African-American’s roots revised

May 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
roots

If you're an African-American, tracing your roots back to the ancestral continent is hard enough — but tracing them back to the ancestral family? That requires genetic testing, plus family-history scholarship, plus trips to Africa, plus a little bit of faith. William Holland has filled all of those requirements, and to celebrate, he's planning a cross-continental family reunion for Memorial Day weekend in Virginia, where his ancestors were once … [Continue reading...]

Filed Under: African American Genealogy

UNL profs digitize slave filings

April 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
petition

Slave owner John Little wrote in June 1862 that his young slave Lucy "is perfectly sound and healthy, good tempered, honest, willing and industrious, a good house servant and her children are very promising." He described her as "a bright mulatto tall and good looking." Her fellow slave John, Little wrote, "is sound, strong, & healthy a first rate farm hand" with "no moral mental or bodily defect or infirmity." The two, he estimated, … [Continue reading...]

Filed Under: African American Genealogy

Project helps African-Americans identify with ancestors

adorned

Ever wondered where you get some of your habits, traits or cultural practices from? For instance, what made the girl serving your $5 extra-hot latte place what appear to be “plugs” in her ear lobes? Are you sure what the true meaning of your … [Continue reading...]

Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a New 10-part PBS Series That Explores Race, Culture and Identity Through Genealogy and Genetics

WNET FINDING YOUR ROOTS

Finding Your Roots builds on the success of African American Lives 1 and 2 and Faces of America, journeying deep into the ancestry of remarkable individuals Harry Connick, Jr., Robert Downey, Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, John Legend, Branford Marsalis, … [Continue reading...]

Mayor Hits Genealogy Lottery

booker

Cory Booker, the Mayor of Newark, today calls New Jersey home. But in the first episode of the new PBS series, "Finding Your Roots," Mr. Booker explores his genealogy with the help of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.  Skip Gates reached out … [Continue reading...]

Family Tree’s Startling Roots

wandasykes

Thirty-nine lashes “well laid” on her bare back and an extension of her indentured servitude was Elizabeth Banks’s punishment for “fornication & Bastardy with a negroe slave,” according to a stark June 20, 1683, court document from York … [Continue reading...]

For African Americans Seeking to Reclaim Family History, University of Buffalo Workshop Offers Hope

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Because so many of their ancestors were slaves, African Americans have often had a difficult time tracking down documentation of their early roots through public and genealogical records and, as a result, early family histories may … [Continue reading...]

‘It gives me gooseflesh’: Remarkable find in South Side attic

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It wasn’t much more than a ghost house by the time Rufus McDonald got the call. The front door of the abandoned home near 75th and Sangamon was unlocked and swinging in the wind. Drug addicts, squatters and stray animals carried away whatever … [Continue reading...]

Major find shows cruel life – and death – of slaves

The site in Rupert's Valley, St Helena

As Professor Mark Horton tells me as he opens the lids, these boxes represent almost the entire sum of the physical relics of the Middle Passage. These personal possessions had been lovingly clung to by the terrified Africans after their capture, … [Continue reading...]

Mary Walker’s Descendants Realize Their Rich Family History

blacksmithhouse

Mary Walker was a former slave who escaped her owner, fled north, and came to owna Cambridge landmark. Recent celebrations at the Blacksmith House have brought generations of Walker’s descendants to the Harvard Square home. It’s the first time … [Continue reading...]

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