Rich Roots Genealogy
Rich VeneziaRich Venezia is a New Jersey native who now calls Philadelphia home. He was a member of the research team of Genealogy Roadshow (PBS) for two seasons, and also consulted on Follow Your Past (Travel Channel).
He is an expert in the research of 20th-century immigrant ancestors, especially underutilized record sources and federal records, often unwrapping volumes of records at the National Archives that haven't been opened in decades. He has coordinated weeklong institutes on 20th-century immigration research for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, and the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research.
He also specializes in Italian and Irish research. Additionally, he assists clients with dual citizenship applications for Ireland and Italy, and is a proud Italian dual citizen.
He holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University. He lectures nationwide, including several keynotes, and spoke about "How to Grow Empathy From Uncovering Your Roots" at TEDx Pittsburgh 2017.
Rich is also a records access advocate, having coordinated the #RecordsNotRevenue campaign since 2019 against the proposed fee hikes for records held by the USCIS Genealogy Program. This campaign received international press and garnered him the Shirley M. Barnes Records Access Award from the Massachusetts Genealogical Council. He continues to fight for fairer access to these records.
