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An Azorean Family History

A Portuguese Genealogy Program With Keith Tavares

Join us to hear one man's journey to discover the rich stories in his Portuguese family history and his best advice for documenting your own ancestors from a place at the crossroads of world history.

Rhode Island resident Keith Tavares began learning the names and faces on his family tree when he was a young boy spending time with his grandparents on Aquidneck Island. As genealogical resources became more accessible over the last thirty years, his motivation to understand more about the lives of his ancestors led him to begin formally documenting their lives and connecting them to the significant people, eras and events in Portugal's varied and rich timeline. As a young man, Keith Tavares had the chance to travel in mainland Portugal, the Island of Madeira and the Azorean islands of Sao Miguel and Faial where he explored the very places his ancestors had lived and worked for centuries. Meeting his Portuguese cousins and developing relationships with other passionate Portuguese-heritage genealogists eventually lead Tavares to write An Azorean Family History: Our Faria and Moitoso Roots, a book-length family history that he describes as a passion project. 

Keith Tavares has worked in higher education and in the nonprofit sector for over thirty years. He is currently the Director of Capacity Building for the Rhode Island Foundation, a high-impact, community focused grantmaking organization supporting education, health, housing, and economic security initiatives throughout the state. He is a graduate of Boston University, where he majored in political science and history. 

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