Robert J. Cangelosi Jr., an adjunct lecturer at the Tulane University School of Architecture, will present an in-depth program on historic home research at the Old U.S. Mint at 9:30 a.m.

“If walls could talk, you would know everything about your property: who previously owned it, who slept in it, how old it is, and what secrets it holds.” Cangelosi, will outline how to develop the history of your property, using primary sources rather than oral traditions and secondary sources, which often are incorrect. Preparation of a “chain of title,” the essential first step in developing a history, will be discussed. The chain document the ownership of a property, which in theory, can be taken back to the early 1700s, during the French Colonial period. The “chain of title” relates to the property, not the improvements, and rarely will the chain alone indicate when improvements were made. Like history detectives, determining when improvements were done involves research into various records, including census, tax, water, building permits, contracts, city directories, newspapers, and more. This program will explain how these records can be used and where to find them.