Ancestor's Footprints with Bernice Alexander Bennett

They Had Names:A Digital Archive Looking for enslaved or free ancestors in coastal Georgia? The TheyHadNames.net digital project has transformed thousands of Liberty County probate records, deeds, and court cases from 1786-1865 into a searchable database—revealing individual names and stories of enslaved people rather than just property listings. Whether your roots trace to coastal Georgia or anyw...

Today's episode will focus on the Creek Freedmen, News from Oklahoma with Angela Walton-Raji. Creek Freedmen are descendants of African-Americans who were enslaved by the Muscogee Creek Nation and granted freedom and citizenship under an 1866 treaty with the U.S. government. A 1979 Muscogee Nation constitution limited citizenship to those "by blood," leading to decades of disenfranchisement for Fr...

In this episode of  Ancestors Footprints , host Bernice Bennett welcomes marketing executive turned genealogist Andre Kearns, Founder and CEO of Black Ancestries(https://blackancestries.com/), a company that provides professional genealogy research to help people of African connect with their past. Andre shares how a career pivot became a calling: to uncover, celebrate, and preserve, the lost line...

Striking the Balance: Challenges interpreting free Black communities with Guy Weston.  In this episode, we will discuss the importance of acknowledging Black achievement in a discipline that is frequently dominated by loss and suffering.  Guy’s current work encompasses research and public history initiatives to raise the profile of Timbuctoo, NJ, where his fourth great grandfather purchased land i...

At the Feet of the Elders” by Darius Brown is a journey into the heart of African American ancestry in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War and the collapse of slavery in Beaufort County, this book traces the author’s own lineage from Africa through enslavement to freedom. Using archival records, oral history, and genetic genealogy, Brown reconstructs the lives...

Today's episode features A'Lelia Bundles, the author of Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance. A'Lelia Bundles discusses her book "Joy Goddess," which chronicles the life of her great-great-grandmother Madam CJ Walker and great-grandmother A'Lelia Walker, correcting historical misconceptions by portraying A'Lelia as a significant supporter of the arts during the Harlem Renaissance...

Today’s episode will focus on a new show called Back to the Frontier on HBO Max where three American families are taken out of their 21st-century comfort zones and sent back to the frontier, where they must learn to live like their predecessors with no modern amenities. The families face challenges but also gain valuable lessons about the importance of hard work, gratitude, and family togetherness...

Today's episode will focus on Enslaved.org , an innovative online digital history project that through datasets that contributors have created by extracting information from historical sources, it documents the lives of hundreds of thousands of named enslaved individuals in mainland North America and the larger Atlantic world. The project's database and partnerships, including with FamilySearch, e...

Edisto Gullah Geechee People of Orangeburg, South Carolina In this  episode,  Roderick Gass, Vice President of the Gullah Nation of North America, will discuss the Edisto Gullah Geechee people of Orangeburg, South Carolina, and their cultural heritage. He also explores the work of Lorenzo Dow Turner, the Father of Gullah studies, and delve into various aspects of Gullah Geechee culture, including...

  Preserving History with Our Stories with Marion Woodford Simmons This episode will demonstrate how ordinary people can preserve community history by documenting and preserving their memories, memorabilia and ephemera. Through her work, Marion Woodfork Simmons continues to bridge the gap between past and present, ensuring that every story—no matter how small—is preserved and celebrated. Marion Wo...

Genealogy in Reverse: Finding the Living - A Practical Guide for all Genealogists Genealogy often feels like a treasure hunt, and genealogists, like treasure hunters, run into “dead ends” all the time.  One important method for getting back on track is to look for living relatives who can fill in the gaps in our family stories. With step-by-step guidance, methodologies, and practical examples, Gen...

Dr. Antoinette Harrell, a genealogist, family historian, and local historian in Tangipahoa and St. Helena Parishes, is renowned for her pioneering work in uncovering the peonage system that persisted in the Southern United States long after the abolition of slavery. She has been instrumental in helping countless families trace their ancestry and has brought national attention to hidden histories t...

