African Roots Podcast #5 May 1, 2009

Play

Hello and welcome back to the African Roots Podcast!
My name is Angela Walton-Raji.
You can contact me at africanrootspodcast@gmail.com

May is the month when attention is given to preservation of cemeteries. You may wish to attend the Colonial Slave Cemetery Symposium in Portsmouth New Hampshire on May 9th from 9 to 3:30. Information can be obtained by phoning the library at 603-431-2768.

North Carolina and Florida researchers will enjoy exploring the Florida Memory website. This site hosts a number of digital images and wonderful audio files. On the site one will find a slave document from the Elliott Family Papers, depicting the names of the slaves. The document can be found at:
http://www.floridamemory.com/FloridaHighlights/Slaves/ Some wonderful audio clips including old recordings from the 1950s can also be heard on the Florida site: http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/folklife_cd3.cfm
Fans of the Harlem Renaissance will especially enjoy listening to the Zora Neale Hurston files that she made when she worked for the WPA in the 1930s. Enjoy these audio files at:
http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/sound_hurston.cfm#

One gentleman from Onslow County NC has truly become a pioneer in the preservation of African American cemeteries. Jack Robinson has painstakingly documented several cemeteries and has put a good amount of his own time and money and has influenced others in his community to preserve and appreciate the untold stories of the black community. His work on the Brick Mill Cemetery project and other works can be found at: http://www.resurrection-mission.com/. He deserves our support and our respect for his tireless efforts.

In Wilmington NC all eyes will be on the project begun by Hands on Wilmington. Their work on Pine Forest Cemetery will prevent a major cemetery from going into ruin. Their story and their work can be found at:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090429/ARTICLES/904294002/1155?Title=-Forgotten-graves-discovered-at-Pine-Forest-Cemetery

Good wishes are extended to PAAC –Preservation of African American Cemeteries. This Arkansas based organization will host its annual meeting at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro Arkansas on May 15-16. Hopefully this organization will grow into a national organization providing a platform for cemetery preservationists to share resources and methods, and to widen enlighten the public on the need to restore and preserve the burial sites of our African American ancestors. More information about the conference is located at: http://www.monticellolive.com/paac-conference-may-15-16/
“An ancestor never dies, till there is no one left to say their name.”

Join me next week for the next African Roots Podcast.

Keep researching
Keep documenting
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.

8 thoughts on “African Roots Podcast #5 May 1, 2009

  1. Angela:

    I just wanted to tell you how glad I am to see this site and how excited I am about your work! Best wishes and thank you for being such a special part of my life.

    Renee

  2. Hello Renee
    I appreciate your kind words and am delighted that you enjoyed the podcast. I am enjoying making them and the feedback from persons such as yourself make the effort worthwhile.

    Thanks.
    -Angela-

  3. Thanks Dru,

    There is so much information that now available that we now have the opportunity to really expand our resources and have access to primary sources. So glad that you enjoyed the podcast.
    -Angela-

  4. Thanks so much for these podcasts. I am particularly impressed with the number of sites that you made available to us with this podcast. I have found your podcasts to be both educational as well as entertaining– it’s “edutainment”.

    I look forward to following your podcasts in the future.

    Warmest Regards,
    Frederic

  5. Hello Frederic,

    Thank you for visiting the page and listening to the podcasts. I am delighted that you have enjoyed them, and hope that you will continue to listen. If you have suggestions for a site that I have not yet seen and should investigate, don’t hesitate to let me know.

    Keep listening and keep sharing what you find!
    Regards,
    -Angela-

  6. Angela,

    Keep up the good work! Hope to see you at the Choctaw Chickasaw Freedmen Heritage Conference in August!

    Gayle

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *