Ancestor's Footprints with Bernice Alexander Bennett

  A Legend in the Classroom-The Life Story of Ms Yvonne Busch Leonard Smith III is a self-proclaimed technology geek, with a passion for genealogy and story.  He has authored many articles and workshops on research techniques, storytelling, and filmmaking.  In 2008, he started LS3 Studios. This multimedia studio has produced interviews and award-winning documentary films. Leonard has helped his cl...

Challenges and Opportunities in Searching for your African American Roots! Nicka Sewell-Smith is a professional photographer, speaker, and documentarian with more than 17 years of experience as a genealogist. She has extensive experience in African ancestored genealogy, reverse genealogy, and family reunion planning and execution. She is also an expert in genealogical research in the Northeastern...

  Wilmington on Fire chronicles the bloody attack on the African-American community and unseated elected officials in the port city of Wilmington, North Carolina November 10, 1898. The massacre and coup d’etat was the springboard for the white supremacy movement and Jim Crow segregation throughout the state of North Carolina and the American South. This discussion will focus on the historical rese...

Rebroadcast: Public historian David E. Paterson studies people who lived in nineteenth-century Upson County, Georgia, especially those who experienced slavery and Reconstruction. A civilian employee of the US Navy by day, he spends his leisure hours researching and writing local history.  David has helped manage the Slave Research Forum at AfriGeneas.com since about 2001.  David emigrated to the U...

A Guide to Researching African American Ancestors in Laurens County, South Carolina  LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, CG, is a board-certified genealogist since 2015. She teaches and lectures on African-American genealogy, and serves as the co-chair of BCG's Intellectual Property Committee. She has written a reference book that is both a locality guide (with tips on where to look for records) and a "how t...

Rebroadcast The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository of the permanently valuable records of the U.S. Government.  NARA's vast holdings document the lives and experiences of persons who interacted with the Federal Government.  The records created by post-Civil War Federal Agencies are perhaps some of the most important records available for the study of bla...

Tithe, Time, and Talent: African Americans, Philanthropy, and the Civil Rights Movement, 1925-1968 addresses an important gap in civil rights historiography that centers on philanthropy, volunteerism, and fundraising.  Philanthropy has been an immutable part of the American experience since the late sixteenth century.  Since money is often emphasized as the highest form of contributory assistance,...

This program will examine the suppressed history of the commercialization of Race and Race Consciousness through the lense of sheet music and early sound recordings of turn of the century Coon Songs and Minstrel Shows produced by Victor and Columbia Records 1900-1910. Bill Doggett is a California based archivist and specialist in Race and Race Consciousness in recordings at the Dawn of Recorded So...

Pension Files of African Americans in the War of 1812 We are natives of this country; we ask only to be treated as well as foreigners. Not a few of our fathers suffered and bled to purchase its independence; we ask only to be treated as well as those who fought against it. We have toiled to cultivate it, and to raise it to its present prosperous condition; we ask only to share equal privileges wit...

Have you searched for records and finally found that special person you have been looking for?  So what?  What does the record tell you?  Is this all that you need? Join Dr. Shelley Murphy, aka "familytreegirl" for a discussion on the "SO WHAT" concept?  "So What" is a concept used in the Midwestern African American Genealogy Institute to help analyze genealogical records and resources. The goal i...

Dr. Adam Arenson discusses his ongoing research about African North Americans—those men and women, born free or enslaved, who crossed or re-crossed the U.S.-Canada border in the era of emancipation, Civil War, and Reconstruction.  We will discuss how difficult it is to determine how many fugitive slaves and free blacks were in Canada; the history of the more than 600 African North Americans who re...

  Author and Genealogist Robyn Smith has been researching her family and others for 18 years. An engineer by day, Robyn makes good use of those research and problem-solving skills in the field of genealogy. She specializes in Maryland research, African-American and Slave-era research and Court Records research. Robyn has a strong interest in promoting the documentation of families and communities,...

Join  Zann Nelson and Elizabeth Chew for a discussion on the following topics: African American research in Virginia: (challenges, what works, successes) Why is it important?  How Montpelier's African American heritage project differs from other plantations and how it relates to the ongoing discussions about the Constitution. Zann Nelson is an award-winning freelance writer specializing in African...

Slaves Waiting For Sale In 1853, Eyre Crowe, a young British artist, visited a slave auction in Richmond, Virginia. Harrowed by what he witnessed, he captured the scene in sketches that he would later develop into a series of illustrations and paintings, including the culminating painting, Slaves Waiting for Sale, Richmond, Virginia. This innovative book uses Crowe’s paintings to explore the textu...

Rebroadcast Join author Craig Steven Wilder for a discussion of his research and book - Ebony & Ivy: Race, Slavery, and the Troubled History of America's University. Craig Steven Wilder is a professor of American history at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has taught at Wiliams College and Dartmouth College. Many of America's revered colleges and universities - from Harvard, Yale,...

Finding Samuel Lowe is a remarkable journey about one woman’s path to self-discovery. It is a story about love and devotion that transcends time and race, and a beautiful reflection of the power of family and the interconnectedness of our world. Paula Williams Madison is Chairman and CEO of Madison Media Management LLC, a Los Angeles based media consultancy company with global reach. In 2011, Madi...

Jari C.Honora and James Morgan III will discuss a step by step guide to documenting fraternal society participation of ancestors and relatives as well as offer tips and tricks on how to locate documents in this field of study. They will show that through understanding fraternal happenings in state and local communities, researchers will be able to get a better understanding of not only who their a...

  Char McCargo Bah is the CEO/Owner of FindingThingsforU, LLC.  She has been a genealogist since 1981; she has appeared in numerous television interviews with CBS, FOX-5, Comcast, Public Broadcasting Services just to name a few and documentaries. She has received numerous awards in 2014, 2013, 2010, and in 2009 for her work in genealogy.  She was the City of Alexandria’s genealogist on the Alexand...

In this program Mr. Morgan will seek to show the benefits of studying African American Fraternal and Benevolent Organizations.  Mr. Morgan will provide some historical narrative on various organizations as well as give tips on how these organizations can provide some in-depth analysis of how ancestral communities functioned and organized within these groups.  James Morgan III is a graduate of Howa...

      THE FAMILY TREE: A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets and My Search for the Truth by Karen Branan A true account of the hanging of four black people by a white lynch mob in 1912—written by the great-granddaughter of the sheriff who allowed the lynching. Branan describes her almost twenty-year search for the truth behind her grandmother’s casual reply to the query “What is your most unf...

Alondra Nelson is Dean of Social Science and professor of sociology and gender studies at Columbia University. She is author of the award-winning book Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination and editor of Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of DNA, Race, and History. Her reviews, writing and commentary have also appeared in the New York Times,...

Leonard Todd is the author of CAROLINA CLAY, the story of the slave potter known as Dave. Newsweek calls it a fascinating account. Publishers Weekly describes it as a sweeping tale of the South itself. It was a finalist for The National Award for Arts Writing, and it won the South Carolina Center for the Book Award for Writing. It is published by W. W. Norton. Born in South Carolina, Leonard was e...

The Civil War Pension Files of Philip McQuerter of Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi provides revealing information about the family. Alvin Blakes is a lifelong organizer and community worker who has been researching African history since he was a teenager, and has travelled to Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and all over the United States to pursue his studies. He has researched his family’s...

  This show will examine various case examples of when "wills" don't go as planned such as protests to wills, residual estates and guardianships. In addition, this show will review the records of probate for a typical slave-holding estate. Public historian David E. Paterson studies people who lived in nineteenth-century Upson County, Georgia, especially those who experienced slavery and Reconstruc...

Marcellaus A. Joiner: Supervisor of the Heritage Research Center at the High Point Public Library and the Archivist for the High Point Museum in High Point, North Carolina. Marcellaus has a B.A.in History from North Carolina A&T State University and a Masters of Library Science from North Carolina Central University. He has proudly worked in the Archives and Library field for over the past 8 y...