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Monday, April 18, 2011

Black in Latin America airs Tuesday, April 19th, @ 8pm est/cst

I must admit when I first heard that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was working on narrating his newest mini-series and that it would air in April -- two months after Black History month -- I had my doubts. Well, April is here and so are the showers. Moreover, so is Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'s latest offering in his trilogy that began with African American Lives and continued with Faces of America.

Of course, I'll be looking for the genealogy angle as I watch Black in Latin America, which airs on your local PBS station. For a sneak peak, go to: http://video.pbs.org/video/1822481755/ and check out the PBS's website .

Let me know what you think about the series.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Tupelo, MS Interactive Video Genealogy Conference: Friday, March 25, 2011

Attention Mississippi genealogy researchers, the Lee County Extension Office will bring together Betty Wiltshire, Mona Vance, & Rick Dixon on Friday, March 25th, 2011. The three-hour Genealogy Fair will begin at 12:00 noon.

12:00 pm -- African-American and Native American Research
Betty Wiltshire, presenting from Carroll County, is the owner of Pioneer Press, in Carrollton, MS.

1:00 pm -- How to Archive Family Memories
Mona Vance, presenting from Lowndes County, is the Columbus Public Library Archivist.

2:00 pm -- Preserving & Restoring Tombstones.
Rick Dixon, presenting from Coahoma County, represents Mississippi Marble & Granite and has restored many cemeteries.

Contact the Lee County Extension Office, at 841-6400, to ensure video conference seating or to obtain addtional information regarding the conference. The Lee County Extension Office is located at 5338 Cliff Gookin Boulevard, Tupelo, MS 38801.

For more information, see: http://nems360.com/pages/ad_details/listing_details?id=31477383-geneaology-fair

Update: To view the March 25th video conference, click here.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Early Postcards of Starkville


I'm always looking for early postcards of Starkville and don't you know I came across this charming book.

If you live in/near Fort Wayne, Salt Lake City, or Washington, D.C., copies of this book will soon be available for viewing at the Allen County Public Library, Family History Library, and the Library of Congress.

Black and white copies are still available. Send me an e-mail and I'll be sure to forward your query to Ruth Morgan.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Getting Serious About Your Research

Those of us who attended the International Black Genealogy Summit are still talking about the wonderful speakers we heard. From the East Coast, to the West Coast, and all points in between, more than 400 of us were there to represent, network, and put on our thinking caps.

This year, October 20, 21, and 22, Fort Wayne will host the National Black Genealogy Summit. Roberta Ridley, of the Allen County Public Library, and I promised ourselves that when we found our common Ridley ancestor that we would do a part two presentation of Deborah Abbott's and Char McCargo Bah's He Owned Our People: One Plantation, Two Families, Two States...

My grandmother's great grandfather, James Ridley, was born in North Carolina -- just as Roberta's Ridley family had been. While her family eventually went to Indiana, mine remained in Mississippi. I have no doubt that 2011 will be the year that we will break through that brick-wall.

Come join us for fun-filled and edifying weekend!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

February: My Favorite Month

Forget about the cold, February is my favorite month. I so look forward to see black history programming on my local PBS stations in Chicago: WTTW (aka Window To The World), WYCC (City Colleges of Chicago Public Television), & WYIN (Lakeshore Public Television).

Tuesday, I watched When I Rise, a documentary about Barbara Smith Conrad. "I am from east Texas: Center Point community...Rolling hills, red clay dirt, honeysuckle everywhere...this community was founded by five freedmen. One of them was my great grandfather...We sang all the time..."

Ms. Smith Conrad, with a voice to-die-for, was one of the first black students admitted to University of Texas at Austin. During an era of Jim Crow, she was dropped from a student opera, Dido and Aeneas. Life-changing events will take her across the globe, several times over, on an incredible odyssey.

Clip 1
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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Family Tree Magazine


Every now and then, when I'm at my local bookstore, I comb the magazine racks for genealogy magazines. Sometimes, I luck out and the current edition is still available.

And then, there are other times, when I'm not so lucky and the my bookstore has already soldout of that issue. This year, I'm going to start the year off right with year's subscription to my favorite magazine.

In addition, there are lots of "Family Tree Magazine" how-to videos at YouTube.com (20 at last count). One of them, Organize Your Hard Drive, grabbed my attention for obvious reasons!

I liked the idea of folders but I organized by research first by family surnames and then by category. For me, it made writing my family stories easier. No matter which method you choose, the goal remains the same: organizing your research.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Mississippi Roots, Once Removed



If you still haven't read Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, this interview will tempt you otherwise. Spoiler Alert: The interview with Isabel Wilkerson immediately follows the minute forty-six second donation solicitation.

The Great Migration involved three streams: the East Coast, the Midwest, and the West Coast. In fifteen years, Wilkerson interviewed more than 1200 persons for this tome. Many friends have talked about this book but it wasn't until I saw her at BookTV.org, that I too wanted to know more about the migration. 

With Mississippi roots, once removed, I focused on Ida Mae (Brandon) Gladney, who migrated from Chickasaw County, MS to Chicago in 1930s. By contrast, George Starling of Lake County, FL migrated to Harlem in the 1940s and Robert Foster, of Monroe, Ouachita Parish, LA migrated to Los Angeles in the 1950s.

Want to know more? Be sure to watch Part II of Amy Goodman's interview here.

Question?  Comment?  Email me!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year 2011!


Even though I'm still in the honeymoon phase of my new job, it promises to be everything that I hoped for.  With a feeling of gratitude, I'm absolutely inspired to make 2011 a year to remember.  With a combination of short-term and long-term goals, all things are possible. 

I can't believe that I'm even considering genealogy resolutions but here goes:
  • Read the Old Testament before June
  • Declutter & Get Organize 
  • Transition to Family Tree Maker
  • Mindmap two books & two articles each month
  • Source all family stories
  • Attend NGS & FGS conferences 

Question? Comment? Email me!