Author: Lennie Dodson
Lending Library Available to Members
AAGS has a selection of material (books, manuals, pamphlets, CD’s, etc.) that can be borrowed by its members.
Go to the Lending Library holdings
Restore Cleveland Hope, Inc. – “In Their Path 2009” Community Walk
“It is not taboo to go back and fetch it when you forget.”
a proverb of the Akan people of southern Ghana
There is wisdom in learning from the past to build for the future. The ancestors whispered “walk”, so in May 2002 Joan Evelyn Southgate, a retired social worker and Cleveland-area activist, began a walk from Ripley, Ohio across Pennsylvania, New York and Canada to honor the Underground Railroad freedom seekers, conductors and enslaved. She called her journey IN THEIR PATH! and set out to increase awareness of a moment in history when people came together across color, creed and class to do freedom's work. In May 2009, she will walk the last 220 miles of her 739-mile journey to complete the circle back to the last pre-civil war house still standing in University Circle. Ms. Southgate will be 80 years old.
Restore Cleveland Hope, Inc. is raising funds to restore the 1853 Cozad-Bates home and create an UGRR Education and Resource Center. The Cozad-Bates House (listed in the National Register of Historic Places), is the only pre-Civil War structure still standing in the University Circle area. To learn more or sign up to help, go to www.restoreclevelandhope.org or call 216-231-0301.
New at the National Genealogical Society
"UpFront with NGS" is a free, monthly genealogy newsletter by e-mail, designed for members of the National Genealogical Society and the entire genealogical community.
How To Subscribe?
Send an e-mail message to: NGS-L-request@rootsweb.com
(click here for latest excerpt)
Ohio Historical Center Adjusts Hours
Per a Plain Dealer article dated April 12, 2008, the Ohio Historical Society announced reduced hours at its Ohio Historical Center in Columbus (year-round). New hours of operation: Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday and holidays, noon to 5 p.m.
Updated listing of African American Newspapers
(from "The Monthly Reporter," a weekly newspaper in Rochester, New York. www.writershelpdesk.com/africanamerican_newspapers.html#newyork
Georgia Death Index for 1919 – 1927 is now available online.
http://content.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/GAdeaths.php
Major LDS Vital Records Indexing Project
The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints committed to digitize and index the entire holdings of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City over the next several years. The result of this project will be made available to the general public, free of charge, over their website www.Familysearch.org.
To accomplish this massive undertaking, thousands of volunteers are needed to help enter data. This project will benefit all genealogists & family history researchers. More info is available on the attached flyer.
Contact: Milt Rhynard at mrhynard@sbcglobal.net or 937-435-2292
National Archives Announces Changes in Copying Fees
Effective October 1, 2007, reproduction fees will be amended for archival materials in National Archives facilities nationwide. This includes Federal records, donated historical materials, Presidential records, and records filed with the Office of the Federal Register. Check the web site for current fees. www.archives.gov/research/order/
Roots Television™
Roots Television™ is internet-based television, by and for avid genealogists and family history lovers. For more info, review the ‘About Us’ page and ‘Program Guide at www.rootstelevision.com
Virginia Slaves Birth Index 1853-1865 available
Virginia Slaves Birth Index 1853-1865, volume I,A-C is available from www.heritagebooks.com.
Names of British Slaves to be posted on line
In the April 28, 2007 edition of the Plain Dealer, an Associated Press (London) article indicated: “A genealogy Web site said Friday that it will post 3 million names of slaves held across the British Empire in the early 19th century, putting hundreds of thousands of pages of searchable information online to help slaves’ descendants research their past. The project will use registers that the British government created between 1813 and 1834 in an effort to stamp out the slave trade by ensuring plantation owners did not buy new slaves. Britain abolished the trade in 1807. Slavery itself was outlawed in the colonies 17 years later. Information from about 700 registers from 23 British territories and dependencies will be made available online, free of charge, within the next 12 months, said Simon Ziviani, a spokesman for Ancestry.co.uk.”
Akron Beacon Journal Obituary Indexes
Obituary indexes to the Akron Beacon Journal Newspaper for years 1990, 1992, 1993 and 2000-2005 are available from the special Collections web site at http://www.akronlibrary.org/internetresources/sc/obits.html. Special Collections also has an obituary index to the Akron Beacon Journal from 1841-present and a subject index for 1841-1939 (microfilm and print) and 1985-present (database).
