiquarians, students, and enthusiasts from all around the world to explore compelling themes in genealogy, heraldry, and the intersection between the two.
The 2024 Congress will focus on the theme of “Origins, Journeys, Destinations.” Participants will explore how genealogy and heraldry can, on the one hand, serve to maintain or restore connections between a migrant community’s descendants and their ancestral homelands, or conversely, to emphasize the breaking of ties and the forging of new identities. Not all journeys are geographical, nor do they all involve large communities. Genealogy and heraldry can serve as vehicles for expressing the evolving identity of individuals and small groups, or to reflect a personal intellectual journey.
“The upcoming Congress will explore the many ways in which heraldry and genealogy intersect, particularly around the topic of journeys. When people leave one place and build lives in another, they often carry their cultural history along with them in different forms, including graphic forms like coats of arms and other symbols. Students of heraldry and family historians have much to say to one another on this subject, and I look forward to the lively conversations and revelations that are sure to come out of this conference,” commented Nathaniel Taylor, Chairman of the Scientific Committee for the upcoming Congress.
According to Ryan Woods, Executive Vice President & COO of New England Historic Genealogical Society, and Chair of NEHGS’s Committee on Heraldry, “Boston is the ideal host city for a conference focused on migrations and origins, thanks to its rich history. It is one of the oldest cities in North America, founded in the 17th century by colonists seeking religious and political freedom, it was the birthplace of the American Revolution, and it was a destination for hundreds of thousands of African Americans in the decades after the Civil War. Conference attendees will find there are an enormous number of interesting things to see and do.”
American Heraldry Society Governor-at-large Joseph McMillan also serves as Corresponding Secretary on the NEHGS Committee on Heraldry.
Program details, including conference updates and recommendations for places to stay, can be viewed on the conference website at www.americanancestors.org/icghs-2024. A call for speakers will be posted in the upcoming months. Please contact heraldry@nehgs.org for details.
About the Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical Society
The Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical Society is the oldest nongovernmental heraldic body in the world. The Committee was established in 1864 within the New England Historic Genealogical Society, to “collect and preserve information in regard to heraldry.” The Committee’s heraldic interests are national in scope, embracing the use of heraldry and coats of arms throughout the current United States and all its colonial predecessors.
About American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society
American Ancestors is a national center for family history, heritage, and culture. It is the global brand of New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), America’s oldest and largest genealogical society (founded 1845). American Ancestors serves more than 350,000 members and millions of online users engaged in family history nationally and around the world through its website AmericanAncestors.org with more than 1.4 billion names in its databases. Its national headquarters, located in Boston’s Back Bay, is home to a world-class research center and archive, an expert staff, and the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center. It maintains a publishing division which produces original genealogical research, scholarship, and educational materials, including the Register, the flagship journal of American genealogy since 1847; American Ancestors, its award-winning magazine; and Mayflower Descendant, a quarterly journal of Pilgrim genealogy and history.
About FamilySearch
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah