Melissa Barker is a Certified Archives Manager and Public Historian currently working at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives & Museum. She is affectionately known as “The Archive Lady” within the genealogy community. Melissa lectures, teaches, and writes about the genealogy research process, researching in archives, and records preservation. She conducts virtual presentations across the United States and internationally for various genealogy groups and societies.

She writes a popular blog entitled A Genealogist in the Archives and is a well-known published book reviewer. Melissa has been a Professional Genealogist for the past 20 years with expertise in Tennessee records and has been researching her own family history for over 34 years.