African Roots Podcast #169 June 29th, 2012

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

Some new websites to share with you:
Black Gotham Digital Archives
The goal and purpose of this new site is to link an interactive web site, and to provide unique glimpses at the geographical spaces of Lower Manhattan as well as Brooklyn to create a better understanding of what it was like to be black in New York in the 19th century. This is site that is an extension of the book by Dr. Carla Peterson of the University of Maryland College Park. Her work is a major work providing an  understanding this early history of New York and of the lives of free people of color in what would become the metropolis of New York City.

From New Orleans Louisiana, those who research Creole ancestry will be pleased to see the new site and blog for Creole Gen. This new blog is dedicated to sharing history, documents, photographs and research methodologies related to the Creole people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. I visited the site and enjoyed seeing some of the images presented on the site. Up only since May, the looks like it will be a promising one, reflecting a unique and colorful history.

A New Monumnent
I was pleased to read the article about a new monument honoring US Colored Troops. This story comes out of Lexington Park MD., in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. What a joy to see this new monument devoted to the Black Union soldiers from St. Mary’s County and that a special ceremony was held to celebrate the unveiling. From that very community three medal of honor winners in the Battle of New Market Heights were honored and these were black Union soldiers specifically. I also noticed that on that day, my good friend and mentor Dr. Agnes Callum was present for the event. Although in declining health, she was a special guest that day, and she spoke at the event, and much of her work, including three books on the US Colored Troops of Maryland, was mentioned on this wonderful day in her ancestral community.

From Colonial Williamsburg: A special event honoring black soldiers who participated in the American Revolution will take place next weekend. On Saturday, July 7 at 2:30 p.m. there will be a special youth program, called Looking Back to Plan Forward, which will explore how the inspirational story of enslaved African Virginians can impact our lives today.

A New Organization from the Mid Atlantic is Forming
Introducing the Delmarva African American Historical & Genealogical SocietyThere has been interest in forming an organization focused on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and regional African American history and genealogy. This group is still organizing and in the formative stages, but their website is up, and they are taking wonderful first steps. This will be the first genealogy society focusing on African American history and genealogy on the Eastern Shore and all of the Delmarva area. (Note Delmarva represents the coastal communities of Delware, Eastern Shore of Maryland and Accomac County Virginia.) The organizers are Linda Duyer, and Kimberly Conway Dumpson. For more information phone 443-366-2451.

A Septemer Event
Mark the data–Southern Studies Showcase September 28 – 29, 2012 Hosted by the Old Edgefield District Genealogical Society & the Old Edgefield District African-American Genealogical Society, this event  will take place at the D. A. Tompkins Library, Edgefield, South Carolina. This is a collaboration between the two groups and a wide variety of speakers are on the program, including our friend Bernice Bennett, host of the weekly radio program.

And if you missed it, don’t forget to check out the archived version of Bernice Bennetts’s Blog Talk Radio program, Research at the National Archives and Beyond. Last night’s guest was Leonard Smith a video documentary producer. The show provided some encouragement and a strong reminder for all of us to tell the story and to even honor our loved ones by putting their stories on screen. I found the story to also be a reminder of the urgency to preserve our images in more than one way and to store what has been preserved in more than one place. This was a good reminder for all of us to practice preservation!

Thanks for listening and have a safe 4th of July holiday, next week. 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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