Research At The National Archives And Beyond!

Never say Never! Discovering the Untold Story of Archer Alexander Keith Winstead of Louisville, Kentucky sent Dorris Keeven-Franke a message in October of 2018 inquiring about a post on Archer Alexander and Muhammad Ali. Neither imagined the journey of discovery that lay ahead. Winstead, a third cousin of Ali, and a great great-great-grandson of Archer Alexander, had spent the past 30 years researching his family history and had just discovered the family connection through DNA. That journey has taken them all the way from St. Charles, Missouri where Keeven-Franke lives to Washington DC to stand at the Emancipation Memorial, where Archer portrays the former enslaved with President Abraham Lincoln. Keeven-Franke is a writer and professional genealogist, who has been researching the history of St. Charles and St. Louis for over 40 years and Keith Winstead born Louisville, Ky. has been reesearching his family history for over 30 years.  

What would it look and feel like if the descendant of an enslaved ancestor and descendant of slave holder would collaborate to share family records? Cheri Hudson Passey is a Professional Genealogist, Instructor, Writer, and Speaker and the owner of Carolina Girl Genealogy, LLC which provides research services as well as instruction and coaching through her Genealogy 1-on-1 classes. Cheri is the host of the genealogy chat show GenFriends seen on YouTube and is a genealogical researcher, subcontracted by Eagle Investigative Services, Inc., for the US Army Past Conflict Repatriations Branch.  Cheri enjoys volunteering and serving the genealogy community. She is a Past President of The Grand Strand Genealogy Club and currently serves as Program Chair. She is the secretary for the Federation of Genealogical Societies and treasurer for the GeneaBloggersTRIBE.   Opening music - Sweet Mellow Spice by A. K. Alexander Productions

A false assumption in the genealogy research process led to years of being unable to find out who my 4th great-grandmother really was. An accidental discovery in a courthouse basement led to her true identity. Learn how to think outside of the genealogy research box to find the female ancestors hiding in the family tree. As a genealogy researcher and creator of the Are You My Cousin? blog, Lisa Lisson takes the overwhelm out of genealogy research and keeps researchers moving forward finding their ancestors. Whether researching ancestors alongside clients or writing how-to articles and books, Lisa uses her 12 years of research experience to help others build a solid research plan, find the needed genealogy records, and get the most out of those resources. When not working with clients or writing genealogy articles, Lisa can be found pursuing her passion for  running, traveling with her husband or simply enjoying time with her two adult children.

The View from My Seat - Commentary presented by the Annie Malone Historical Society discussing the Netflix Miniseries - Self-Made. Linda Nance is currently the Founding President of the Annie Malone Historical Society.  As the previous Director of Resources for the Annie Malone Children & Family Service Center, she annually coordinated activities involving five different fundraising events, opened two cafes, secured Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credits, and conducted a successful Challenge Grant campaign.

Have you wondered why you can't find your ancestors? Tony Burroughs will explore reasons why you are having problems finding your ancestors. Tony Burroughs is founder and CEO of the Center for Black Genealogy.  He is an internationally known genealogist who taught genealogy at Chicago State University for fifteen years. Burroughs researched Olympic Gold Medal sprint champion Michael Johnson’s family history and consulted on the Smokey Robinson genealogy, the Oprah Winfrey genealogy, Reverend Al Sharpton-Strom Thurmond genealogy,  African American Lives2, Who Do You Think You Are, The Real Family of Jesus and consulted with Chicago Public Schools, New York Public Schools, Chicago City Colleges and Ancestry.com.         Burroughs’ book, Black Roots: A Beginners Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree (Simon & Schuster, 2001) was number one on Essence Magazine's Best Seller List and is now in its fifth printing. His chapter, African American Genealogy is in the Encyclopedia of African American Hi

Barbara Ricard Landix is a native of New Orleans and a recently inducted member into the Pleasant Run Chapter, NSDAR of Texas DAR. Barbara will share her journey to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution based upon her seventh generation grandfather Pierre Belly. Barbara is a charter member of The Louisiana Creole Research Association, Inc., known as LA Creole, that was founded on August 21, 2004 as a New Orleans-based, non-profit family research and educational organization.  

