​​​​Professional Genealogist

Genealogical Resume

  • 2021-2022 Director, Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Athens, Georgia
  • 2020 Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Athens, Georgia, "Advanced Library Research: Law Libraries and Government Documents" with Patricia Wall Stamm, CG, CGL and Benjamin B. Spratling, J.D.
  • 2019 Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Athens, Georgia, "Genetics for Genealogists: Beginning DNA" with Patti Lee Hobbs, CG
  • 2018 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, Salt Lake City, Utah. "Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum" with Angela Packer McGhie, CG     Recipient of 2017 AncestryProGenealogists Scholarship
  • 2018 National Genealogical Society Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan (Speaker)
  • ​2017 Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Athens, Georgia. "Research in the South: Cessions & Territories" with J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA
  • 2016 National Genealogical Society Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida (Speaker)
  • 2016 Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama. "Land Records: Metes & Bounds & Land Plats" with Gerald H. Smith, CG
  • 2015 Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama. “Advanced Methodology & Evidence Analysis” with Judy G. Russell, J.D., CG, CGL
  • 2014 Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama. “Intermediate Genealogy and Historical Studies” with Angela Packer McGhie, CG 
  • 2013 Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, La Roche College, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Determining Kinship Reliably with the Genealogical Proof Standard” with Thomas W. Jones, PhD., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS


Kristin holds paid subscriptions to many online databases and has established a working network of fellow professional genealogists across the United States and abroad. She strives to uphold the guidelines and ethics of the genealogy community as set forth by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS).

About

Kristin Harms

Owner and Principal Genealogist


Kristin Harms is the owner and princip​al genealogist of Relative Proof, LLC.

She is the past Director of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in

Athens, Georgia. She has spoken at various NGS conferences and specializes in

colonial research. In 2017 Kristin received the AncestryProGenealogists Scholarship.


Kristin has colonial roots in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New

Hampshire and Massachusetts. Her immigrant ancestors came from Germany,

Switzerland, England, Scotland, and Ireland. In addition to U.S. colonial research, Kristin specializes in research in the Southeastern United States, specifically Georgia. She lives just outside of Atlanta, Georgia convenient to the Georgia Archives and the National Archives at Atlanta, NARA’s Southeastern Division. Kristin earned her B.A. in East Asian Studies and Economics from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and also studied at Nanjing University in Nanjing, China. She has been chasing and analyzing the evidence of her own ancestors’ lives for 25 years.


Kristin and her husband have two children in college and several shelter dogs. For the past sixteen years Kristin has delivered the same Meals on Wheels route. If Kristin is not the right researcher for your project, she is more than happy to help put you in touch with the researcher who is.