2015_SWM_aSteven Waltz Morrison has been a professional genealogist since 2006. He is the past-president of the Puget Sound chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the Olympia Genealogical Society, in the capitol of Washington State.

Steven attained a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from The Evergreen State College, where he taught as an adjunct faculty in the graduate program (1987-1994). In recent years, he’s advanced his genealogical education by attending sixteen genealogical institutes including the: Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR),  the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and the British Institute at Salt Lake City.

In 2018 Steven coordinated the SLIG Course: Exploring Quaker Records – At Home and Abroad, and did the same at 2020 GRIP: Exploring American Quaker Records. For 2021 Steven instructed in SLIG: From Sea to Shining Sea: Researching Our Ancestor’s Migrations in America, and coordinated the Quaker Virtual Institute hosted by the ISBGFH. In 2023 he will be coordinating a SLIG Fall Virtual course: Discovering Quaker Records – In the U.S. and the British Isles.

Steven’s been an active genealogical speaker throughout the northwest and has presented to all the genealogical societies in Western Washington either in-person or virtually. In 2007 he presented at the Family History & Genealogical Conference at Provo, Utah, and in 2022 at the National Genealogical Society Conference in Sacramento, California. Steven has also addressed international audiences: in 2012 at the Ulster American Historical Symposium at Omagh, N. Ireland; in 2015 to the Irish Friends (Quakers) Yearly Meeting, in Newry, N. Ireland; and in 2018 at the Ulster American Historical Symposium in Toronto, Canada.

As an author, Steven’s genealogical journey began in 1998 with the self-publishing of a remembrance of his grandmother. The book is now part of a millennium time capsule on the Washington State Capitol Campus, and in the Family History Library collection at Salt Lake City. Since then, he’s authored multiple articles and books reviews regarding Quakers (Religious Society of Friends). These include three articles for Familia (the journal of the Ulster Historical Foundation), and others for Journal of Scotch-Irish Studies, Directory of Irish Family History Research, and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. In 2016 Steven received the American Society of Genealogist (ASG) scholar award for his paper ”Quaker John Starr of Antrim and Cavan, Ireland and his five sons who sailed to Pennsylvania.”

With relatives in England, Steven has crossed the pond no less than six times, to undertake primary research in Ireland and the United Kingdom. While these trips resulted in some break-through discoveries, they afforded an opportunity to visit the major repositories, numerous private libraries, and meet an amazing collection of truly warm and helpful people.