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, Condoleezza Rice, Michelle Rodriguez, Barbara Walters, and many other well-known names learn long-lost secrets from their family histories. NEW YORK, March 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The basic drive to discover who we are and where we come from is at the core of the new 10-part PBS series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., … [Read more...]

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 be unavailable to them. However, those who have succeeded in this endeavor have sometimes succeeded spectacularly. Two of those searchers will be at the University at Buffalo for a free public workshop entitled "Searching for African Ancestors: Extraordinary Discoveries" on March 23 in 1004 Clemens Hall, on UB's North Campus, from noon to 1:30 … [Read more...]

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- In honor of Black History Month, Archives.com, a website devoted to making family history simple and affordable, today announced the launch of the Patriots of Color Database. Archives.com is bringing this collection online for the first time, compiling years of research facilitated by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. These records unveil new and invaluable information about some of the men and women of color who fought for American independence in such roles as soldiers, … [Read more...]

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and Monticello will present “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty,” an exhibition of artifacts—many never seen before—from excavations at Jefferson’s Virginia plantation and the Smithsonian collection. The exhibition will be on view in the NMAAHC Gallery in the National Museum of American History from Jan. 27 through Oct. 14. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and had called slavery an “abominable crime,” yet he was a lifelong slaveholder; one-fifth of … [Read more...]

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Jan. 24, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- In the summer of 1895, terror gripped the Indian Territories (today's Oklahoma). The youthful, multi-racial Rufus Buck gang was on the rampage. Their goal: to reclaim Indian lands from US encroachment. A new novel by Leonce Gaiter entitled "I Dreamt I Was in Heaven - The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang" (http://www.buckrampage.com) explores the true story of the Buck gang rampage amidst the surprising rainbow of ethnicities on both sides of the law, and a young America's political ambitions in the lawless Indian Territory. Harvard … [Read more...]

Naples, FL (PRWEB) January 17, 2012 A digital edition of Afro-Americana, 1535-1922: From the Library Company of Philadelphia will be introduced in late Spring 2012 by Readex, a division of NewsBank. Created from the Library Company’s acclaimed collection—an accumulation that began with Benjamin Franklin and has steadily increased throughout its entire history—this unique new online resource will provide researchers with more than 12,000 wide-ranging printed works about African American history. Critically important subjects covered include the West’s discovery and exploitation of … [Read more...]