Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) offers week-long courses in a suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, college campus setting with top instructors in our field. Begun in 2012 with four courses GRIP has expanded to six concurrent courses in each of two summer weeks. Students have attended from forty-three states and three countries making GRIP a premier institute of genealogical education.

GRIP, aka “Summer Camp for Genealogists,” is a popular educational experience that encourages students to return each year. The collegial feel of learning among friends enhances delving deeper into your chosen topic, whether it is writing the family history, research in Washington, D.C., New Jersey, the Old Northwest Territory, Ireland, or Eastern Europe, law school for genealogists, proper documentation, analysis, and proof arguments, intermediate methods, or practical applications for DNA evidence and advanced DNA topics. This year’s institute weeks of June 25 to 30 and July 16-21 each offer different courses. To see the detailed listings please click on the appropriate link at http://www.gripitt.org/courses/. Please stop by NGS exhibit booth 211—just past FamilySearch from the entrance—to visit GRIP co-directors Debbie Lichtner Deal and Elissa Scalise Powell, CG, CGL, and learn more about the 2017 courses and see previous years’ photos. Detailed class lists for the 2017 courses will be available, as will “I Got A GRIP” pins. Door prizes will also be awarded from the booth.

The GRIP 2018 courses will be unveiled at the booth for your future planning. Be one of the first to stop by and pick up our announcement flyer and blog or Facebook about it. Your followers will recognize that you are “in the know” and GRIP may have a special thank-you gift for you!