African American Genealogy Group in Orange County, VA
The Orange County African-American History & Genealogy Society is an available source for research in the Virginia area. Web site: http://www.ocaahs.org/genealogy.shtml.
Cemetery Transcription Database Project
The East Cuyahoga County Genealogical Society and the City of Cleveland have initiated an ambitious joint project to transcribe pre-1994 records from the interment books of all Cleveland-owned cemeteries into a database that will be available online. Interested volunteers can contact Vicki B. Vigil at vvigil987@sbcglobal.net.
Click here for more information.
Help Us Tell the Story of Alabama
The Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) has collected, preserved, and exhibited historical records and artifacts for more than 100 years. The ADAH is expanding its museum and archives collections on 20th and 21st century Alabama life. If you have material representative of the following Alabama experiences to donate, contact ADAH: the African American experience, the Space Program, the Cold War, Folk Traditions and Artisan Crafts, the Civil Rights Movement, 20th Century Sports and Entertainment, and (early) Everyday Life for the Common Citizen. Visit www.archives.state.al.us, write to the ADAH Registrar at P.O. Box 300100, Montgomery, AL 36130-0100, or call (334) 353-4726. For gaps in the current collections, view http://www.archives.state.al.us/scope_of_collections2.pdf
Public Records Directory Available On-line
http://www.PublicRecordCenter.com is an Internet resource listed as the largest and most updated free public record portal directory that facilitates people to access, find, and retrieve vital public information.
Cultural Art
Collection Available - African and Asian
A historically rich collection of African and Asian contemporary artifacts is available for exhibition or for purchase -- ideal for schools, colleges, and other academic or public
viewing.
Chardon Library Volunteer Opportunity
Volunteers are needed at the Chardon Library, Anderson Allyn Room for
Genealogical Research, 110 E. Park Street, Chardon Ohio 44024. Jobs
range from filing to clipping newspaper obits to data entry to
proofreading. Times are flexible. For more information, contact Sandy
Malitz, Genealogy Specialist at 440-285-7601 or raccooan@oplin.org
WRHS Volunteer Opportunity
Lend your time, skill and talent: Become a member of the Western Reserve Historical Society's African American Archives Auxiliary (Cleveland, Ohio). This volunteer organization works to collect, promote, and preserve the history and heritage of African
Americans in the Western Reserve. Volunteers are needed for research and
collection processing. If interested, call 216-721-5722, ext. 225.
Chambers County, AL Slave Names
A list of slaves and slave owners compiled from probate court records. These slaves were listed in the inventories of owners who died without leaving wills between 1834 and 1866. The Inventory Records list the slaves along with the other "property" of the deceased, and the slaves are listed by name. Those records have been compiled and listed here alphabetically, with the hope that Chambers County researchers may find them helpful.
Note: This list can also be accessed from the African American Lifelines website. Click on "Slave research".
Now available from award-winning historian Roland Barksdale-Hall:
"The
African-American Family's Guide to Tracing Our Roots: Healing,
Understanding and Restoring Our Families" www.amberbooks.com (ISBN
#0-974979-7-7 or toll free: 1-866-566-3144)
Ohio Death Certificates (1908-1953)
Special Collections at the Akron-Summit County Public Library contains a
number of readily available documents, including the Ohio Death
Certificate collection. For records of those who died in Ohio between 20
Dec. 1908 and 31 Dec. 1953, send the name, year of death, and other
identifying information if you have it, e.g. exact date of death, spouse's
name, etc. There is a small fee for requests that involve photocopies ($1
base service fee, plus 5 cents per photocopy). Limit five to seven items
at one time. Photocopies from books are limited when the photocopying
process will cause damage to the binding or paper. Contact Special
Collections staff at 330-643-9030.
Ohio Death Index
Per the Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library, the Indexes to the 1945-1953 Ohio
Death Certificates are now available in the Microfilm Reading Room at the Ohio Historical
Center. Patrons can also use the indexes to find exact dates of death to facilitate finding
obituaries in the many Ohio newspapers in the OHS collections.
