Create Genealogy Maps Using PowerPoint

Have you ever wanted to create a map for your genealogy research but been overwhelmed by the process? Did you find a software program to help you but found it expensive or difficult to use?

I’ve discovered an affordable and easy way to create your own customized maps using Microsoft’s PowerPoint. Yes, PowerPoint. In my opinion PowerPoint is simple to use and found on most computers whether at home, work, a public library or even a family history center. As a professor by day, I use PowerPoint to deliver my lectures and present research at academic conferences. I’ve taken these skills and transferred them to my “night job” – genealogical research.

You don’t need to be an expert, or even a “power” user to use PowerPoint to produce your own high-quality maps. I’ve created an easy-to-follow tutorial video and posted it on my MyFamilyPattern YouTube channel, which will feature a series of genealogy research learning modules.

In the video, you’ll learn:

• Why it’s important to create your own genealogy maps;
• What elements are important to include in your maps; and
• Which PowerPoint features are necessary to build your maps.

Also in the video, I build the following map step-by-step and in real time using PowerPoint (see the map below). This map identifies the four townships my McMasters ancestors lived in Bucks County, Pennsylvania during the 1700s.

The above Bucks County McMasters map is made purposefully simple to keep the video to a reasonable length while also demonstrating the range of features and functionalities PowerPoint provides to make creating custom genealogy maps easy.

Maps Engage and Inform
Whether you’re writing a proof statement, proof argument, or an extensive research report, maps are just as powerful as your words. What’s the familiar adage – “a picture is worth a thousand words”?

Genealogical research is about presenting evidence, and maps enable us to achieve what I call the three Cs of illustrative genealogical research.

1. Maps complement our words permitting readers to absorb our arguments through both text and visuals.
2. Maps correlate evidence by showing how facts, places, landmarks, and distance support our conclusions.
3. Maps also contextualize changes to place names, political boundaries, and geographic features across time assisting our analyzation and evaluation of evidence.

In the years I’ve been doing research, I’ve created many maps to compliment my research, which I include in my research reports and post to my website. Recently, I’ve been asked by several of my blog followers to help them create their own maps. This prompted the development of the current YouTube learning module. The video tutorial also briefly discusses copyright issues in using existing maps in your research reports.

When creating maps, I’m guided by several principles:

1. Existing maps are often cluttered with information irrelevant to your current task, and no single existing map contains all the needed information. So, create your own map.
2. Existing maps may be protected by copyrights and determining their copyright status can be complex. Creating your own map avoids confusion.
3. Creating a map helps you to analyze and evaluate evidence.
4. Creating a map is a personally rewarding experience building new skill sets and reinforcing others.
5. Colors on a map grabs reader attention and emphasizes key evidence improving your persuasiveness.

Here a few map examples I have produced and included in my past research reports. The map produced in the tutorial YouTube video is largely based on the first map below.

To see how I used the above map and the one below in my research, please read the research report for Mary (McMasters) Boyd (1755-1832), where I principally use indirect evidence to prove the identity of her father, Thomas McMasters of Warwick Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

To see how I used the map below (and other maps) to prove the ancestral origin of my six-times great grandfather, please read the research report for John Wilson (d. 1799).

If you would like to learn how to create your own genealogy maps for your research, please watch my YouTube tutorial video, which contains chapters permitting you to quickly skip to the section of the video most interesting to you.

 

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