Welcome back to the African Roots Podcast! You can reach me HERE.
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Well we started off this week with a holiday, and I hope that you had a wonderful Memorial Day holiday and that you were able to honor your loved ones, and those men and women who have served our nation. Taking time to honor those who have served the nation, and honoring all of those who have gone ahead of us. This is the time of the year when we do honor those who have paved the way for us and some who lost their lives for us, and I hope that you were able to be reflective and appreciate their efforts.
Speaking of those who served the nation, last night’s episode of Bernice Bennett’s show on Blog radio was timely. It was a rebroadcast of a show with two guests who spoke about the history of the 371st Infantry from World War I. Her guest was Sonya Hodges who is an authority on this all black WWI, regiment. Her second guest was Douglas Culbreth. Both were informative and provided little known details about this unit that wasa as distinguished as the Harlem Hellfighters. Most of the men in that unit came from South Carolina and they showed remarkable bravery and performed so nobly in France at that time. I urge you to listen and to hear about this often forgotten portion of history from the early 20th century. Her show airs every Thursday evening at 9pm Eastern time.
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Next week, I shall be coming to you from Southern California. I will be attending the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree! I am honored to be speaking in an African American Track for the first time. The conference will start Friday and end on Sunday. I am excited to be in a circle of amazing speakers, Nicka Smith, Bernice Bennett, Michael Henderson, Judy Russell, Crista Cowen and Anita Coach. I am speaking about Black Women in the Civil War, and then I have the honor of joining my other colleagues on two different panels as well. So if you are in southern California, let’s connect!! I would love to have a chance to meet friends in California, and I hope that many of you will make it to the Marriott in Burbank next weekend.
Then after that I am on the way to Alabama for the Institute of Genealogical Research held at Samford University. I am excited that I will be speaking in the Five Civilized Tribes Track this year. Also as many know that next year will be the last year that IGHR will take place on the Samford University campus, so this is one of those traditions that has come to an end and we all look forward to the annoucement when IGHR finds a new home.
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Later in June a big announcement will be coming forth from Family Search. They have digitized the genealogically significant records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. The call for action will unfold from Family Search, requesting that all persons become involved in the effort to digitize these critical records. This is actually a collaboration between Family Search, The Smithsonian, and AAHGS, to get all parties involved in the digitization of these records. The big announcement will be made on Juneteenth, which is, of course a very significant day in our history. As you know the 19th of June is Juneteenth, and this year will be the 150th anniversary of General Granger sailing into Galveston Harbor and reading the announcement that those in bondage, were no longer to be held in that state. Oh the joy and oh the celebrations! So stay tuned for that announcement forthcoming.
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A friend and colleague shared a great website with me and I have to share it with you. For those researching Louisiana, and free people of color in particular from that state. The site was funded by NEH to created an amazing database, from a multiple sources. Business recods, public records, and family public records and so much more. This is great because so many of the records are spread throughout the entire state in various repositories. So scholars, genealogists, teachers can all utilize this amazing database. Free People of Color in Louisiana is the name of this digital collection.
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The fall schedule for the AAHGS Conference in Richmond Virginia is about to be placed online. I know that any day now we can expect it. Virginia is of course one of those states, where it all began and the conference in Richmond promises to ge an exciting event.
So my calendar if full and I know many of you have family reunions, and the institutes will be unfolding in the summer, and of course research time gets scheduled in as well. And I hope to be able to slow down after MAAGI, and take some time to work on writing projects. So summer is here, and I know you are equally as busy. I hope that our paths cross and that your summer events will unfold smoothly.
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In the meantime, have a great week, and remember to keep researching, keep documenting and keep sharing what you find!