Mt. Hope Park Cemetery,
Youngstown, Ohio
Ollie McCurdy has abstracted records for Mt. Hope Park Cemetery in
Youngstown, Ohio. Her indexing project is still in progress. If you are
searching for an ancestor who may be buried there through 1984, contact
her at Struthers Public Library, 95 Poland Avenue, Struthers, OH 44471
(330-755-3322).
Click here for more details.
New Lineage Society
The Cuyahoga County Pioneers was launched in 2004.
If descendency is proven from an ancestor residing in the county before
December 31, 1850, contact Marilyn Sauer, Chair for East Cuyahoga Co.
Genealogical Society, 1247 Bonnie Lane, Mayfield Hts., OH 44124.
Miami Valley, Ohio Genealogy Group Electronic Newsletter
The African American Genealogy Group of Miami Valley , Ohio publishes a quarterly newsletter that is now available via e-mail in .pdf format. To subscribe, contact Robert Harris at rharris25@woh.rr.com.
Akron-Summit County Public Library Offers Electronic
Newsletter
The Special Collections Department (Genealogy and Local History) of the
Akron-Summit County Public Library will issue a free electronic
newsletter, "Past Pursuits." It will be issued four times a year and
include new collections, services, and upcoming genealogy events in
northeast Ohio and beyond. The publication can be e-mailed or sent via
hard copy. One portion of the newsletter is dedicated to listing new
acquisitions.
For more information, contact the library at 330-643-9030 or e-mail speccollections@ascpl.lib.oh.us.
African Burial Ground Memorial
A burial ground for African slaves was discovered at a construction site in Manhattan, and a memorial site has been established in New York City to honor the African slaves who helped to build that city. You can get more information about the African Burial Ground Memorial online.
Fort Wayne Electronic Newsletter
The following information was provided by the Allen County Public
Library:
Addicted to Genealogy? Love libraries and research? Interested in learning about new resources?
The Allen County Public Library Historical Genealogy Department in Fort Wayne, Indiana is pleased to announce their electronic newsletter, "Genealogy Gems: News from the Fort Wayne Library." Each month, learn about new collections, department special events, source highlights, new acquisitions, websites...and much more! Learn what is going on in the Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library.
To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message with ACPL NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBE in the subject line to: kspears@acpl.lib.in.us
You will NOT receive a confirmation message; you will just begin to receive the newsletters, which are scheduled to be published approximately once a month."
USCT Personal War Sketches - Pennsylvania
USCT Personal War Sketches - published by the Western Pennsylvania
Genealogical Society
Read the personal stories of over 275 Civil War soldiers and sailors as told in their own words. These veterans served with the United States Colored Troops, lived in Allegheny County, PA after the war, and became members of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Diane Ragan, CGRS, spent two years researching their lives. Military service records, pensions, regimental descriptive books, medical cards and soldiers' homes were researched at the National Archives. Marriage, probate, land and vital records, city directories, cemetery records were examined.
With the help of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Afro-American Historical &
Genealogical Society, the records were abstracted, transcribed and images
of the records digitized onto CD-ROM.
For more info, contact: AAHGSPGH08@aol.com
Unclaimed Civil War Medals - 45th U.S. Colored Infantry, West Virginia
The West Virginia State Archives is interested in locating the descendants
and relatives of the soldiers of the 45th U.S. Colored Infantry, so that
their Civil War medals can be claimed. Of the 220+ black soldiers
assigned to West Virginia, many medals remain unclaimed at the West
Virginia State Archives.
If you are related to any soldier of the 45th U.S. Colored Infantry whose medal is unclaimed, you might be entitled to it if you can show proof of your relationship. You do not have to be a direct descendant; you can be a niece/nephew or cousin. The following link provides more information: www.lindapages.com/45/cw-45us.htm
Heard of FGS? Not sure what it is?
FGS is the Federation of Genealogical Societies. It's a confederation of more than 550 societies
in the U.S. and Canada with a lead role in linking the genealogical community, and preserving &
keeping access open to historical and vital records. It communicates issues at a local, state
and national level. When your society is a member (such as AAGS of Cleveland), it entitles you
to subscribe to the FORUM magazine at a discounted $15/yr (4 issues).
