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Diane Rapaport,
the principal consultant for Quill Pen Historical
Consulting, is an attorney, historian,
genealogist,
award-winning
author and popular speaker. She offers an unusual
combination of expertise and experience—in law, history and genealogy—and
she enjoys
discovering and telling the stories of our past. Put
her skills and enthusiasm to work for you.
Diane Rapaport on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?
Recently Diane appeared on the BBC series, Who Do You Think You Are?, with British television celebrity Richard Madeley. As a research consultant for the show, Diane was filmed with Madeley at the Massachusetts Archives in Boston, where she told him the surprising news that he had colonial American roots, back to the earliest settlers of 17th-century New England. Diane showed Madeley a petition signed in 1650 by his ancestor Anne Beamsley Woodward with nearly 200 other Massachusetts women—the first organized women’s political protest in American history—which obtained the release from prison of a midwife they believed had been wrongly convicted. Madeley also learned that Anne’s husband, Ezekiel Woodward, was a sergeant in the colonial militia during King Philip’s War at the Great Swamp Fight of 1675, a bloody and controversial attack on a Narragansett fort in Rhode Island that killed hundreds of Native Americans. This television episode, which aired in the UK on September 28, 2011, is not scheduled for release in the U.S., but a DVD of the series should be available for purchase from the BBC in a few months.
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New England court records
As a former
trial lawyer, Diane brings a unique insider’s
perspective to court records research. She knows how
to find and use legal resources from the 17th
to the 21st centuries, and she authored
the only comprehensive regional guide to the
subject:
New England Court Records: A Research Guide for
Genealogists and Historians (Quill Pen
Press, 2006), which won Benjamin Franklin Awards
(Independent Book Publishers Association)
for Best History Book, Best Reference Book, and
finalist for Best New Voice in Nonfiction.
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Colonial New England history
Although Diane undertakes projects involving a variety of regions and time periods, her special interest is colonial New England,
and she writes frequently about her research. She is particularly interested in African Americans, Native Americans, and other non-English people (Scots, Irish, etc.) of early New England. She recently served as a research consultant about colonial New England for the BBC-London TV series “Who Do You Think You Are?”
Her latest book,
The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from
the Courts of Colonial New England
(Commonwealth Editions, 2007), was a finalist for
ForeWord
magazine’s Book of the Year Award for History.
For many years, Diane wrote the “Tales from the Courthouse” column in American Ancestors magazine,
bringing
colonial history to life with true stories from
court records.
Read more about Diane’s publications.
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Lineage Society documentation
Diane enjoys helping families to trace their ancestry, and one of her specialties is assisting with lineage society applications, to organizations such as the Mayflower Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Sons of the American Revolution. Membership in lineage societies depends upon proving your ancestor’s qualification (early settler, soldier, etc.) and your direct relationship (verifying the births, marriages and deaths in each generation), which often requires research to find historical documents and other primary sources.
Early American handwriting
Old handwriting—penned with quill and homemade ink—can be difficult to decipher,
especially archaic writing styles, abbreviations and legal terminology. Diane is
a specialist at reading and transcribing early American documents.
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Lectures and workshops
Diane is an
experienced public speaker and has presented more than 150 lectures and
workshops at a wide range of venues: colleges and universities,
libraries, historical and genealogical organizations, museums, TV
and radio.
Diane’s professional credentials and affiliations
- J.D., magna cum laude (University of
Minnesota Law School, 1978); B.A., History (Ohio State
University, 1975).
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Licensed as Attorney in good standing with the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (since 1985, and previously in
Minnesota).
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Highest
Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ Peer
Review Rating for Legal
Ability and General Ethical Standards (since 1985).*
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Member of national and regional professional associations, including:
History:
National Council on Public History
American Historical Association Genealogy:
Association of Professional Genealogists, Publications Advisory Committee (and APG's New England Chapter)
National
Genealogical Society
New England Historic Genealogical Society
Massachusetts
Society of Genealogists
Connecticut
Society of Genealogists
Maine
Genealogical Society
New Hampshire
Society of Genealogists
Rhode Island
Genealogical Society
Genealogical
Society of Vermont
Genealogical
Speakers Guild
American-Canadian
Genealogical Society
New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
More information
For more about
Diane’s background and experience, visit her
author/speaker website.
* CV, BV and AV are
registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc.,
used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification
procedures, standards and policies.
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Masthead (images 2, 3, 4,
7, 11 and 13, from left): The Granger Collection, New York |
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©2010-2011 Quill Pen Historical Consulting,
P. O. Box 204, Lexington, MA
02420. All rights
reserved.
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