Meet Michael Savoca 2013 Student Genealogy Grant Recipient

Mike Savoca of Toms River, New Jersey attended the Southern California Genealogy Society Jamboree for the first time to accept the 2013 Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant Award. Then a junior at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, Mike has now completed his undergraduate studies and attends graduate school at Queens College in New York.

“I’m in a joint-degree program for degrees in History and Library Science with a certificate in Archival Studies,” he writes. “I just started a few weeks back, and I’m already loving it!”

Mike continues to work at the Mount Kisco Historical Society in developing historic and natural walking trails, “just trying to get into archives any way I can,” he adds.

Mike is an experienced Italian and Croatian genealogy researcher who has traveled extensively to work with original records onsite in the home villages of his ancestors, and enjoys sharing his  expertise with other researchers through online groups and forums.

Following the 2013 Jamboree, Mike used funds from the Student Genealogy Grant to help with travel expenses on a genealogy research trip through Croatia, and to pay for DNA testing when he returned home.

Learn more about the Suzanne Winsor Freeman Student Genealogy Grant and how you can support the future of genealogy.