Research At The National Archives And Beyond!

  Have you explored the sacramental records available through the Catholic Church?   Bernice Bennett welcomes Jari C.Honora for an engaging discussion concerning the sacramental records as a genealogical resource. Honora is a New Orleans native and proud Louisiana Creole with roots dating back more than two centuries along Bayou LaFourche and the German-Acadian Coast. He is a member of the Louisiana Creole Research Association, Jefferson Historical Society, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  He serves as National Historian for the Knights of Peter Claver and is writing a history of the organization to be released in 2014.

Natonne Elaine Kemp welcomes Toni Carrier and Robin Foster for a discussion of the LowCountry Africana. Toni Carrier (M.A.) is the Founder of LowcountryAfricana, a free website dedicated to African American genealogy and history in SC, GA and FL. Lowcountry Africana, sponsored by the Magnolia Plantation Foundation of Charleston, SC, is currently working with descendants of slaveholders and descendants of slaves, to document the history and genealogy of enslaved communities on Drayton family plantations in SC, GA, FL and TX.   Robin Foster has been researching and assisting others with their genealogy since 1985. She shares her expertise about current technologies, historical documentation, and strategies useful to genealogists and family historians. Robin is a regular presenter at libraries and genealogical societies.  

  "Research Gems and Revelations at the National Archives" Have you explored all of the wonderful resources available at the National Archives?  Do you often wonder what you could find? Join host Bernice Bennett and author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles for an exciting discussion about the "Research Gems and Revelations at National Archives. Ms. Bundles is chair and president of the board of the Foundation for the National Archives in Washington, DC, and president of the Madam Walker/A’Lelia Walker Family Archives. After a 30 year career as a network television news producer and executive with ABC News and NBC News, she also serves on several other non-profit boards including serving as a Columbia University trustee, and with the Madam Walker Theatre Center of Indianapolis, and the Radcliffe Institute’s Schlesinger Library Council at Harvard. Ms. Bundles is currently at work on her third book,  Joy Goddess of Harlem:The Life and Times of A’Lelia Walker, a biography of her great-grandmother. Her biography o

Rebroadcast Rebecca J. Scott, author of Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation, and co-authored with Jean M. Hébrard, will discuss how they traced one family across five generations and three continents, into slavery and then back into freedom. Freedom papers is the 2012 Recipient of the Albert J. Beveridge Award and the James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History - American Historical Association. Scott teaches history and law at the University of Michigan. She is also a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Join authors Lawrence N. Powell and Rebecca  J. Scott fortwo engaging discussions about their books. Lawrence N. Powell author of The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans (Harvard, 2012)  provides an account of the first two centuries in the history of New Orleans.  Powell received his doctorate from Yale University in 1976. He specializes in Civil War and Reconstruction; Southern history; Louisiana history and politics; and the Holocaust. For the last seven years he was also Director of Tulane's Campus Affiliates Program (CAP) and the Tulane/Xavier National Center for the Urban Community. The former Guggenheim Fellow, in 2008 Powell was elected as a Fellow in the Society of American Historians in recognition of literary distinction in the writing of history. Rebecca J. Scott,  author of  Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation, and co-authored with Jean M. Hébrard,  will discuss how they traced one family across five generations and three continents, into slavery and then back into

Rebroadcast Fathers of Conscience Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South Bernice Bennett and Natonne Elaine Kemp welcome author Bernie D. Jones for an engaging discussion about her book - Fathers of Conscience - Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South. Fathers of Conscience examines high-court decisions in the antebellum South that involved wills in which white male planters bequeathed property, freedom, or both to women of color and their mixed-race children. These men, whose wills were contested by their white relatives, had used trusts and estates law to give their slave partners and children official recognition and thus circumvent the law of slavery. The will contests that followed determined whether that elevated status would be approved or denied by courts of law. Jones is Associate Professor, Suffolk University Law School. She is a graduate of the New York University Law School and the University of Virginia Department of History.  

Rebroadcast Fathers of Conscience Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South Bernice Bennett and Natonne Elaine Kemp welcome author Bernie D. Jones for an engaging discussion about her book - Fathers of Conscience - Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South.    Fathers of Conscience examines high-court decisions in the antebellum South that involved wills in which white male planters bequeathed property, freedom, or both to women of color and their mixed-race children. These men, whose wills were contested by their white relatives, had used trusts and estates law to give their slave partners and children official recognition and thus circumvent the law of slavery. The will contests that followed determined whether that elevated status would be approved or denied by courts of law. Jones is Associate Professor, Suffolk University Law School.  She is a graduate of the New York University Law School and the University of Virginia Department of History.   

