African Roots Podcast Episode # 241 November 15, 2013

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Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast!
You can reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com

A special thank you to all who tuned in last night to listen to the Blog Talk Radio program, Research At The National Archives and Beyond. I had the honor of being the guest host and special thank you to Bernice Bennett for that opportunity. And a special thank you to my guest–the African American Genealogy Bloggers—Nicka Smith, Melvin Collier, George Geder, and Terry Ligon, who discussed history through their own eyes. All are blogging through the series “Many Rivers to Cross” on PBS and hosted by Henry Louis Gates. If you missed it, go and listen to the archived version. We had a great time last night.
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Today is notification day as several of us await the word from the Southern California Genealogy Society Jamboree, and we await the decision if our proposals have been accepted to speak in 2014. So we are keeping our fingers crossed and hope we are accepted for next year.

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Best wishes to Professor Dru (Drusilla Pair) who has a production coming up next week in Hanover VA where she has taken her interest in family history and genealogy to the stage. I love it that she has managed to merge with other interests and talents, and take history to the stage. She has studied the history of a family that came out of the historic Hanover Tavern. Several stories have emerged from that space, including an old diary that told the family’s story when they were enslaved in Hanover. The room where the presentation will take place is the old kitchen–where one of the characters in her play actually lived and toiled as a slave. This is a story of resistance and is important in so many ways. The presentation will be on Tuesday at the Hanover Tavern,so break a leg, Professor Dru.

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I just learned about an intersting conference will emerge–the Slave Dwelling Project will host a conference and it will take place in Savannah Georgia in late July. There is no detailed data as yet, but when I get it I shall pass it on. This comes from the work of Joseph McGill’s Slave Dwelling project.

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Some interesting records are now available on Ancestry of late. The service records of World War I, from Georgia as said to be online. I have not used these records, but in case you have ancestors were were drafted from Georgia in WWI, then you may want to take a look and see if this collection is useful to you. The Freedmen records of the Five Civilized Tribes can now be found on Ancestry. These reside primarily on Fold3, but are also now on Ancestry. Also note that a very small collection of records from the US Virgin Islands can now be found also on Ancestry.

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I also want to encourage more of you to consider taking your family stories out and putting them down–write them in some kind of way. I have found the genealogy blogging circle to be helpful for me, but also the Book of Me project to be a great way to write more. If you are not yet comfortable with your own writing, then perhaps the Writers Bootcamp that was mentioned today on Geneabloggers, might be a good vehicle to get you started. Whatever works for you, go for it. We need more stories out there!
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Well winding down again for another week. Please know that I appreciate the time you take to tune in an listen, and know that you are appreciated. In the meantime have a great week and remember to keep researching, keep documenting and keep sharing what you find.

African Roots Podcast Episode #240 November 8, 2013

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Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast!
You can reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com

Well, a special congratulations to Bernice Alexander Bennett upon her second year anniversary with her Blog Radio Program, Research at the National Archives and Beyond! Hard to believe that it has been two years already, but she has brought some amazing writers, historians, genealogists, and scholars to our attention. She has a permanent place in the genealogy community and we all owe her congratulations and a thank you! Last night’s show was a treat as well with her guest Antionette Harrell, who was simply insipring. If you missed it, download the show and listen and learn! Again congratulations!

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Well as we are looking towards the end of the year as well as towards next year it is time to think about how we are going to plan our calendar for next year. Well there are some institutes coming up to think about from Salt Lake City, to St. Louis, to Samford, in Birmingham. Within the next two weeks, the preliminary schedules for the tracks at MAAGI will be on the website. But save the dates now, for MAAGI. The Midwest African American Genealogy Institute The dates are July 8 – 10, 2014. At the end of the month, there will be an update to the site.

And many are looking forward to Samford IGHR, in Birmingham, Alabama. An announcement is out for those who wish to apply for the Jean Thomason scholarship. For more information, click HERE.

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A special item of note for friends in southern California in San Diego. Yvette Porter Moore in San Diego California: will be presenting: Embraced Identity Through My Genealogical Journey, which is based on my Maternal Ancestry Lines: Adoption & Biological on Saturday, November 9, 2013 at 10:30am-1pm San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group Meeting San Diego Family Research 4195 Camino Del Rio South San Diego, CA 92108

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I am happy to tell you that the bloggers have been busy writing some amazing posts for the past three weeks. I am referring to The African Americans, Many Rivers to Cross. We are discussing our own family history from the time periods addressed in the series. With three weeks down and three more to go, it has been exciting to be in a circle of genealogists who are sharing such moving posts! This has also been inspiring to see these posts as well. Check out the African American Blogging Circle and read some of the stories.

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The blogging experience has also brought to me emphasis on how there is much opportunity to make a difference. Sharing stories, led to the result of a soldier getting a headstone, and I feel a part of that story, after I wrote an article about him 2 years ago. Look and see the stories that are out there. The bloggers are making such a difference!

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If you are a descendant of a soldier that served under the Bureau of United States Colored Troops and you are interested in sharing your ancestor’s story, you may want to consider speaking at the African American Civil War Museum in Washington DC, participating in one of their descendants presentations. You are urged to complete a descendants form, if you haven’t already and contact the museum today. Descendants’ presentations are held every first Saturday of each month and the museum is currently scheduling descendants’ presentations through July 2014.
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The Prince George’s County chapter of AAHGS is having a special holiday brunch on December 8, in Ft. Belvoir, Virginia. For more information contact Carolyn Rowe at 301-292-2751, or Jane Thomas at 301-292-1207.

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Now I mentioned last night’s episode of Bernice Bennett’s Anniversary show last night. If you missed it, listen to it. Her guest was Antoinette Harrell, who discussed Leaving a Legacy. What an inspiration! If you google her name you will learn alot about her work, from being a grass roots organizer to a preservationist. But the biggest lesson was the lesson in taking steps to leave a legacy! She has personally left two major collections–one at the Amistad Research Center, and one at Southeastern State University in Louisiana. From her discussion one can appreciate the value of making plans for the data that we collect to have a permanent home and a safe home. The need to sort through materials and determine what place is best to store them is also something that we must all do. As I said the show was inspiring and I hope will make many of us give serious thought to preserving so much of what we have. A special thank you to both Ms. Harrell and to Bernice for that very enligtening dialogue last night. Remember you can hear her show live each week on Blog Talk Radio.

Well, thank you so much for tuning in again, have a wonderful week and remember to keep researching, keep documenting and always keep sharing what you find!