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Hello and welcome Back!
Today is Friday January 1st , 2010
My name is Angela Walton-Raji
And this is the African Roots Podcast!
You can reach me at Africanrootspodcast@gmail.com
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday and that today and that if you have the southern tradition of having your black eyed peas—that they are a tasty treat for you, and that you will have a great day with family. Also I want to extend best wishes to you as you begin this new year 2010!!
I want to congratulate those who research West Virginia, for they have a great Christmas present presented to them from the Office of Vital records—-They have upgraded a massive database to contain more than 5.7 million vital records in West Virginia, officials said Thursday December 24th . West Virginia’s searchable database also is free. Records can be searched by name, date or county.
Just recently, the office of Vital Records completed entering data from all 55 counties and upgraded its server to increase by three times the speed with which users can access and download information. More information is available from their online site.
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x1153713854/W-Va-revs-up-online-access-to-vital-records
From Indiana, The Indiana Genealogical Society has added another 1,200 entries to the database, Individuals Associated with Indiana’s African-American Settlements (1817-1930), which is in the African-American Records section of Members-Only. This database is being compiled by Dawne Slater-Putt, CG and is part of a larger effort to study Indiana’s African-American settlements from their earliest days through about 1930. This database is free and is being shared with the Indiana Genealogical Society and the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center. There are now over 6,000 entries in the database
Do you like photographs? Then there is good news for Washingtonians—the images of Addison Scurlock School images 1914-1994, are now available online. The name of Addison Scurlock is well known to those with ties to Washington DC. He was a photographer for many decades and he documented a good num ber of people from the African American school community of Washington DC. The Smithsonian has recently place images from the Addison Scurlock collection online.
The State of Florida Launches new Black History month initiative! They have a very impressive website still under construction but It promises to hold a lot of good information.
All should read the words of NGS President, Janet Alpernwhen she spoken in front of the submcommitttee in Washington DC last month. Her points on behalf of continuing the amount of research space was on behalf of all genealogists, and her words can be read and should become talking points for all of us as well.
The actions of NGS President are important and should remind all of us that we are part of a genealogy community—and an historical community and we should take note when any record set is not available, or when any cemetery is threatened, or any research facility is compromised. We should make the effort to become vital citizens in those communities that we have joined through our research. Become active and speak out on critical issues. There are things that we can do even when living a distance away from those communities that we research.
Thank you for tuning in, and my best wishes for you as this New Year unfolds. In the meantime, keep doing what you do, keep researching, keep documenting and please, keep sharing what you find.
Happy New Year!
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