Fathers of Conscience Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South Bernice Bennett and Natonne Elaine Kemp welcome author Bernie D. Jones for an engaging discussion about her book - Fathers of Conscience - Mixed-Race Inheritance in the Antebellum South.    Fathers of Conscience examines high-court decisions in the antebellum South that involved wills in which white male planters bequeathed property, freedom, or both to women of color and their mixed-race children. These men, whose wills were contested by their white relatives, had used trusts and estates law to give their slave partners and children official recognition and thus circumvent the law of slavery. The will contests that followed determined whether that elevated status would be approved or denied by courts of law. Jones is Associate Professor, Suffolk University Law School.  She is a graduate of the New York University Law School and the University of Virginia Department of History. 

  DearMYRTLE is the nom de plume of Pat Richley-Erickson, author of the award-winning DearMYRTLE Genealogy Blog, consistently among the top 5 family history blogs internationally, where her focus is on beginning genealogy topics.   A speaker at regional and national conferences including several live videocasts at RootsTech2011 and 2012, Myrt is co-founder of the Genea-Quilters group on Facebook, and founder of www.GeneaWebinars.com, a centralized calendar and blog for all known genealogy webinar hosts and virtual presenters.  Myrt is also an active member of the Second Life (SL) Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and coordinator of SL's Just Genealogy including the Inferential Genealogy Study Group.     Online since 1985 in membership development with Q-Link's Your Family Tree and later on the leadership team of AOL's Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Pat is a retired post-secondary computer instructor.  She and her husband maintain homes in Alexandria, Virginia and Salt Lake City, Utah.

  Bernice Bennett welcomes David Lynch who brings a new approach to searching his Caribbean roots, specifically in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the former Danish West Indies.  David used his 20 years of experience in scientific research to guide his work in uncovering his family’s 300 year history in the islands.  Very few records are available online, so David explored the rarely used NARA RG 55 in College Park and other sources. These records hold a wealth of information including tax lists and a nearly complete set of newspapers from St Croix dating from the early 1800’s.  In the process he learned a lot about the islands, the people, and a family history that was very different then he expected.   He chronicles his discoveries in his blog – 200 Year’s in Paradise – selected as one of Family Tree Magazine's Top 40 for 2012.

Rebroadcast   Regina E. Mason the great great great granddaugther of William Grimes will share a moving discussion of her research and discovery of the first fugitive slave narrative.    

Rebroadcast RECLAIMING GRIMES: THE FIRST FUGITIVE SLAVE NARRATIVE WITH REGINA E. MASON! Join Regina E. Mason the great great great granddaugther of William Grimes for a moving discussion of her research and discovery of the first fugitive slave narrative. REGINA E. MASON, has spent fifteen years authenticating the pioneering narrative of her direct ancestor William Grimes—author of the first fugitive slave narrative in American history. Not only is she the gate-keeper of her family's history, she is also coeditor of the new edition of her forefather's book Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave. In recognition of her work, the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society presented her the 2009 Herndon Lecturer award. She is currently working on the documentary Gina's Journey: The Search for William Grimes.  

Rebroadcast RECLAIMING GRIMES: THE FIRST FUGITIVE SLAVE NARRATIVE WITH REGINA E. MASON! Join Regina E. Mason the great great great granddaugther of William Grimes for a moving discussion of her research and discovery of the first fugitive slave narrative. REGINA E. MASON, has spent fifteen years authenticating the pioneering narrative of her direct ancestor William Grimes—author of the first fugitive slave narrative in American history. Not only is she the gate-keeper of her family's history, she is also coeditor of the new edition of her forefather's book Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave. In recognition of her work, the San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society presented her the 2009 Herndon Lecturer award. She is currently working on the documentary Gina's Journey: The Search for William Grimes.  

