Research At The National Archives And Beyond!

Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for a conversation with Charles Holman regarding the parents of his great-great grandmother who escaped slavery. Charles is the great-grandson of an enslaved person who in freedom became a civil rights leader and one of the first lawyers of color in his state.  Since that time nearly 150 years ago, civil rights has been a dedicated mission in Charles’ family as well as Charles’ personal calling

Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for a conversation with Ethan West as he shares his research regarding his West ancestors (Dolph and Millie West), various research trips through Tennessee, and the powerful connections and relationships that evolved from his journey.  It is empowering to know your lineage and it is essential to understanding what needs to be done now and in the future. Everyone has a story!

  Join Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano for a conversation with Akosua Moore and Kimberly Morgan. Akosua Moore and Kimberly Morgan were two strangers brought together through genealogical and historical research. At the center of their connection is a man named Stephen Binyard, who is Moore's ancestor and is buried in Edgerly Cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina. The two women met in person for the first time in 2014 and during this first encounter, they discovered that not only were they researching the same person but they also shared the same dream - to do genealogical research with Dr. Henry Louis Gates for "Finding Your Roots". Since then, not only has their research into Stephen Binyard uncovered a larger history about the lives of the formerly enslaved people buried in Edgerly Cemetery and who were once enslaved on Edgerly Plantation, but the two women have also realized their dream of working for "Finding Your Roots"! 

  Join Janice & Cherekana for a discussion with Command Master Chief (CMC), United States Navy, Larae Frazier Baker. CMC Baker was selected for the Command Senior Chief program and then selected for CMC in 2016. Several months later, she was chosen for CMC reporting onboard the USS Gravely (DDG 107), Norfolk, VA from 2016-2019. While assigned, she was deployed to the SIXTH Fleet AOR as the Standing NATO Maritime Group ONE (SNMG-1) Flag Ship in support of NATO partnerships. CMC Baker is currently serving onboard USS Arlington (LPD 24), Jacksonville, FL. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Work Force Education from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Her decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (4 awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (4 awards), and various unit and campaign awards.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! with Leslie Anderson for a conversation about Stories from the 1st U.S. Colored Cavalry. The 1st U.S. Colored Cavalry included free men, freedmen, freedom-seekers, and white officers from the United States and around the world. Who were they? Where did they come from? Where did they go? And what of those who didn’t survive? Many who returned to civilian life established families and contributed to their communities. Others struggled with debilitating injuries, madness, and broken hearts. This program examines the pre-and post-war lives of selected troops and officers by using pension applications and sources from local history. Learn about strategies and sources that you can apply to your research.   Leslie Anderson, a native Virginian, is the owner of Anderson Historic Research, LLC, and a former reference librarian at Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections Branch. Named a Virginia Humanities Scholar in 2020, she won the 2013 NGS Family Histo

Join Janice and Cerkana of Speak on It! for a discussion with Dr. Evelyn McDowell, chair of Rider University’s accounting department in Lawrenceville, NJ.  She co-chaired the task force who recommended the removal of the name “Van Cleve” from an 18th-century house on Rider University’s campus following the discovery that its namesake, Benjamin Van Cleve, supported slavery. Rider University removed the name “Van Cleve” from an 18th-century house on its campus following this discovery. McDowell is a founding board member of the National Society of the Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, a lineage society that works to preserve the memory and history of slavery.

Join hosts Janice and Cherekana for a conversation with Melvin J. Collier, Author, Genealogist, Presenter, and Blogger.  Melvin will share information regarding his website:  Roots Revealed and his book, 150 Years Later: Broken Ties Mended. Melvin J. Collier has been conducting historical and genealogical research for over 25 years, starting at the age of 19. He is a former civil engineer, who used his passion for African American history and historical preservation to foster a career change. He then earned a Master of Arts degree in African American Studies, Clark Atlanta University, in 2008, with additional graduate coursework in Archival Studies from Clayton State University.