In 1820, exactly two hundred years ago, with the signing of The Treaty of Doak’s Stand, more than five million acres of Choctaw ancestral land in what is now Madison, County, MS was ceded to the United States. As a result, white planters flocked to the area forcing thousands of enslaved black people to migrate with them often leaving family members behind. A number of those planters originated in Bertie County, NC including John Johnston, who migrated there in 1820 and brought with him his body servant, who was her third paternal great grandfather, an enslaved man named March. Other planters from Bertie followed including Noah B. Hinton who brought with him over one hundred and twenty enslaved people among whom were Habeus and Mary, her great, great maternal grandparents. Freddi Williams Evans is a native of Madison, MS located in Madison County, and she resides in New Orleans. She is internationally recognized for her scholarship on historic Congo Square and is the author of Congo Square: African Roots in

James R. Morgan III is a graduate of the Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications and Africana Studies in 2011.  James is an active Prince Hall Freemason and as such he serves as Worshipful Grand Historian & Archivist of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia James is an active and experienced genealogist and is a member of the James Dent Walker Chapter of the African American Historical and Genealogical Society. He has presented at the 2016 International Black Genealogy Symposium as well as at the 2019 National Conference of the African American Historical and Genealogcal Society (AAHGS). James serves as a contributing scholar to the Bishop Henry McNeal Turner Project and is the author of The Lost Empire: Black Freemasonry in the Old West (1867-1906).  James is a Co-Panelist on both Black ProGen-Live and the Prince Hall Think Tank, both of which can be found on Youtube.

Join Dr. Shelley Murphy for a discussion about the challenges we face when researching African American ancestry. Shelley will share her experiences with brick walls and some ways that might help you combat some of the brick walls we all have and will face. For some, the words “So What?” seem like a curt reply to a simple question. For Shelley Murphy, however, they are the driving force behind her genealogy research and her high-energy presentations. Known affectionately as “familytreegirl”.  More than thirty years later, Shelley has become a genealogy force to be reckoned with. She is a co-founder and faculty for the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI), past president of the AAHGS Chapter of Central Virginia, former vice president of the Central Virginia Genealogical Association (CVGA), and a proud daughter of the Jack Jouett and Walter Hines Page Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is active in her home state of Virginia serving on the Boards of the Library of Virgin

Almost Disappeared: Unearthing My Family History is a blog that will primarily share genealogical resources and methodology, and add a new voice to those who feel they have been chosen to call the names of their ancestors and tell their stories. Alvin Blakes is a lifelong organizer and community worker who has been researching African history since he was a teenager, and has traveled to Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and all over the United States to pursue his studies. For over 20 years, he has researched his family’s history from Woodville, Wilkinson County Mississippi, back to the late 1700s in the Eastern US.  He is a member of the Dallas Genealogical Society’s African American Genealogy Interest Group. He graduated with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University’s School of Engineering. Currently, he is the Manager of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Agency’s Bus Fleet Engineering Group. almostdisappeared.com

In 2018, Nichelle Smith started researching 1619 and the story of the first enslaved Africans to land in the Virginia colony. She became fascinated by a woman named Angela, the only African woman listed by name in the colony's 1625 muster.  Four hundred years later, her resilience and survival is so remarkable that Angela was the subject of a recent archaeological dig at Historic Jamestown. Nichelle wanted to walk her path and tell her story. Little did she know that she  would have to go all the way to the interior of Angola to do it. Two months after that reporting trip to Angola, Nichelle traveled to Lagos, Nigeria. Every face she saw mirrored her own. This inspired her to take the DNA tests and uncover her family's ancestors. Through telling Angela's story, she  found 'home' and was forever changed by this journey. Nichelle Smith is the coordinating editor for USA TODAY’s Investigations team and leader of several award-winning race and diversity projects for Gannett and USA TODAY, including Civil Ri

Self Made is Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker. A’Lelia Bundles is the author of On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, the 2001 New York Times Notable Book about her entrepreneurial great-great-grandmother. Renamed Self Made for the 2020 edition, this biography is the inspiration for the four-part Netflix series starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer that premiered on March 20.   Ms. Bundles is at work on her fifth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, about her great-grandmother whose parties, arts patronage and international travels helped define the era. A former network television news executive and producer at ABC News and NBC News, Ms. Bundles is a vice chairman of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees and chair emerita of the board of the National Archives Foundation. Photograph by Que Duong She is on the advisory boards of the March on Washington Film Festival, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvar

