Philadelphia, PA – The first Philadelphia Hellenic Genealogy Conference was held at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral this past Saturday. Over fifty guests attended the affair that was hosted by Carol Kostakos Pentranek and Georgia Stryker Keilman, two experts in the field of genealogy research.

Conference Chairperson, Barbara Lyngarkos, explained that the presenters brought to light the various ways to approach family ancestry, but more importantly, the various online sources located in the United States and Greece. To date, there are more than 2,300 online genealogy resources and growing.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the day was the lecture given by Nicole Zicos Gulledge on DNA testing. Gulledge gave folks a thorough breakdown on how to apply and analyze their submission to a DNA company, for example, ancestry.com. The family tree and finding relatives through this service captivated the audiences. She strongly suggested that should you want to do DNA testing, you should start with the oldest person in your family.

The event also featured the Greek American Heritage Society 2018 Photo Tour, “A Musical Odyssey, 100 Years of Music History in Philadelphia.” During the conference breaks, GAHSP president Nick Yiantsos and Harry Karapalides discussed the project with attendees, who were extremely interested in not only the Photo Tour but the Heritage Society and its purposes.

As more and more of our community becomes interested in their Hellenic ancestry, conferences such as presented in Philadelphia will become more and more popular.