Research at the National Archives&Beyond

Bernice Bennett welcomes a live re-enactment from the auction block and the dangers of the Underground Railroad, two brave women and one child escaped the bonds of slavery. The Religious Society of Friends or Quakers founded Sandy Spring, Maryland in 1724.  This area became a prosperous farming community.  The Maryland Quakers outlawed the owning of slaves in 1776-77 although slavery was not abolished in Maryland until 1864.  In Sandy Spring, former slaves owned their homes, organized churches, and schools in spite of the fact that slave catchers stalked the fields and woods.  Many Quakers and former slaves provided assistance to escaping slaves via the secret “Underground Railroad”. Located in Sandy Spring, Maryland,  the Theatre Ministry of the Olive Branch Community Church developed “Stories on the Way to Sandy Spring” in honor of the 2011 observance for Maryland Emancipation Day.  This vignette, based on three fictional characters, was written by Sophonia Simms and directed by Adam Simms.    Like those in the Stories, many escaped to freedom – found gainful employment and higher education.  We must never forget their courage, fortitude, and ingenuity.  Despite the dangers on the road to freedom, they were guided by their faith in God and vision for a better life. For more information, contact the Olive Branch Community Church, www.obcchurch.org or Simms City Productions, SimmsCityProductions.com.  

Have you ever traced your family through a maze of intriguing documents and discovered politicians, land owners, socialites, and key decision makers in the community?  What about family members who are both free people of color and white?   Bernice Bennett,  host with Natonne Elaine Kemp, co-host welcome Genealogist and Family Historian Gwendolyn Olson for an exciting discussion of her genealogy journey from Baltimore to Louisiana. In keeping with the vision of researching and sharing “hidden” information and stories about the communities of south Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, Family Historian Gwenn Olson offer stories of the people and places outside of  New Orleans. Her discussion of the Carr/Kelso Family is an effort to provide stories and pictures that can possibly offer new information to those researching their family histories.

Have you attempted to prove oral history shared by family members and friends?    Join author, book publisher and family historian Denise I. Griggs as she describes the research process she went through to find documents to prove and/or disprove the oral family history given by her grandfather, Wilbert Hunt, and his sister, Julia Hunt-Richardson.   Ms. Griggs is a native of California whose parental ancestry is from Mississippi and Arkansas.  She has written several books: A Mulatto Slave, the Events in the Life of Peter Hunt, 1844-1915, a comical book, Look What Shook from the Family Tree!, and a children’s beginning genealogy pamphlet, I Know Who I Am On the Family Tree. Through her research, she has traced her mother’s family from Mississippi  to County Tipperary, Ireland.  Her forefathers were in the American Revolution, and the War of 1812.  Another one of her maternal ancestor’s was a former slave who joined the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War in 1864, and mustered out from the 6th Heavy Artillery, serving in 1866.  

Are you struggling to get your book written and published?    Let Anita Paul, better known as “The Author’s Midwife”, get you moving on the right track. Through her Write Your Life program, new authors overcome the struggles of writing, publishing, and marketing a book ... and learn how to leverage that book to achieve success.    

Are you searching for your family?  Are you German, Brown and want to learn more about your American or German heritage?   Join Henriette Cain Genealogist,  Search Consultant and Secretary of the Black German Cultural Society (BGCS), Inc.  Mrs. Cain - a brown baby adoptee successfully   found all members of her birth family. She is now helping others with their searches through her company S.U.N. Public Records Research. She offers family history research and strives to reunite families and friends. She is prominently featured in the documentary - "Brown Babies: Deutschlands verlorene Kinder. Mrs. Cain is also a Founding Member, co-founder and former Vice President of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical  Society of the Northen Illinois Southern Wisconsin Chapter; a member of the Noxubee County (MS) Historical Society, and a former volunteer Librarian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Family History Library.   http://www.planet-schule.de/sf/php/02_sen01.php?sendung=8704  

Do the young people in your life frown whenever you mention your research to them?  Learn ways to pique the interest of young people and keep them engaged as you develop your own genealogy. Nicka Smith lectures and mentors both young and old on genealogical search techniques and has become an expert resource for genealogical research in the northeastern Louisiana area and for sharing genealogy with youth. She is the chair of the Outreach and Education Committee for the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC), and is a board member of the California Genealogical Society (CGS). Nicka is also an accomplished communications professional and photographer.  

Happy New Year - 2013! Are you doing too much and unable to do it all?   Are you stressed out, not exercising, sleeping or eating the right foods?  Is your career, hobby, volunteer work and social media consuming your life?   What about your family, community and spiritual life? Remember, you are only as good as you are balanced! Life/work balance is a barometer for personal, professional, family and community well being.  To maintain that delicate life/work balance, Sharon  Weinstein - author of  B is for Balance, will share 10 tips that you can implement  quickly to help keep you on target.   Sharon Weinstein is an energetic, motivating and highly skilled consultant specializing in workplace wellness, corporate training programs and motivational speaking presentations.   As an author, Sharon draws on her own life experiences to help others gain control of their life purpose.  Her publications include B is for Balance...a guide to creating balance at home and at work (December '08), and Nursing without Borders: values, wisdom, success markers, and numerous peer-review manuscripts.  

Rebroadcast "Research Gems and Revelations at the National Archives" Have you explored all of the wonderful resources available at the National Archives?  Do you often wonder what you could find? Join host Bernice Bennett and author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles for an exciting discussion about the "Research Gems and Revelations at National Archives. Ms. Bundles is chair and president of the board of the Foundation for the National Archives in Washington, DC, and president of the Madam Walker/A’Lelia Walker Family Archives. After a 30 year career as a network television news producer and executive with ABC News and NBC News, she also serves on several other non-profit boards including serving as a Columbia University trustee, and with the Madam Walker Theatre Center of Indianapolis, and the Radcliffe Institute’s Schlesinger Library Council at Harvard. Ms. Bundles is currently at work on her third book,  Joy Goddess of Harlem: The Life and Times of A’Lelia Walker, a biography of her great-grandmother. Her biography of her great-great-grandmother, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, was named a New York Times Notable Book.  www.madamcjwalker.com and  www.aleliabundles.com.  

