A.C. Ivory, the Skydiving Student Genealogist for Follow Friday

Many genealogists keep a bucket list, but the top item on genealogist A.C. Ivory’s list has to be unique. “For years, I’ve wanted to go skydiving,” he says, “so … I finally did it!” 

A.C. brings the same persistence to genealogical research that he shows in planning and fulfilling his goal to try skydiving. Personal research, college studies, travel, and work with ProGenealogists in Salt Lake City are all part of A.C.’s life as a student genealogist since receiving the 2012 Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant. 

 
A.C. recently sent an update on his activities —

It was such a great honor and surprise to receive the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant this past June at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. I am fortunate enough to have met Denise’s mother, Suzanne, at the Jamboree in 2010 and hear of her love and passion for genealogy. Denise has set up a wonderful grant for students like me and Elyse to expand our education and love for genealogy.
 
Over the last few months after receiving the grant I continued to work at ProGenealogists, Ancestry.com’s official research firm and expand my knowledge and skills in genealogy. The genealogy grant has given me the opportunity to purchase new genealogy research books, a paid subscription to Dropbox where I can store all of my genealogy files and access them anywhere, and to pay for another year’s subscription to Weeby Pro. Weebly is the service I use to create my family’s genealogy websites.
 
I have built a few family websites where I can create custom pages to share my family history with the world. Although they are not anywhere complete, go ahead and check them out for yourselves.

 

• Generation Ivory

 – for Ivory Family Association

• Rowsell Researches

 – Rowsell Family History

• My Maternal Kin

 – Family Website for my mother’s siblings and family

• Lucas Lineages

 – My mother’s biological father’s ancestry

What does to future hold for me? Ever since returning home from an LDS Mission in Canada I have wanted to pursue a career in the genealogy field. I have worked very hard the past four years learning everything I can about  genealogy research and new technology for genealogy, and attending genealogy conferences to learn and network with other genealogists. I am currently attending the University of Utah for a degree in Mass Communications with and emphasis in New Media. Although this degree does not exactly fit with genealogy, I am confident that it will help me pursue my goals to work in whatever way I can in the genealogy field. 
 
I am currently a professional genealogist at ProGenealogists and am continually learning more about genealogy research. Whether I continue to work as a researcher or spread to other areas in genealogy, I look forward to expanding my network with the genealogy community and helping others learn how to research their own families.