Research At The National Archives And Beyond!

      THE FAMILY TREE: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets and My Search for the Truth by Karen Branan A true account of the hanging of four black people by a white lynch mob in 1912—written by the great-granddaughter of the sheriff who allowed the lynching. Branan describes her almost twenty-year search for the truth behind her grandmother’s casual reply to the query “What is your most unforgettable memory?” The reply was, “The hanging,” which Branan would learn referred to the 1912 lynching of four black residents–a woman and three men–in retaliation for the killing of the sheriff’s nephew. Newly sworn into office, the sheriff–Branan’s maternal great-grandfather­–allowed the lynching, for which no one was ever apprehended. Karen Branan is a veteran journalist who has written for newspapers, magazines, stage, and television for almost fifty years. Her work has appeared in Life, Mother Jones, Ms., Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Today’s Health, Learning, Parents, Star Tribune (Minneapol

Alondra Nelson is Dean of Social Science and professor of sociology and gender studies at Columbia University. She is author of the award-winning book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination and editor of Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of DNA, Race, and History. Her reviews, writing and commentary have also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Science, Boston Globe, and the Guardian. She lives in New York City.   The Social Life of DNA, Alondra Nelson takes us on an unprecedented journey into how the double helix has wound its way into the heart of the most urgent contemporary social issues around race. These cutting-edge DNA-based techniques, she reveals, are being used in myriad ways, including grappling with the unfinished business of slavery: to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations specifically based on

Leonard Todd is the author of CAROLINA CLAY, the story of the slave potter known as Dave. Newsweek calls it a fascinating account. Publishers Weekly describes it as a sweeping tale of the South itself. It was a finalist for The National Award for Arts Writing, and it won the South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing. It is published by W. W. Norton. Born in South Carolina, Leonard was educated at Yale University. He is a former Fulbright Scholar to France. He lived for many years in New York City, where he began his writing career with travel articles, short stories, and novels for young adults. Two of his novels, set in areas of the South that he knew well as a boy, were optioned for film productions. Author Leonard Todd will be talking with us about the great ceramic artisan known as Dave, who lived in South Carolina during the 19th century. He was a potter, a poet, and a slave. For many years, very few details were known about this enigmatic man. Leonard, however, discovered a startling perso

Join my special guest Wendy Jyang from Frienship Improvement Sharing Hands Development and Commerce.

The Civil War Pension Files of Philip McQuerter of Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi provides revealing information about the family. Alvin Blakes is a lifelong organizer and community worker who has been researching African history since he was a teenager, and has travelled to Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and all over the United States to pursue his studies. He has researched his family’s history from Woodville, Mississippi back to the late 1700s in the Eastern US. He is a member of the Dallas Genealogical Society’s African American Genealogy Interest Group. He graduated with a Bachelors and Masters of Mechanical Engineering degree from Howard University’s School of Engineering.  Currently, he is the Manager of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Agency’s Bus Fleet Engineering Group.

  This show will examine various case examples of when "wills" don't go as planned such as protests to wills, residual estates and guardianships. In addition, this show will review the records of probate for a typical slave-holding estate. Public historian David E. Paterson studies people who lived in nineteenth-century Upson County, Georgia, especially those who experienced slavery and Reconstruction. A civilian employee of the US Navy by day, he spends his leisure hours researching and writing local history.  David has helped manage the Slave Research Forum at AfriGeneas.com since about 2001.  David emigrated to the U.S. in 1958 from Scotland and was granted U.S. citizenship in 1975.  He lives in Norfolk, Virginia. Link to diagram of “Typical Actions in Probate of a Slaveholding Estate Probate Process”: http://www.afrigeneas.com/library/Probate%20actions_color.pdf Companion link to an explanation of the diagram, “Records of Probate for a Typical Slave-holding Estate”: http://www.afrigeneas.com/librar

Marcellaus A. Joiner: Supervisor of the Heritage Research Center at the High Point Public Library and the Archivist for the High Point Museum in High Point, North Carolina. Marcellaus has a B.A.in History from North Carolina A&T State University and a Masters of Library Science from North Carolina Central University. He has proudly worked in the Archives and Library field for over the past 8 years. He is also a member of the Kappa Lambda chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. Marcellaus A. Joiner will discuss his research on his Neal family’s past as well as discuss how his career played a large part in his family research findings. In addition, this discussion will focus on how Marcellaus linked his family to William Neal the slave owner of Greene County, Georgia.  This fascinating story and research will explore how he discovered that his third great grandmother Zilphy Ann Neal was owned by William Neal and that they had seven children together. His 2nd great grandfather John Neal was the only child that he

