Ancestor's Footprints with Bernice Alexander Bennett

The Black Russian with Vladimir Alexandrov Bernice Bennett host welcomes Vladimir Alexandrov, Ph. D.,  for an engaging discussion of his book, The Black Russian. He will explore the process of researching and writing this compelling story.   The Black Russian tells the story of Frederick Bruce Thomas, who was born in 1872 to former slaves and spent his youth on his family’s farm in Mississippi.  A...

"Slavery, Freedom and Reunion in a Colonial Connecticut Town" with Grant Hayter-Menzies, Daryl D'Angelo and Donald Roddy In June 1759, Norwich, Connecticut businessman Benajah Bushnell sold Guy Drock, a slave of African ancestry, to Sarah Powers, the  Caucasian woman Drock had possibly married. Ironically, this deed freed Drock from Bushnell’s control but not from slavery. In March 2012, descendan...

    Join host Bernice Bennett and special guest Char McCargo Bah for a discussion on researching roomers and others  documented in the household.   When you are using the U.S. Census, you will see several large families.  In some cases, you might see extended families and roomers.  Hence, if you research everyone in the house, you might find answers to a lot of your questions.  Knowing "Whose In T...

Notorious in the Neighborhood  Sex and Families Across the Color Line in Virginia, 1787-1861   "Laws and cultural norms militated against interracial sex in Virginia before the Civil War. Nonetheless, it was ubiquitous in urban, town, and plantation communities throughout the state. In Notorious in the Neighborhood, Joshua Rothman examines the full spectrum of interracial sexual relationships unde...

Rebroadcast  "Do Your Roots Need Untangling?  If So, Try Stepping Out on a Limb!  Cluster Genealogy May Hold the Clue"   "Our ancestors lived among many, therefore we can not research them as if they lived in isolation.  Researching our family history through extended family members, neighbors and the community may answer questions and provide information about our own ancestors not found elsewher...

Natonne Elaine Kemp welcomes author Sydney Nathans, Ph. D. for a discussion of his book TO FREE A FAMILY! TO FREE A FAMILY is the story of Mary Walker, an enslaved woman from North Carolina who escaped bondage in 1848, left her children and mother behind, and spent seventeen years seeking to recover them through ransom, ruse, or rescue.  Using the records of her one-time owners, the vast and vivid...

Rebroadcast Got Proof! My Genealogical Journey Through the Use of Documentation, Lieutenant Commander Michael Nolden Henderson, USN retired, captures the attention of genealogists, historians, and others interested in the complex social structure that developed during the French and Spanish colonial periods in Louisiana. He explores the forbidden relationships from which evolved the unique Creole...

    Mississippi Genealogy Resources with Laura Lanier    Laura Lanier will discuss various record sets available for genealogical research in Mississippi.   Laura Lanier is a family researcher from New York with ancestral roots in Alabama and Mississippi. She has been actively researching her family roots in Adams County and Wilkinson County, Mississippi since 2008.   Laura currently maintains a F...

Slaves in the Family with Edward Ball If you knew that you were a descendant of a slave- owner, would you tell anyone? If you had an opportunity to apologize to descendants of those enslaved by your family, would you?   Edward Ball is a writer of narrative nonfiction and the author of five books, including The Inventor and the Tycoon (Doubleday, 2013), about the birth of moving pictures. The book...

From Family History to Community History - the Chowan Discovery Group Story with Marvin T. Jones, Executive Director of the Chowan Discovery Group(CDG).    The mission of the Chowan Discovery Group  is to research, document, preserve and present the 400+ year-old history of the landowning tri-racial people of color of the Winton Triangle, an area centered in Hertford County, North Carolina.     Fo...

Dower Slaves and Administrative Court Action  Court minutes are a chronological listing of events and persons presented to the appropriate assembly or court. They are rarely indexed by name, but contain very rich genealogical treasures.    J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA was named the FGS Delegate of the Year in 2000. He is a full-time professional researcher and educator, who formerly served as President...

Bernice Bennett welcomes Joanne Abel for a discussion of the  Jeanes Teachers and their community organizing work to build Rosenwald Schools. Joanne Abel, adult programming and humanities librarian at Durham County Library, earned her bachelor of science degree in education from Georgia Southern College, her master of library science from North Carolina Central University, and her master of arts i...

“To Do The Next Needed Thing”:  Jeanes Teachers and the Freedom Struggle Do you know who the Jeanes Teachers are and their role in the education of African American children in rural America? Bernice Bennett welcomes Dr. Valinda W. Littlefield, the Director of African American Studies and Associate Professor of History, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina.  Dr. Littlefield’s...

    “My experience in the military was certainly an important inspiration and foundation in researching the history of the Black Military. It is story of a people who in spite of injustice, continue to be the most patriotic of Americans.”   Bennie J. McRae Jr. Do you know or understand the role played by individuals of African descent in the American Civil War?  Bennie J. McRae a military history...

The Inventive Spirit and African American Patented  Ingenuity by Author,  Patricia Carter Sluby Sluby details the plight of inventive slaves during the antebellum and Civil War eras and juxtaposes with their efforts with free blacks of the same period. In addition, the listeners are guided through a comprehensive discussion of patents developed by African Americans beginning in1821 to present. Dis...

Learn how Cluster Research helped to unravel the history of a family in 19th Century New York! Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York City Yale UP, 2011- is a social and cultural history of African Americans in nineteenth-century New York City as seen through the lens of family history.  It was awarded the 2011 NYC Book Award in History from the New York...

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 j...

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 parent...

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.     Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podca...

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....

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 boar...

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, cemet...

  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...

  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 Louisia...

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...