The Power of Collaboration Collaborative Genealogy is a powerful, yet underused tool when it comes to building a family tree. With it, people can grow their trees farther than possible when working alone.  Emmaline MacBeath is a genetic genealogist and a children’s author under the pen name Emmaline Rose. She specializes in African-American genealogy and the use of DNA to identify unknown family....

Overlooked: Early Black History in Minnesota Long before the Great Migration, African Americans were already building lives and communities across Minnesota and the upper Midwest. Join professional genealogist Mica L. Anders as she uncovers the forgotten stories of Black pioneers, homesteaders, and entrepreneurs who helped shape the state from the 1850s through the 1890s. From Civil War veterans c...

Learning Larkin, My Civil War Ancestor  In this episode, Cherekana Feliciano will share her journey to search for her  Civil War ancestor, Larkin Woodruff's pension file. She will describe what she learned from those files and the amazing surprise discovery made along the pension file journey.   Cherekana Feliciano is a genealogist, public history enthusiast and law school graduate. She has been c...

The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir Martha S. Jones grew up feeling her Black identity was obvious to all who saw her. But weeks into college, a Black Studies classmate challenged Jones’s right to speak. Suspicious of the color of her skin and the texture of her hair, he confronted her with a question that inspired a lifetime of introspection: “Who do you think you are?” Now a prizewin...

Join us for  Freedmen’s Bureau Friday , a weekly virtual gathering where we uncover the rich and revealing stories found in the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Land also known as the Freedmen Bureau —a groundbreaking collection of more than 3.4 million documents created between 1865 and 1872.  These records provide an invaluable window into the lives of newly emancipated African America...

Searching for my American cousins with Martine Brennan Over a decade ago, Irish woman Martine Brennan took a DNA test which surprisingly revealed that she had unknown African American cousins. With no family oral history to guide her she began the search to find her connection to her cousins. Martine Brennan is an  London-born Irish woman, public historian & genealogist. Creator of the databas...

The Front Porch Genealogist In this episode, genealogist and legacy coach Terri Ward, known as The Front Porch Genealogist, provides a heart-centered conversation about the many ways people show up to do the work of family history. Drawing from her work in Coastal Georgia, and her unique framework of four genealogy archetypes: Porch Sitters, Torch Tenders, Root Tenders, and Lineage Liberators, Ter...

  The Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) is an educational institute dedicated to advancing African American genealogical research through structured, in-depth training. Since its founding nearly 13 years ago, MAAGI has provided a unique and immersive learning experience, bringing together researchers, historians, and genealogists at all levels. MAAGI’s mission is to equip family...

 The McGowan Funeral Home Collection: Rescuing & Reviving Community Memories The McGowan Funeral Home Collection Project is an effort to safeguard historical records, stories, and legacies that might otherwise have been lost, and to breathe new life into these memories for current and future generations. The collection holds significance in showcasing Dallas's cultural, familial, and historica...

In My Ancestors’ Footsteps: DNA, Documents, and Descendants From Adgateville to Africa Join Patricia Glover-Howard on a personal journey to trace her ancestors from Adgateville, Jasper County, Georgia, to Africa. At the age of 13, the movie  Roots ignited her passion for uncovering her family’s history. Years later, a DNA test revealed long-lost ancestral ties, leading her to connect with cousins...

Own Your Narrative: Tell Your Story or Someone Else Will Tell It For You  If you don’t share your story, someone else will—through assumptions, incomplete facts, or their own biases. Owning your narrative means preserving your truth, your experiences, and your legacy, exactly as you want it to be remembered. It’s about reclaiming your voice and making sure your story is told authentically, before...

A Free Man of Color of Charleston: Abraham Ashe What do the Haitian Revolution, the War of 1812, and Denmark Vesey’s planned revolt have in common? Abraham Ashe—an enslaved man turned free person of color in Charleston whose life touched every corner of Black Atlantic history. In this episode, researcher and storyteller Joel Johnson uncovers the extraordinary story of his 5th great-grandfather, Ab...

"The Life and Legacy of Dr. Matilda Evans, South Carolina's first African American woman licensed to practice medicine"  The show will discuss the research and remarkable life of Dr. Matilda Evans, the first African American woman licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina. Dr. Walter B. Curry Jr. obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction....