Author Archives: wardweb1

Save the date for the 2023 fall conference!

October 7, 2023. GRIVA’s fall conference will be virtual again this year!

The featured speaker is Paula Stuart-Warren. The day long program will focus on building your research skills. More to come this summer, but be sure to save the date now on your calendar!

The Seedbed of America: Eastern Shore History and Records

Featured speaker: G. Ray Thompson, PhD

Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 7pm ET (via Zoom)

Registration link: https://tinyurl.com/GRIVADelmarvaMar2023

This program will present a history of the Eastern Shore of Virginia & Maryland and review the many available record types. Dr. Thompson will address the little known records of importance to family historians who are researching Eastern Shore (VA and MD) families.  These records represent the oldest continuous records in British speaking America as it was from the Eastern Shore that many waves of western migrations took place.  There are also significant secondary sources and the types of transcriptions of records available. A question and answer period will follow the visual on-line discussion of Delmarva’s myriad records

Dr. Thompson retired from Salisbury University in Maryland in 2016 as a distinguished professor of history where he served for 44 years, including as Chairman of the History Department for 12 years. 

He co-founded the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University in 1982, and he served as its co-director for over 20 years.  The Nabb Center is a hands-on laboratory in which history students are taught how to read, interpret, and write narrations based on original documents.  It also houses a collection of Delmarva primary and secondary source materials valuable for genealogical research.

Dr. Thompson’s work outside of academia has included serving on many councils and boar,d including but not limited to: past president of the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society; president for 17 years of the Wicomico County chapter of the Maryland Historical Trust; and a member of the Governor’s Advisory Board for National Historic Publication and Records. 

In his retirement, Dr, Thompson has continued to actively contribute to the historical and genealogical communities and has been awarded the highest service award from Preservation Maryland, and the Life Service Award from the Lower Eastern Shore Heritage Council.    He frequently conducts workshops and classes; works with libraries and historical organizations; and makes presentations for local, regional, and state organizations on the four hundred-plus years of history of the Delmarva and its people.