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Hello and welcome back to the African Roots Podcast! You can always reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com
Welcome back especially to those friends and family who came the incredible weather last weekend. Thoughts and prayers for everyone who suffered damage and hope their lives come back to normal very soon.
Events:
Next week September 7-10 many of our genealogy friends will be gathering in Springfield Illinois for the FGS Annual Conference. I am looking forward to articles and blog posts from the conference.
More on the conference here: http://www.fgs.org/2011conference/
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Baltimore County African American Cultural Festival will take place on September 17, 2011 from 10-6 at the Towson Courts Patriot Plaza. This represents the 15th consecutive year of this event—including, and the much favored Historic Settlements Exhibit will be there again. This event has been enhanced over the years with the participation of Mr. Louis Diggs an historian who has written 8 books about the African American settlements in Baltimore County. The Historic Settlements Exhibit is the largest single exhibit, and each year, it draws the largest number of visitors.
Also on September 17, our friends in New England can attend the annual NARA event held each year The Friends of the National Archives – Pittsfield, MA, will present its annual Full-Day Genealogy Conference, Life in the Past Lane VIII, on Saturday, September 17, 2011, at the Williams Inn in Williamstown, MA. The day will include lectures by Meldon Wolfgang III, Jean Nudd Elliott, Paul Bunnell, Mary Flood, Michelle LeClair and Peter Sisario. The registration fee includes morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, and a roundtable question and answer period hosted by a panel of experts. Vendors will be on hand to provide products of interest to genealogists.
AAHGS Conference
We are only 3 weeks away from the annual AAHGS conference in Little Rock Arkansas.Taking place at the Doubletree Hotel on the banks of the Arkansas River the conference will unfold from September 21-25.
MLK Memorial Opening Re-scheduled. The official Dedication ceremony will be moved to a date yet determined in September or October. In the meantime, take a Virtual tour.
September 24, 1:30 p.m. The Reginald Lewis Museum, Baltmore MD will host a presentation by researcher Robyn Smith. Fruit of the Earth: Using Land Records Effectively Ms. Smith will give an overview of land records and their use in genealogical research.
To register, please call 443-263-1816.
September 24, 2011
Dr. Ronald Seagreave, of Dinwiddie VA will give a presentation about his latest book, “Jefferson’s Isaac, From Monticello to Petersburg.” This presentation will take place at the public library in Richmond Virginia. I will post more data about the event such as time when available to me.
Chicago Conference
Friends in Chicago are surely busy with their plans for their annual conference a month away. The AAGHSC will have their annual conference October 7-8th . The keynote speaker this year is Dr. Tiffany Patterson Associate Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University.
In addition to the keynote event. On Saturday, the workshop sessions including: “Barrier Busting Workshop” presented by a panel of expert genealogists including Janis Minor Forté, Angela F. McGhee, Evelyn Nabors and Judith Samuel. This is always a great event.
I learned about a neat project that the Mississippi Study Groups of the Chicago society has been undertaking.
The Mississippi Study Group is compiling an index of individuals who died in Mississippi between the years 1912 and 1943. The “Mississippi Death Index” will contain first and last names of the deceased, race, county, year of death, death certificate number, and parents’ initials (when available). The project began in September 2009 and the completion date depends upon the availability and time of volunteers. The death index information is important because one’s ability to obtain a death certificate is greatly enhanced when you have the name and death certificate number of the deceased. As most genealogists know, death certificates contain a wealth of information about the deceased as well as other vital information such as parents’ names. This it the kind of undertaking that I hope other societies will also consider doing. It is a labor of love and will take a very long time to complete–but what a wonderful gift to the genealogy community!
When the project is finished the data will be put into written format on the AAGHSC website. Individuals will be able to sort and research information by name, county, date or death certificate number. The process and turnaround time for obtaining a death certificate should be greatly improved. You may contact Project Leader, Nettie Nesbary at 773-731-4956 or n1j3@aol.com to participate.
Example of the images.
Well, I wish you all the best for a wonderful holiday weekend. Be safe, enjoy keep doing what you do–keep researching, keep documenting and keep sharing what you find.