Rebroadcast Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade --   -- is the chronicle of a shared journey toward racial reconciliation. Informed by genealogy, it deals with race, social justice and healing from the traumatic wounds of slavery. Over a three year period, the authors traveled through 27 states, visiting ancestral towns, courthouses, cemeteries, plantations, antebellum mansions, and historic sites.    Bernice Alexander Bennett welcomes Sharon Leslie Morgan and Thomas Norman Dewolf to share this compelling journey with us.   Sharon Morgan is a marketing communications consultant and a nationally recognized pioneer in multicultural marketing. An avid genealogist, she is the webmaster for OurBlackAncestry.com and is a founder of the Black Public Relations Society.  Thomas Norman DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade, is featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary film Traces of the Trade, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and on the acclaimed PBS series POV. DeWolf speaks regularly about healing from the legacy of slavery and racism at conferences and colleges throughout the United States.   

  Property Rights and Wrongs: African-Americans at the Courthouse with The Legal Genealogist From being treated as property to having their property stolen by those who used the law against the freedmen, African Americans' experience at the courthouse had only one bright spot: it created records for the genealogist-descendants. A Certified Genealogist with a law degree, The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell examines the interplay between genealogy and the law. She is a lecturer, educator and writer who enjoys helping others understand a variety of issues, ranging from using DNA in family history to the effect the law had on our ancestors’ lives and the records they left behind. A graduate of George Washington University and Rutgers School of Law-Newark, Judy is a Colorado native with roots deep in the American south on her mother’s side and entirely in Germany on her father’s side. She's a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, and, among others, the state genealogical societies of New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas and Illinois. She has written for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the National Genealogical Society Magazine .

  Have you explored the sacramental records available through the Catholic Church?   Bernice Bennett welcomes Jari C.Honora for an engaging discussion concerning the sacramental records as a genealogical resource. Honora is a New Orleans native and proud Louisiana Creole with roots dating back more than two centuries along Bayou LaFourche and the German-Acadian Coast. He is a member of the Louisiana Creole Research Association, Jefferson Historical Society, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  He serves as National Historian for the Knights of Peter Claver and is writing a history of the organization to be released in 2014.

Natonne Elaine Kemp welcomes Toni Carrier and Robin Foster for a discussion of the LowCountry Africana. Toni Carrier (M.A.) is the Founder of LowcountryAfricana, a free website dedicated to African American genealogy and history in SC, GA and FL. Lowcountry Africana, sponsored by the Magnolia Plantation Foundation of Charleston, SC, is currently working with descendants of slaveholders and descendants of slaves, to document the history and genealogy of enslaved communities on Drayton family plantations in SC, GA, FL and TX.   Robin Foster has been researching and assisting others with their genealogy since 1985. She shares her expertise about current technologies, historical documentation, and strategies useful to genealogists and family historians. Robin is a regular presenter at libraries and genealogical societies.  

  "Research Gems and Revelations at the National Archives" Have you explored all of the wonderful resources available at the National Archives?  Do you often wonder what you could find? Join host Bernice Bennett and author and journalist A’Lelia Bundles for an exciting discussion about the "Research Gems and Revelations at National Archives. Ms. Bundles is chair and president of the board of the Foundation for the National Archives in Washington, DC, and president of the Madam Walker/A’Lelia Walker Family Archives. After a 30 year career as a network television news producer and executive with ABC News and NBC News, she also serves on several other non-profit boards including serving as a Columbia University trustee, and with the Madam Walker Theatre Center of Indianapolis, and the Radcliffe Institute’s Schlesinger Library Council at Harvard. Ms. Bundles is currently at work on her third book,  Joy Goddess of Harlem: The Life and Times of A’Lelia Walker, a biography of her great-grandmother. Her biography of her great-great-grandmother, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, was named a New York Times Notable Book.  

Rebroadcast Rebecca J. Scott, author of Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation, and co-authored with Jean M. Hébrard, will discuss how they traced one family across five generations and three continents, into slavery and then back into freedom. Freedom papers is the 2012 Recipient of the Albert J. Beveridge Award and the James A. Rawley Prize in Atlantic History - American Historical Association. Scott teaches history and law at the University of Michigan. She is also a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Join authors Lawrence N. Powell and Rebecca  J. Scott for two engaging discussions about their books. Lawrence N. Powell author of The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans (Harvard, 2012)  provides an account of the first two centuries in the history of New Orleans.  Powell received his doctorate from Yale University in 1976. He specializes in Civil War and Reconstruction; Southern history; Louisiana history and politics; and the Holocaust. For the last seven years he was also Director of Tulane's Campus Affiliates Program (CAP) and the Tulane/Xavier National Center for the Urban Community. The former Guggenheim Fellow, in 2008 Powell was elected as a Fellow in the Society of American Historians in recognition of literary distinction in the writing of history. Rebecca J. Scott,  author of  Freedom Papers: An Atlantic Odyssey in the Age of Emancipation, and co-authored with Jean M. Hébrard,  will discuss how they traced one family across five generations and three continents, into slavery and then back into freedom. Scott teaches history and law at the University of Michigan. Her earlier book, Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery, received the Frederick Douglass Prize and the John Hope Franklin Prize. She has also written on law and the concept of equal rights, most recently in an essay on re-enslavement titled “Paper Thin” that appeared in the November 2011 Law and History Review.  She is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.