Join hosts Janice and Cherekana for a conversation with author, Kathy Marshall:  Lots of Roots investigation led Kathy Marshall on another thrilling journey into her family’s tangled historical past, finding black and white ancestors she’d never known, leading to places she’d never been, and uncovering secrets that did not want to be told. The family only knew that Grandpa Austin Marshall smoked sweet-smelling cigars, sported a white linen suit, jingled coins in his pockets, and was born in Columbus, Georgia. So how did he put his son through medical school on a Pullman porter’s salary? Marshall will share some of her research methodologies, which may help you find results too.

Join host Janice and Cherekana for a conversation with Warren Eugene Milteer Jr, Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  We will discuss his new book, Beyond Slavery’s Shadow: Free People of Color in the South. Warren is also the author of North Carolina’s Free People of Color, 1715-1885 (LSU Press, 2020), the independently published Hertford County, North Carolina’s Free People of Color and Their Descendants (2016), as well as articles in the Journal of Social History and the North Carolina Historical Review. Milteer was the recipient of the Historical Society of North Carolina’s R. D. W. Connor Award in 2014 and 2016 for the best journal article in the North Carolina Historical Review.

Join hosts Janice and Cerekana of Speak On It! for a conversation with Rodney Sam about the Legacy: Marie Senegal - his African Ancestor. Marie is Rodney Sam's paternal 7th great-grandmother and the oldest known ancestor of African descent.  She was born in 1699 in Africa and was in the French colony of Louisiana by the 1720s. She is described as "Marie Senegal" and was emancipated out of slavery in 1769 by Andre Masse, an early French trader, and rancher, in Louisiana with her family. Rodney descends from her daughter, Marie-Flore, who was manumitted over a decade earlier. Rodney Sam is a graduate of Prairie View A&M University. His family has deep Louisiana Creole roots that extend to the beginning of the colony. He is passionate about learning about the history, genealogy, and culture of his Louisiana Creole ancestors.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! for a conversation with Frederick DeShon Murphy. At History Before Us, we understand the importance of history to our collective humanity and we are committed to collecting and preserving it. We are born from many years of family research and a passion for preserving the oral stories taken from the people before us who were part of certain periods of history. With careful attention to historical events came a burning desire to share the knowledge gained via various modalities of education. Our goal is to preserve for future generations, these valuable stories, and experiences that will never return. We are committed to making sure that the masses have insight into historical events with the firm belief historical knowledge provides a background for making solid decisions in the future. As the old saying goes, “he who refuses to learn from the past is doomed to repeat it.” History Before Us understands that history is the lens through which we can put our pres

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! for a conversation with Desi L. Campbell. The African American Experience is a vehicle to serve African Americans in genealogical research through various workshops, seminars that will enable them to pursue their own family history and create a lasting presentation of their findings. We encourage African Americans to have a sense of pride and dignity based on their cultural heritage and to assist them in acquiring a growing cultural awareness. We develop sustainable initiatives that examine the African American Experience through genealogy research. Desi is on a mission to help African Americans discover their family history beyond 1870.  His experience in researching wills, probate records, and deeds enables researchers to discover information prior to their ancestor’s freedom. Desi also uses his experiences with ancestry DNA, 23 and Me, Family Tree DNA, and GEDmatch to connect relatives of his clients that may not know who they are.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! for a conversation with Taneya Y. Koonce and Renate Yarborough Sanders about North Carolina Genealogy. Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy! is a platform hosted by Renate Yarborough Sanders and Taneya Y. Koonce. Initially created in June 2020, as a one summer YouTube show to support and provide North Carolina-focused genealogical education for researchers, the initiative has now grown to include an interactive Facebook page, occasional special programming, and a monthly Research Chat, using Zoom,  which has strengthened the  mission to provide a caring, supportive and educationally-enriched community of and for North Carolina researchers. And, by popular demand, Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy! returned in 2021 with Season 2 of its summer series and will continue the chats through December of this year.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! for a conversation with Ruth D. Hunt about honoring her enslaved Great Great Grandfather - Richard "Dick" Lewis. Ms. Hunt has been researching her great, great grandfather Richard for over 40 years. Early on, she began with the oral history passed down from her Great Aunt Okie Clark, an entrepreneur, who owned a local restaurant with her husband Skipper in Glade Springs, Virginia.  She feels honored, privileged, and proud to paint the picture of her enslaved Great, Great Grandfather and serve as a scribe to tell his story. Ruth D. Hunt has changed the lives of many and is praised for her masterful achievements in the profession of genealogy. Like Alex Haley (her mentor) she wants to awaken people's consciousness and inspire all races to embark upon their personal journeys, explore their Roots, and interconnecting relationships.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! as they discuss Phyllis Elmore's family history. Phyllis was born in Detroit, Michigan. At the age of four, she was sent to the tiny town of Livingston, Alabama to be raised by her grandmother Lula Horn (1883-1988), who made beautiful quilts out of the clothing of her loved ones. Each strip of fabric tells the story of the wearer’s life and death. She shared these mostly tragic and sometimes witty tales with little Phyllis as she sewed their clothes into a quilt that threaded broken lives back together. Phyllis now shares these profound stories with the world as Grandmother Lula told them to her.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! for a conversation with Stacey Bell on Family Matters! The importance of knowing your family’s story. Every life has a story, but stories of the lives lived by Black people are not told often enough.   We should use genealogy and history to tell the stories of our families as Black people in the diaspora because their lives mattered. Stacey Bell, BS, MPA,  is currently the Program Chair and former Vice President of The Afro American Historical & Genealogical Society – New York Chapter,  current Girl Scout Greater New York Board Member, Urban Women’s Safe Haven DV Shelter - Community Advisory Board President, and Genealogist.

Join Hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak On It ! for a conversation with Flora Morris Brown on Sharing Your Family Stories. Flora Morris Brown is an author, publishing coach, and certified Guided Autobiography Facilitator and Trainer who confesses to being a reformed coffee snob and having an unhealthy love of British murder mysteries. She helps everyday people--even those insecure about their writing skills--write their life stories to pass on their experiences, values, and memories to their families to treasure now and as part of their unique legacy. Dr. Brown earned a B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. She enjoyed teaching junior high through university levels over a 40-year career, the last twenty of which were at Fullerton College from which she retired as Professor Emeritus. Drawing from the highlights of happiness research and her adventures as a wife, mom, and educator, Dr. Brown wrote the bestselling book Color Your Life Happy: Create Your Unique Path and Claim the J

Join hosts Janice and Cherekana of Speak on It!  to celebrate 10 years of broadcasting on Research at the National Archives and Beyond with Bernice Alexander Bennett.   Bernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-host of the popular Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program. She is also the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcast stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. She also received the Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Genealogy Award in 2019 for original research in support of African American Genealogy. Bennett is on the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society.  

Did your ancestors own land under the Homestead Act of 1862? Join the Descendants of African American Homesteaders to hear about their research and land-owning ancestor's stories. Margo Lee Williams is the great-granddaughter of Florida Homesteader, Randel Farnell and his wife, Sallie Jacobs Farnell. Williams is an award-winning author and genealogist/family historian, having published three books. She is currently the Deputy Registrar for the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (SDUSMP), and a former editor of the Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. She is currently the Project Historian for the Historical Black Families of Sandy Spring project with the Sandy Spring Museum. Orice Jenkins is from Hartford, Connecticut, and is the great-great-grandson of Vandy Hutchins and Betty Horn. He is a recording artist, performer, educator, and genealogy researcher. His most recent album, 'Centennial Cole', is a celebration of a great voice from the past: Nat 'King' Col

Karen Branan will share the many twists and turns her work for racial justice has taken since the book’s release in 2016. This includes meeting and building relationships with Black and White cousins she’d never known of, joining the movement for Lynching Remembrance and Reparations, and working with others to do the kind of research she did for her book. Karen Branan is a long-time investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker whose book The Family Tree: A Lynching in Georgia, A Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth, caused James Cone, renowned author of The Cross and the Lynching Tree and founder of Black Liberation Theology to write “every American should read this book.”   Opening music - Sweet Mello Spice by AK Alexander Productions