Slave Cemeteries Get Cleaned, Documented

February 22, 2011 By 2 Comments
Clemson students will clean up and sketch-map this slave cemetery at Soapstone Baptist Church Saturday.

Slave cemetery registry for 16 counties in East Tennessee in the works The nonprofit historic preservation group Knox Heritage and the affiliated East Tennessee Preservation Alliance are partnering with a number of local black history groups - including the Beck Center and the African-American Heritage Alliance - to establish a regional slave cemetery registry. "We plan to locate the sites, confirm their findings, draft a brief history and create a database to include pictures and all materials we uncover. We plan to develop a booklet with all this information for educational purposes." … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Black History

African American Genealogy News Roundup

February 7, 2011 By 2 Comments

Jean Toomer's Conflicted Racial Identity @ The Chronicle Review Did Jean Toomer consider himself black, mixed or American? Rudolph P. Byrd and Henry Louis Gates Jr. commissioned biographical research that included census records, two draft registrations, his marriage license to the white writer Margery Latimer, and his statements to the news media in an effort to disect Toomer's conflicted racial identity. New exhibit looks to unravel 'Red/Black' connection @ Indianapolis Star A new exhibit that opens Saturday, Feb. 12 in Indianapolis at the Eiteljorg Museum. The exhibit stems … [Read more...]

Filed Under: African American Genealogy

A Poem for Everlette

February 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

grandma, daddy knew, you were dying, but never told us. goodbye. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Simmons

About My Father

February 7, 2011 By 10 Comments
edwards1stnote

My parents divorced when my brother and I were very young, probably 2 - 3 years old. My father, Julius Charity, remarried twice, producing seven more Charitys with his second and third wives. So altogether, there were 10 Charitys in Pontiac and for most of my early life I believed we were the only Charitys in the state of Michigan. I didn't learn otherwise until I discovered the Internet and Prodigy. I plugged Charity into one of the online phone directories and hundreds of results were returned, most of them in Virginia. I was so surprised that I printed out all of the names. Then I posted a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Charitys