My real name is Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, but my friends call me Liz. My reenactor friends also know me as Mary Davis, the widow in black on the left in the image above.
I’ve been involved in family history research since I was about 21, but had a quick taste of it in high school in a social studies class. I still have a copy of that report, where I put together an immigration study. I have been certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists since 1996, now as a Certified Genealogist, so you’ll see my name around the Web as Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGsm*.
I’ve been writing since I was a wee lass. I’ve always loved to write. I took a journalism class in high school, worked on the school newspaper and yearbook, and eventually got a bachelor of journalism with a concentration in photojournalism from the University of Texas. You can see some of my articles on my Ancestor Detective website.
I now consider myself a generational historian, after receiving a masters degree in state and local history from Eastern Michigan University. I have combined my love of genealogy, history, and writing any number of times over the course of my life, but nowhere does that combination come together better for me than at my job as executive director of the Plymouth Historical Museum.
*”CG” & “Certified Genealogist” are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, and are used by authorized associates following periodic, peer-reviewed competency evaluations. I’ve been certified since 1996.