African Roots Podcast Episode #373 May 27, 2016

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Hello and welcome back to this week’s episode of the African Roots Podcast! You can reach me always HERE.

I know that you are all getting ready to kick off the summer season with this Memorial Day weekend that is here. I am thrilled that summer weather appears to have finally arrived. Plants and seedlings are blooming and warm weather is finally here!

GenealogyRoadShow

People are busy this week–genealogy on TV was buzzing, and this week we all watched the moving episode on Genealogy Roadshow about one lady’s ancestor was a victim of the Tuskegee Experiment that simply allowed black men to die. Many of us have read of the story. That story moved many of us as we watched.

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BerniceShow2

Last night’s episode of Bernice Bennett’s show was interesting. Her guests were Zann Nelson, and Elizabeth Chew. Both are working on the project at Montpelier, the home of James Madison. It appears that they are also looking for descendants of those once enslaved there at Montpelier. The surnames are TAYLOR, STEWART, TALIAFERRO, AND SHEPPARD. If you have ties to Orange county and any of these surnames, then you may want to touch base with them. Here is the link to connect.

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Rosenwald School in Barco NC Saved

NC Rosenwald School

“A school for poor black children, built nearly a century ago, sat on a trailer Tuesday behind a barbecue restaurant on U.S. 158. Its original site was a little less than a mile away.” ~The Virginina-Pilot, PilotOnline.com

 

That quote comes from an article about efforts to save an old Rosenwald school in North Carolina, on the outer banks. It has been over 70 years since any teaching took place there, but the effort to preserve the building is so important.

More on the story can be found HERE.
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Ok—so many of us will be watching ROOTs  this weekend. Well—there is a new project to encourage the conclusion of the indexing project, launched by Family Search. Well—the indexing project has partnered with The History Channel, and with the Smithsonian NMAACH to launch the final push to complete the indexing project.

With the airing of ROOTS, there is the final effort to complete the indexing Family Search Freedmen’s Bureau project. The partnership will reach a national community with the airing of Roots. If you have not been an indexer, well this is an opportunity to do so! The goal is to get it down by the opening of the NMAACH completed by September 24th the day of the Grand opening of the Museum.

Let’s all work to get further in our research, and to move from the 1870 census records to those additional records that can be found from the Civil War’s end to that census year!

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Well this is Memorial Day—the origins are not aware of the origin of the holiday with African American. Black people people honored their loved ones, on that weekend before it became a national event. The spirit of memorializing loved ones caught on, and over the years it has morphed into a day that also honors soldiers that served the nation. As we do that–let’s remember the Freedom Fighters—the United States Colored Troops, and so many more–including both men and women who served. All served with honor.

I hope to see some of you in California at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree! Looking forward to seeing some of you there, and next week’s podcast will be coming directly from Burbank!

In the meantime, thanks for listening, and for your messages. Have a great week, make some memories, and 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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