  Public historian David E. Paterson studies people who lived in nineteenth-century Upson County, Georgia, especially those who experienced slavery and Reconstruction. A civilian employee of the US Navy by day, he spends his leisure hours researching and writing local history.  David has helped manage the Slave Research Forum at AfriGeneas.com since about 2001.  David emigrated to the U.S. in 1958 from Scotland and was granted U.S. citizenship in 1975.  He lives in Norfolk, Virginia. We will discuss the most fruitful probate records for slavery research in most states, for the period about 1800 to 1865.   The discussion may be less useful for the colonial period, or for the records of Louisiana or Spanish colonial Florida whose laws and processes derived from different legal traditions.  In addition, David will describe the process flow from one record to the next – the purpoe of each record – and what kinds of slavery-related information maybe found in the record. Particular attention will focus on records

Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston For black women in antebellum Charleston, freedom was not a static legal category but a fragile and contingent experience. A deeply researched social history, Forging Freedom reveals the ways in which black women in Charleston acquired, defined, and defended their own vision of freedom. Drawing on legislative and judicial materials, probate data, tax lists, church records, family papers, and more, Myers creates detailed portraits of individual women while exploring how black female Charlestonians sought to create a fuller freedom by improving their financial, social, and legal standing. Examining both those who were officially manumitted and those who lived as free persons but lacked official documentation, Myers reveals that free black women filed lawsuits and petitions, acquired property (including slaves), entered into contracts, paid taxes, earned wages, attended schools, and formed familial alliances with wealthy and power

Reclaiming Grimes: Author of the First Fugitive Slave Narrative Oakland, California native, 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. https://vimeo.com/119890622

  Dionne's search for her family history began at age 12, when she asked a simple question: Grandpa, are you white?  Her grandfather’s answer sent her on a lifelong journey to piece together a family story and reveal a not uncommon but often untold part of American history.  His  grandparents were a slave named Tempy Burton and her master, Col. W. R. Stuart. Three decades after she first learned of this interracial, Civil War-era duo, she found another one of their descendants. Dionne's family’s history includes masters and slaves, Confederates and Senators, preachers and entertainers.   Dionne Ford is a freelance writer and M.F.A. candidate at New York University. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, More, Ebony and other publications. Her essay for MORE on her family’s history won two magazine awards. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters and blogs about her family's history at FindingJosephine.com.  

Who Owned Solomon? A Case study of 19th Century African American Research– Many African American researchers struggle to break through the brick wall of slavery.  This discussion will look at the strategies used by Janice Lovelace to identify her ancestors’ slave-owners through the use of military, land, probate and court records. Janice Lovelace, Ph.D. a genealogist who primarily lectures and writes on health, genetics, research methodology and her ethnic minority heritage, lives and lectures primarily in the West. A licensed psychologist (with an undergraduate degree in Biology), she recently retired from 30 years of tenured college teaching in the social sciences, including women’s studies and American Cultural studies. Janice is a member of APG, GSG, AAGHS and several local societies.    

Prior to the Civil War, Alexandria, Virginia had a large freed African American and slave population who contributed a lot to the community and to the United States.  Each one of these groups helped build Alexandria, Virginia through their skilled labor, involvement in politics, teachers, churches, businessmen and etc. The history of Alexandria, Virginia cannot be told without including these African Americans. Char is posting blogs every two weeks on African American people in the 19th century that made a difference in the History of Alexandria, Virginia at http://theotheralexandria.com. Char McCargo Bah is the CEO/Owner of FindingThingsforU, LLC.  She has been a genealogist since 1981; appeared on numerous television interviews with CBS, FOX-5, Comcast, Public Broadcasting Services just to name a few and documentaries. She has also received numerous awards in 2014, 2013, 2010, and in 2009 for her work in genealogy. Char became a 2014 Living Legend in Alexandria, VA.  She was the City of Alexandria’s genea

Did you know that the majority of Freedmen's Bureau records are now digitized and available online for free, as well as the records of other institutions that served newly-freed African Americans during Reconstruction? Angela Walton-Raji and Toni Carrier have built a new website called "Mapping the Freedmen's Bureau - An Interactive Research Guide" (www.mappingthefreedmensbureau.com) to assist researchers in locating and accessing records of the Freedmen's Bureau, Freedmen's hospitals, contraband camps and Freedman's Bank branches. Researchers can use the website's interactive map to learn which of these services were located near their area of research interest. If the records are online, the map provides a link to the records that tell the stories of newly-freed former slaves in the American south. The goal of this mapping project is to provide researchers, from the professional to the novice, a useful tool to more effectively tell the family story, the local history and the greater story of the nation duri

  IT's COMING - October 1st: A Place Called Desire Kickstarter Campaign Join Producer Leonard Smith of LS3Studios.com for a discussion about a unique project to chronicle the story of an African American community located in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana called Desire.  Leonard Smith has worked tirelessly to interview residents of this community to capture the essence of what it meant for African American families to become homeowners after World War II in one of the first communities designated for returning Veterans.  In addition, this self-contained community of schools, grocery stores, a theatre, and religious institutions allowed the residents to develop a strong bond with their humble beginnings.  https://www.ls3studios.com/ A Place Called DESIRE documentary will show how the effects of two powerful, catastrophic disasters, took aim on this once tight-knit community. These disasters are only intensified by the lack of movement from the local, state and federal governments. The goal

  Join Genealogist Jim W. Petty for a discussion of his research on Black Slavery Emancipation Research in the Northern States and learn about the four categories of records that provide genealogical data on enslaved people in Northern states before the Civil War. Beginning in 2010, Jim became interested in African American Genealogy Studies upon following client genealogy into the Slave culture of Rhode Island.  Upon learning about the concept of Slavery in all States in America, and the eventual “gradual emancipation” of Black Slaves in each of the Northern States, he realized that a product of the emancipation movement was the creation of Slave birth records from as early as 1777, and continuing until national emancipation in 1865.  These records led to the keeping of other records relating to African Americans in the Northern States, which will hopefully become a resource for researchers throughout the United States.   Currently Jim has been collecting and abstracting Slave Birth Records for the State

Join my special guest Phyllistene Lawson for a discussion of her book Quilt of Souls. Quilt of Souls is a memoir that represents the author's childhood, her loving grandmother, and an old, tattered quilt that tells the untold stories that have long since been hushed. A quilt sewn with the used clothing of her grandmother's loved ones. Each piece of fabric woven into the quilt tells stories of how that person lived and died. Tragic stories of pain and suffering threaded back together with each healing stitch of perseverance and courage.  Grandma Lula Horn (1883-1986) was like many other grandmothers of her era, a pioneer, and a symbol of hope who found alternative ways to soften the horrors of racism and bigotry.  Ms. Lawson completed her military career in 2013.  Prior to her completing 20 years of military service, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  Ms. Lawson is married with two sons and five Granddaughter’s and currently reside in Florida.

Doreen's Jazz New Orleans is a group whose primary interest lies in spreading the culture and traditional music of New Orleans all over the world, through performances and education. Doreen Ketchens, the leader of the group, has been called "Queen Clarinet", "The female Louis Armstrong", and “Lady Louie” by critics who have heard her perform. She has performed with Ellis Marsalis, Jon Faddis, Trombone Shorty, Al Hirt, Dorothy Donagan, The Black Crows and Jennifer Warrens, to name a few. She has opened for such names as Macy Grey and Dr. John. Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans has represented New Orleans and the United States around the world, performing in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, South America, Central Asia and the United States. They have performed for four United States presidents, including Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr., Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. The band also boasts 23 volumes of CD’s and 3 DVD’s. In addition to being superb performers, Doreen and Lawrence are outstanding educators. They regularly p

Join the Officers of the Annie Malone Historical Society for a discussion about the legacy that has been the driving force in our Black hair and beauty culture today. The purpose of the Annie Malone Historical Society is to give proper recognition to a pillar of history.  To share the story of extraordinary vision, dedication, commitment and success that was the life of Annie M.Turnbo Pope Malone.  To place the accomplishments of this African American icon in one body of evidence that is easily accessible to the public.   Linda M.Nance is the President of the Annie Malone Historical Society and earned a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and a Bachelor Degree in Sociology from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. She holds an Associate in Applied Science Degree (emphases in Human Services/Corrections) from St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley also in St. Louis, Missouri.  A 2009 graduate of the FOCUS St. Louis Leadership program, Linda has also completed the Community Arts Training and the TI

 Property Rights and Wrongs: African-Americans at the Courthouse with The Legal Genealogist From being treated as property to having their property stolen by those who used the law against the freedmen, African Americans' experience at the courthouse had only one bright spot: it created records for the genealogist-descendants. A Certified Genealogist with a law degree, The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell examines the interplay between genealogy and the law. She is a lecturer, educator and writer who enjoys helping others understand a variety of issues, ranging from using DNA in family history to the effect the law had on our ancestors’ lives and the records they left behind. A graduate of George Washington University and Rutgers School of Law-Newark, Judy is a Colorado native with roots deep in the American south on her mother’s side and entirely in Germany on her father’s side. She's a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and, among others, the state