African Roots Podcast Episode # 180 September 14, 2012

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Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast!
I can be reached at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com

News from the State of Georgia, the Georgia State Archives is closing its doors to the public effective November 1st of this year. This is due to budget cuts. There has been a response from the community asking the governor to reconsider this decision and there is currently an online petition underway to take to the governor. Hopefully there will be a reconsideration of this decision, as no other state in the country has taken such dire steps. (For the petition click HERE)

The Central MD Chapter of AAHGS will be having their Lunch and Learn Session. The focus will be basics strategies of research for the states of Alabama, North and South Carolina and Mississippi. Volunteers will be on hand to assist as well. This will be at the library in Columbia MD on Cradelrock Way.

The Richmond Chapter of AAHGS will have its September meeting on Saturday the 29th at 10:30 am at the Richmond Public Library. The guest speaker will be Dr. Michael Blakey, from the College of William and Mary. He will be talking about DNA and genealogy, the pros and cons thereof, and his own research projects as well. You may recognize his name, as he is most known for being the lead scientist on the New York African Burial Ground project.

The College of William & Mary Middle Passage Project 1619 Initiative and the Lemon Project, Norfolk State University, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the Nottoway Indian tribe of Virginia announce “1619: The Making of America,” a two-day conference to be held at NSU’s New Student Center on Sept. 21-22, 2012. The course originates in Africana Studies, as AFST 306 and can be taken as a cross-listed registration in other programs and departments.
CONFERENCE DETAILS

From DELMARVA:
Congratulations on organizing the 1st meeting of this brand new organization! The DELMARVA chapter of the African American Genealogy Society will take place. The first Meeting of the will occur on Saturday October 6th, beginning at 9:30 am @ University of Maryland Eastern Shore Student Services Center, the Allen J. Singleton Multi-Purpose Room (on first floor). More information found HERE.

ADVANCED GENEALOGY CLASS AVAILABLE
Robyn Smith and Alice Harris have been teaching genealogy classes. Robyn’s class in Advanced African Genealogy is being offered again. The class will start on November 13th at Howard Community College (HCC) in Columbia MD. This is a great class for intermediate or advanced level researchers!!! Click on this link http://coned.howardcc.edu/schedule_of_classes/index.html to get additional information and to register for the class.

A NEW WEBSITE was share with me this week. Nominy Hall. Many of you have heard about Robert Carter II and the Robert Carter slaves. Well there is an effort to provide a resource for the descendants of the 500 + slaves freed by Carter in 1791. This is the largest act of manumission ever known to have occurred. Tomorrow September 15 there will be a special commemoration ceremony in Weems Virginia Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at Historic Christ Church, 420 Christ Church Road, Weems, VA 22576

There is also now an effort to document the families of those who were freed by Robert Carter. The website is called Nominy Hall and they are working to document the legacy of these families.

Last night’s Bernice Bennett show was a treat. The National President of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society , Ms. Tamela Tenpennny-Lewis was the guest. Ms. Tenpenny-Lewis herself has been devoted to the preservation of African American family history, family artifacts, and cemeteries and last night she spoke about all of those topics. The conversation was lively, at times amusing and throughout the interview she was insightful as well as entertaining. A feature of the show was also hearing about her work in the preservation of African American burial sites and in addition the involvement of the next generation in the process of preservation.

Ms. Tenpenny-Lewis is a native of Arkansas and this was the second week that the state of Arkansas and its wonderful research holdings were featured on Bernice Bennett’s show. Last week, Linda McDowall, an archivist from the Butler Center of the Central Library system of Arkansas was the guest. Remember that Ms. Bennett’s show airs every Thursday evening at 9pm EST on Blog Talk Radio.

A Preservation Story
Speaking of Preservation, one of the stories coming out of the south this week is one of preservation. For those of you who are admirers of the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, there is good news. Many know that the Tuskegee airmen were trained by C. Alfred Anderson, know by many as Chief Anderson. It was announced that the artifacts of Chief Anderson will be preserved and are on their way to the Smithsonian institution. Chief Anderson was the chief flight instructor of the Tuskegee airmen in World War II. Among the artifacts to be given will be original pilot’s licenses, photographs, letters written by the 99th Fighter Squadron and so much more. A spokesperson from the Smithsonian, Bill Gwaltney, whom many know as a major preservationist, commended the family, especially the descendants of Chief Anderson for working to preserve Chief Anderson’s legacy. Christina Anderson, is also establishing a foundation to preserve the artifacts belonging to Chief Anderson that will not go the Smithsonian .

To contribute to the C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson Legacy Foundation, visit www.chiefanderson.com or contact Christina Anderson at (404) 376-7527 or christina@chiefanderson.com.

All of these events and discussions of preservation should inspire us all to reflect, plan and explore our own efforts to document and preserve the legacy for the next generations.

Well, thanks for listening and keep sending me your events, websites and endeavors. In the meantime, keep researching keep documenting and keep sharing what you find.

Posted by Angela Y. Walton-Raji

Author, lecturer and researcher. Author, "Black Indian Genealogy Research, An Expanded Edition". Editor, Voices of Indian Territory. Member AAHGS -Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society. PAAC-Preservation of African American Cemeteries. Founding Member of AfriGeneas. Faculty member for Samford IGHR, MAAGI-Midwest African American Genealogy Institute.

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