The next meeting of the Genealogy Club of Newtown will be held on Wednesday, May 14, via Zoom, and will feature a program by Nick Sheedy, who has been the lead genealogist on the PBS program Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr for the last five seasons.

Sheedy’s topic will be “Brick Walls and Surprises.” He will discuss his work on Finding Your Roots Seasons 2-11, and touch on his own family history in Connecticut.

He will also give some examples of how he has been able to break through brick walls, the surprises that often are presented to genealogists, and how he often approaches them.

Nick Sheedy has worked on a wide variety of genealogical projects, including general family histories, television documentaries, slave research, unknown parentage, probate cases, and large population studies for genetic medical research. His specialties include African American and slave-era research, the early American colonial era, and the frontier, western fur trade, and gold rush eras, and Quaker genealogy.

Between 2012 and 2024, he conducted genealogical research for Finding Your Roots, first as associate genealogist for Seasons 2-7, and then as lead genealogist for Seasons 7-11. He worked with a team of genealogists, historians, researchers and producers to create the Emmy-nominated series and one of the most popular shows on public television. This experience has given him unparalleled opportunities to expand the depth and breadth of his genealogical research skills.

Sheedy grew up in rural eastern Oregon, Idaho and northwestern Montana. He was blessed to have known all of his grandparents and four of his great-grandparents, who instilled in him a love of family and family history. He currently lives in Montana with his wife and four sons, and conducts professional research through his business, Finding Your Ancestry, LLC.

He will allow discussion time during his program and enthusiastically encourages questions.

The genealogy club meeting on May 14 will begin promptly at 7 pm via Zoom. Guests are welcome to join and can receive the link by sending their name and contact information by May 12 to genclubnewtownct.secretary@gmail.com. A program link will be sent in response on May 13 or 14.

Those planning to join the meeting are asked to enter the Zoom meeting room around 6:45 so that the meeting and program begin promptly at 7.

Programs and speakers are co-sponsored by C.H. Booth Library.