Practical Genealogy for Serious Researchers
"Your ancestors left a paper trail."
"We'll teach you to follow it."
Free weekly missions that build real genealogy skills - from your first census search to advanced DNA analysis. Each mission includes a downloadable research tool you can take to the archive.
Your Learning Path
Progressive missions that build on each other
What Is Operation Granny Files?
Operation Granny Files is a progressive genealogy education series. Each mission is a self-contained lesson that teaches a specific research skill and comes with a free downloadable artifact—a field guide, quick reference, or workbook—you can use immediately.
Missions build on each other, from the absolute basics of Genealogy 101 through advanced methodology in the 300- and 400-level courses. Whether you're interviewing your grandmother for the first time or decoding a Civil War pension file, there's a mission for where you are right now.
Teaching children ages 8–14? See our homeschool genealogy workbooks for kids.
Latest Missions
Read the newest lessons and download their research tools
Mission 40 Methodology The Family Historian’s Field Manual — Your Volume 2 Capstone
No new record types, just the system that keeps them paying off: a research log, a citation card, a specialty lane, a reference shelf, and a handoff.
Read Mission →
Mission 39 Specialty Raíces: Why Your Mexican Ancestors May Have Better Records Than Your English Ones
Your Mexican ancestors may have records back to the 1500s. Learn where parish and civil records live, how to read them, and why both surnames matter.
Read Mission →
Mission 38 Specialty The Norwegian/Danish Line — Deep Research in Scandinavia’s Secondary Records
Found the Norwegian or Danish parish? Now read it: the two-book rule, patronymic and farm-name decoding, and the records that confirm a family.
Norwegian/Danish Deep-Research Toolkit (PDF)
Read Mission →Fresh from the Substack
- The Family Historian’s Field Manual – Your Volume 2 Capstone November 5, 2026
- The Swedish Line – Husförhörslängder, Patronymics, and the Best Records in Europe October 30, 2026
- Auf Deutsch – German-Speaking Europe, Kirchenbücher, and the Borders That Kept Moving October 24, 2026
- Raíces: Why Your Mexican Ancestors May Have Better Records Than Your English Ones October 18, 2026
Free Research Tools
Downloadable field guides, quick references, and workbooks
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