What you'll see in the FORUM:
Book Review by Cathy Neal
"Passed On: African American Mourning Stories"
Author: Karla FC Holloway
Duke University Press
Death is the means by which our relatives become our ancestors. So, as genealogists, we may view the subject of life's passage somewhat differently than others. At an April 2005 conference, I was impressed by the eloquent, insightful, and stirring words of keynote speaker Dr. Karla FC Holloway of Duke University and purchased her reference work. Researchers and others will not only smile at the familiarity of their own oral history within her text, they will also appreciate the historical perspectives brimming from this book. If you've ever wondered where some African American rituals and traditions originated, this book provides a well-developed look at death and dying in twentieth century African America.
Dr. Holloway traveled throughout the United States interviewing funeral professionals, medical professionals, morticians, representatives of the church and ministry, family members, children, and teachers. She also conducted countless hours of formal research and cemetery visits (with some trips abroad). Through facts, myths, humor, and literary skill, Dr. Holloway carves out the experiences of both everyday and notable African Americans. I found this publication to be both enjoyable and useful for genealogy purposes, as it explores and explains why many common practices are followed within the African American community.
Book Reviews by Janet Bedingfield
"Chips of Family Memories"
Author: Lennie Dodson
Chips of Family Memories is a published family history by AAGS member, Mrs. Lennie Dodson. Lennie started researching her family history many years ago and has served as the "griot" at all family reunions. In 1999, she decided it was time to put things down in writing to preserve for forthcoming generations, and to inspire those who follow to continue recording the family history. Through her 'chips of memory,' one gets acquainted with this family from her father's labor on his farm to the joyous times at the 'Big Meeting,' a church gathering. She not only wrote about family events, but offered the documentation for future generations on which to follow through.
Renowned genealogist Tony Burroughs often stresses the importance of publishing one's discovered findings as soon as possible, especially if one has gone as far back as 1870 in the federal census. I was fortunate to have assisted Mrs. Dodson by offering my stenographic, computer and graphic skills. Working with her on this endeavor, I learned what is required to produce a first-class, library-ready, archival-safe book. I also discovered the great demand by libraries for African-American family histories. Mrs. Dodson's book is now available in: the National Library of Congress; the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture & History in Atlanta, Georgia; Western Reserve Historical Society Library in Cleveland, Ohio; the Family History Library of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah; and many other locations as family members have made this book available in libraries in their areas.
African-American family histories are an important part of American history. With the increased interest in genealogy, the history of our people is now being made available for all to explore. Therefore, you who have enough information and documentation on your family's history should publish. Don't let it be lost to future generations.
Copies of Mrs. Dodson's book are available and are going fast. If you are interested in obtaining a copy, please contact her through AAGS.
"Cane River"
Author: Lalita Tademy
I highly recommend this novel for anyone who is planning to write his/her family history. Ms. Tademy has taken her family stories and turned them into a valuable and informative piece of literature. She had often thought about these family stories and wanted to know more about the validity of them. Her inquisitiveness took her on a two-year odyssey, leaving a corporate career to search through censuses, court records, etc.
Her stories are mixed with documentation as well as the telling of the stories by her great- grandmother. She tells of the plight of a slave family from its beginning in Virginia to its freedom in Louisiana.
This is a book well worth reading. One can obtain some guidelines into one's search for their roots. Some of us may still possess pieces of documents and/or letters that could lead the way.
"Cash For Blood" - The Baltimore to New Orleans Domestic Slave Trade"
Author: Ralph Clayton
This book is considered a must for the genealogist who is seeking to find their ancestors whether slaved or freed. Mr. Clayton has compiled documented records for the trading of human flesh. The increase for slave labor increased in the first decade of the 19th century due to the invention of the cotton gin and the increase in cotton plantations. Since it had become illegal to import slaves from African, a business thrived in the buying, selling of slaves and supplying transportation to freed black to the southern states, particularly Louisiana. As quoted, "the market was vast, the players plentiful, and the victims plenteous."
This book mentions the families that made their wealth in this business, their establishments for business, the ship they employed and the ship's destination. The book has a detailed index to inward bound slave manifests into the port of New Orleans from Baltimore and other Maryland ports-1818 - 1856. Information available is Surname of slave, First (given) name, Age, Ship, Owner/Shipper, Date and Depart (port from which the ship departed).
This book is well worth investigating.
(Other books by this author, Black Baltimore 1820-1870, Free Blacks of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1850, Slavery, Slaveholding, and the Free Black Population of Antebellum Baltimore)