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Hello and welcome to the 100th episode of the African Roots Podcast. My name is Angela Walton-Raji and you can always reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com
Excellent News for Virginia researchers!
Online Freedman’s Marriage Registry, Hanover County, VA, Many know that the Freedman’s Bureau offered many services to former slaves, including providing clothing, food, medical care and employment, and the Bureau issued marriage certificates and registered the marriages of recently freed slaves. Well there is a marriage register available in Hanover County VA, and according to Frank Hargrove Jr., the Hanover County Circuit Court Clerk, the Hanover County register has been relatively unknown to the public. And for years the register was only available in paper form. The good news is that, volunteers transcribed the entries, which include the names and ages of the parties to the marriage, the date and place of the marriage, status at the time of marriage (single, widowed, enslaved or free), birthplaces of the parties, current residence, names of the couple’s parents, and the husband’s occupation, and entered them into a searchable database that is available in the Clerk’s Office. Now the public can also access the database online, as well.
For Civil War Buffs, here is some good news:
AFRICAN AMERICAN CIVIL WAR CONFERENCE IN KINSTON
SPRING 2011 Symposium on The United States Colored Troops, MARCH 11-13, 2011
Kinston, NC — “Civil War To Civil Rights,” a national symposium about the role of the US Colored Troops in the Civil War will be held March 11 -13 at the Hampton Inn in Kinston, NC. in conjunction with the Kinston’s Blue-Gray Civil War Living History Weekend in commemoration of the 150thAnniversary of the Civil War. The weekend will feature presentations and exhibits from national and regional historians, storytellers, civil war scholars, a CSS Neuse commemoration, live weapons demonstrations, and living history cultural interpretations revolving around the participatory role of African Americans in the Civil War.
The conference begins on Friday with Civil War Living History demonstrations held for area schools in the morning, then from 12 noon to 5:00 pm, workshops on inclusion of USCT in the Civil War battles will be held at the Kinston/Lenoir Blue-Gray Visitor Information Center on Hwy -70 Bypass. Beginning at 8:30 am on Saturday at the Hampton Inn (252-523-1400) , the conference will feature seminar tracks focusing on NC history, NC Battles, Black Spy Network, Genealogy, Bernie Siler and the Emancipation Proclamation, Frederick Douglass, Dr. David A. Anderson aka Sankofa, storyteller, the Underground Railroad . Civil War Re-enactors from Maryland, D.C., Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina and Wilmington, NC; USCT descendants and others will memorialize the USCT soldiers from Lenoir County on Saturday afternoon. Those interested in attending may register for the symposium by calling 252-523-1239 or go to www.uscoloredtroops.org and download the registration forms and seminar schedule. Exhibitors and sutlers may also call 252-523-1239 or send an email to beecheagle@gmail.com.
In Georgia some interesting activity from Athen Georgia for March 19th
Athens Pioneers – Meet and talk with some of Athens’ African American residents who were the first of their race to perform in their jobs. This event is free and open to all ages. This takes place at the East Athens Community Center,400 McKinley Drive, Athens, Georgia When:2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Contact:For more information call 706-613-3593.
Also on March 19th, The Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society sponsors the Annual History and Genealogy EXPO . The event features local history and genealogy resources along with vendors, speakers and door prizes. Southern Historical Press and Heritage Papers will have genealogical books to view and purchase (save on postage). Stop by for a few minutes or spend the day. There is no cost and the EXPO is open to the public, at Campus View Church of Christ, 1360 South Lumpkin Street, Athens, Georgia 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names
Virginia Historical Society Creating Searchable Online Slave Database
A large grant from Dominion will Fund the Path-Breaking African American History Project Richmond, VA—The Virginia Historical Society (VHS) recently received a $100,000 grant from Dominion Resources and The Dominion Foundation to fund the creation of Unknown No Longer: A Database of Virginia Slave Names. This free, online database will contain personal information about enslaved Virginians gleaned from some of the more than eight million processed manuscripts in VHS collections. No details as yet when the creation of this data will take place and we all know that even working on putting our own personal records into searchable databases take a good amount of time, however, this is promising information and hopefully as the year progresses we will hear more.
Don’t forget to watch WYDYTYA (Who Do You Think You Are) the NBC program, tonight at 8 pm EST. Lionel Ritchie will be featured. Also the AfriGeneas community live chat and watching party. This will be the second time in a month that the Tennessee State Library and Archives(TSLA) will be featured on the program. Actress and singer Vanessa Williams’ family history research led her to Nashville in the season premiere and TSLA was one of the research facilities used. To highlight the resources available at TSLA, staff members will host a Genealogy Beginner’s Day on Saturday to give people the opportunity to use the library’s resources.
Today is the 100th episode of the African Roots Podcast and I want to thank all of you for
being there and from taking time out of your own busy schedules to listen to this program. In another 3 weeks, the 2nd anniversary of the podcast will air and I want to say that you all have been a kind audience. I appreciate you, and I look forward to more podcasts in the future. I learn from many of you, and am also inspired by many of you as well.
Thanks for listening and please keep researching, keep documenting, and keep sharing what you find.
Congratulations on getting to 100 episodes of the podcast.