Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast! You can reach me at AfricanRootsPodast

Well today is the 1st of May and we are almost at the half wary mark for the year! Hope you are enjoying the spring weather.

I do with to thank you all who have expressed their concerns to me about events here in the Baltimore area. I appreciate the calls and well wishes, and of course we were all affected by the violence in the city. Thankfully peace has returned to the community and I hope that we will all realize that there is work to be done. There are  young people who need to have more options so that they will not feel excluded, and will have hope in their lives. The issues are not unique to Baltimore, and we all should make a commitment to making the community, the country a better place. This is a new opportunity for us all and I hope we all commit to making a change.

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Walking Tour of Parker Gray District of Alexandria

Photo courtesy of AlexandriaVa.gov

Well, as May has arrived, there are events occurring. Tomorrow in northern Virginia there will be a historic Walk Through Alexandria. Char McCargo Bah shared this information in social media yesterday:

On May 2, 2015, there will be a walking tour like no other tour you have had. The walking tour will provide genealogical information on selected sites in the Parker-Gray District. This tour will include the Alexandria Black History Museum (ABHM), and the Charles Houston Recreation Center’s Hall of Fame Exhibit; on North Columbus Street we will make stops at Saint Joseph Catholic Church and the late John F. Parker’s last known address; on North Alfred Street we will make stops at the late Jacqueline L. Henry Green’s house and the late Elbert Norton’s house; and lastly we will make stops on Pendleton Street at the late Henry T. White’s house and at the late John W. “Baker” Jackson’s house. The tour will start and end at the ABHM.

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Old Timey Casting Call

As many of you know I am a Civil War enthusiast. I have a strong interest in the US Colored Troops, but also in the stories of women who served in the Union forces–not as soldiers, but as nurses, matrons, laundresses and cooks. These are among the many untold stories of the Civil War. I am thrilled to be able to study the records, that record their names. There is so much more to tell. There are those who devote themselves to part of this as re-enactors. Well for those who are interested in that kind of experience, I learned about an opportunity to appear in a film project and USCT re-enactors are needed. This is actually a casting call for an upcoming film. Here is a link to the project.

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Speaking of Civil War history, last night’s episode of Bernice Bennett’s show featured Dr. Juanita Patience Moss who spoke about her book on Black Soldiers who served in white regiments in the Civil War. Dr. Moss explained how she became interested in the story–through that of one of her own ancestors, who was in a Pennsylvania regiment that was not a USCT regiment. Her work has now extended into a second volume and she spoke about what she was able to uncover. I have heard her speak and found her to be a delightful person and an intriguing presenter. Her book is available on line at Amazon, or from the publisher here.

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St. Louis Mother – Daughter Reunion

Photo: St. Louis American

Have you been following this story? Almost 50 years ago a woman gave birth to a child and was told that the child was sick and died. It turns out however that was not the case. The child lived, and was somehow adopted by another family. Since that time, other women have been told that something similar happened to them. The story had a happy ending, but it has opened the door to something else that may have been going on? More than 20 women have voiced their concerns that they two were victims of a newborn death. I am happy for the woman Zella Jackson Price, but I hope also the now grown daughter will be given more than a new family—but perhaps a history–a genealogy that she never knew was attached to her is part of her history. I hope to conduct some family history research on the family and to share it with the family. As genealogists we can hopefully give her and her family a new piece of her history. The story is one that touched my heart, and many of us are following the story.

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Crestleaf Discusses African American Online Resources.
Take a look at this new site that has put together a useful list of African American Genealogy Resources.

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Louisiana Plantations Address the Slave Community

I was happy to learn this week about a new trend in some plantation estates that now address the lives of the enslaved people who maintained those estates, and upon whom the wealth of the estate was built. In the past the lives of the slaves were never mentioned on historic tours. But I am aware that Dorothy Spruill Redford author of Somerset Homecoming changed some of that when she directed Somerset Plantation and its history. Well this week, I learned that plantation estates in Louisiana are now addressing their slave history. Oak Alley Plantation and others are now including tours of the slave cabins on the formal tours of the estates, and this trend is now spreading to other places as well. Read more HERE.
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It is time to wind it down for this week. Don’t forget the other spring events such as the Grand Review Parade, Juneteenth, and more.

Thanks for listening, and have a great week of research. In the meantime, keep researching, keep documenting, and keep sharing what you find.