Join Melissa Barker for a conversation about archiving and preserving records.  Melissa Barker is a Certified Archives Manager and Public Historian currently working at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives. She lectures, teaches and writes about the genealogy research process, researching in archives and records preservation. She conducts virtual webinar presentations across the United States for genealogical and historical societies. She writes a popular blog entitled A Genealogist in the Archives and is a well known Book Reviewer for the FGS Magazine FORUM and Utah Genealogical Association Magazine Crossroads. She writes a bi-weekly advice column entitled The Archive Lady published at Abundant Genealogy. She writes history pieces for her local newspaper The Houston County Herald called From the Archives. Her Professional Genealogy expertise is in Tennessee records and she is currently taking research clients. She has been researching her own family history for the past 30 years.  

What are some signs of anxiety in children and what can you do as a parent to help them? Sylvia Hazel Hunter, a native of Charleston, South Carolina attended Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education and  a Master of Education degree in School Counseling from the College of William and Mary. Ms. Hazel-Hunter taught elementary school for eight years before becoming the first elementary school counselor in Newport News Public Schools in 1988. She has co-authored two handbooks on elementary school counseling for Newport News Public Schools. Hazel-Hunter was recognized in 2004 as Virginia’s Elementary School Counselor of the Year and Exemplary School Counselor of Hampton Roads in 2012. Currently, she is an elementary school counselor at Riverside Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. 

  Ric Murphy is an educator, historian, lecturer and award-winning author. He has served as board chair of several organizations and on numerous additional national and local not-for-profit boards. His achievements also includes serving as the National Vice President for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Association Ric's new publication the Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia is coming out in June (History Press, 2020) and The Legacy of theFirst Africans in Virginia (History Press, 2021). He is a descendant and born to write the true story about the arrival of the first documented Africans to arrive in English North America in 1619.  

Nicka Smith is a professional photographer, speaker, host, and documentarian with more than 20 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 Louisiana area, sharing genealogy with youth, documenting the ancestral journey, and employing the use of new technology in genealogy and family history research. Nicka has diverse and varied experience in communications, with a background in publications, editing, graphic design, radio, and video production. She has edited and designed several volumes of family history that include narratives, photos, and genealogical information and has also transferred these things to an online environment. She is the host of BlackProGen LIVE, an innovative web show focused on people of color genealogy and family history.

A travel video series chronicling Denise’s many adventures around the world. From her 1st international trip to Moscow at 14 to her most recent journey to Ghana, Denise shares her love of international travel with a dose of geography, Black history, travel hacks, and humor. Current episodes include Fiji, Ghana, Cartagena, and Bermuda with many more to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiZiRT133Jw

Amateur genealogist Joel Johnson will share his 4x great-grandmother Harriet Rigg’s life story and along the way illustrate how traditional and genetic genealogy leads to a deeper understanding of his enslaved ancestor in Bulloch County, Georgia. His research into county records revealed Harriet and her family had 5 enslavers, all in the same town of Statesboro, GA, and their transition to freedom from clues within two key documents, an estate sale in 1847, and a labor contract with the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1866. Joel Johnson lives in Silver Spring, MD with his family. He has roots in Virginia, Maryland's Eastern Shore, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. He is an amateur genealogist and family historian documenting his family's progress through history on his blog Struggle and Progress. He is a 25-year advertising industry veteran and one-time managing director of Spike Lee’s ad agency. Currently, Joel is a founding partner in Admirable Devil, a Washington, DC-based agency. Joel is currently focusing his fa

Turning lemons into lemonade. Anita R. Henderson has found herself sharing with others that this is the start of something new and wonderful, so be alert of how you are in the midst so you can see the beauty and opportunities on the other side. Anita R. Henderson is an instructor who has presented at national, regional, and local events as a keynote speaker, workshop/seminar presenter, panelist, and panel moderator. Her insight into the process of writing, storytelling, marketing, and author publicity invigorates audiences and inspires them to make their dream of becoming a successful author a reality.

Marvin T. Jones will talk about the old family farm where he is staying and working during the pandemic, its USCT roots and its history of providing benefits to his family from1886 to today. Marvin Tupper Jones is a documentary photographer and the director of Chowan Discovery whose mission is to research, document, preserve and present histories particularly in the Winton Triangle area in northeastern North Carolina.  He is also the producer of five documentaries and eight North Carolina Highway Historical Markers.  His website is www.chowandiscoveryorg.