Birmingham, AL – Congratulation to Patricia Summers-Smith who has successfully completed the Professional Genealogy course at the Institute for Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama in June 2009.  The week-long course, coordinated by Elissa Scalise Powell, Certified Genealogist^SM, was an intensive study of business practices, client communications, and opportunities to use genealogical knowledge to help people discover their family history. The specialized, yearly Institute was founded in 1964 and offers various genealogical courses including methodology, regional, computer and ethnic topics. For more information on the Institute see http://www.samford.edu/schools/ighr.

 Genealogy is one of the nation’s top hobbies whose interest has expanded since Roots by Alex Haley was published. With the Internet and DNA studies being within easy reach of the general population, those curious about their ancestors have turned to professionals for help in interpretation and a deeper understanding of records identifying their family. Patricia Summers-Smith is one such professional who is a member of Seattle Genealogical Society, National Genealogical Society, Washington State Genealogical Society and Association of Professional Genealogists national organization and Puget Sound regional chapter. You may contact her through her website at http://rootstracker.com .