The Family History Library, a genealogical section of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints, will be conducting a day of classes and workshops.

The free classes are open to the public and will show participants how to conduct online research, and various other techniques for tracing their genealogy.

Brian Sheffield will be the keynote speaker and will kick off the event with his lecture “Family History…Compensation and Benefits.”

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints on McBean Parkway.

The Family History Library originated in the late 1800’s as a public organization called the Genealogical Society of Utah.  Its main purpose was to assist church members with their family history and genealogical research.

In 1944 the society incorporated into the church and changed its name to the Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 2000 the name was changed again to the department is the Family and Church History Department.  The churches extensive microfilm collection, which contains more than 2.4 million records of family’s history, is housed in the Granite Mountain Records Vault.   The vault was tunneled into the mountainside 25 miles outside of Salt Lake City and provides a safe repository for camera masters of the microfilmed records.

Despite being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints, the Family and Church History Department is open to anyone who wishes to trace their past.