  Would you spend the night in an old slave cabin? What would it feel like? Are you willing to experience what the enslaved had to go through to survive?     Bernice Bennett welcomes Joseph McGill, Jr.,  as he takes us  on a journey to experience the "Slave Dwelling Project". He sleeps in slave dwellings as an attempt to bring much needed attention and resources for their restoration. Joseph McGill, Jr. is a Field Officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He works in the Charleston, South Carolina Field Office.  McGill is the former Director of History and Culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, South Carolina. Penn School was the first school built during the Civil War for the education of recently freed slaves. McGill is the founder of Company “I” 54th Massachusetts Reenactment Regiment in Charleston, South Carolina. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was the regiment portrayed in the award winning movie “Glory”. As a Civil War Reenactor, McGill participates in parades, living

Genealogy Education, What, When and Where? Explore and understand the various resources available to assist you in selecting the best genealogy education program for you. Bernice Bennett welcomes Beverly Rice, cg(sm) a teacher and lecturer in historical and genealogical topics with a special interest in "Western Migration, the Woman’s Experiences in the West".   She has taught genealogy and banking courses at a local community college on a part-time basis since 1981, and is the Director of American Studies and Director of Curriculum Development for GenealogicalStudies.com (National Institute for Genealogical Studies). Beverly is an associate of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, with credentials as a Certified Genealogist(sm). She is also a board member for the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and a former trustee for the Board for Certification of Genealogists.  Beverly received a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University in social science, with an emphasis on women’s studies

  Natonne Elaine Kemp welcomes Tim Talbott a Teacher and Professional Development Coordinator at the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) in Frankfort. He handles a number of education outreach responsibilities including administering, developing, researching, and presenting Teaching American History grant programs to Kentucky educators. Prior to his position at the KHS, Tim worked at Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldiers in Petersburg, Virginia, as the Assistant Chief of Education and Visitor Services for three years.  Tim received his master’s degree in Public History from Appalachian State University, and has bachelor’s degrees in History from East Tennessee State University, and Communications from Milligan College.                  Theme music - Sweet Mello Spice by composer / producer Alvin K. Alexander.   

 Bernice Bennett welcomes Judy Riffel, a professional genealogist  for an engaging discussion about what you need to know about records and documents in Louisiana. Judy has authored numerous books and articles on genealogy, and she is an officer in one of the largest genealogical groups in the state, Le Comité des Archives de la Louisiane, and editor of its quarterly journal.             Theme music - Sweet Mello Spice by composer / producer Alvin K. Alexander. 

  This show will motivate you to create the story that puts your ancestor's life into the context of where they lived, celebrated and experienced  a multitude of life events, and died.  Telling the real story is what genealogy is all about! Do you have a story to tell about your ancestors? Bernice Bennett welcomes  Tamela Tenpenny-Lewis the newly elected National President of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), for an engaging discussion on genealogy and preservation.  She has been active in the genealogical community for 32 years and is experienced in the fields of genealogical research, restoration, preservation, database management, program planning and presentation.  Her skill as a motivator and organizer serves the genealogical community with well received and attended national conferences. She has collaborated on numerous occasions with individuals and organization to share, inform, educate, and preserve historical information and artifacts.  In demand as a speaker and presen

  Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade --   -- is the chronicle of a shared journey toward racial reconciliation. Informed by genealogy, it deals with race, social justice and healing from the traumatic wounds of slavery. Over a three year period, the authors traveled through 27 states, visiting ancestral towns, courthouses, cemeteries, plantations, antebellum mansions, and historic sites.   Bernice Alexander Bennett welcomes Sharon Leslie Morgan and Thomas Norman Dewolf to share this compelling journey with us.   Sharon Morgan is a marketing communications consultant and a nationally recognized pioneer in multicultural marketing. An avid genealogist, she is the webmaster for OurBlackAncestry.com and is a founder of the Black Public Relations Society.  Thomas Norman DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade, is featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary film Traces of the Trade, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and on the acclaimed PBS serie

  Bernice Bennett welcomes Linda McDowell  an archival assistant at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock. She is a member of the Arkansas Historical Association and was recently elected to the board. She is also a member of the Garland County Historical Society, the Arkansas Genealogical Society (former board member and officer, 2000-2004), and the National Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. She has published articles in various historical journals and the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas and compiled a genealogical reference entitled Black Slaves and Early Freedmen of Hempstead County, Arkansas, 1819-1850.                   Theme music - Sweet Mello Spice by composer / producer Alvin K. Alexander.