African American Research Track at FGS 2018

African American genealogy has its challenges and the speakers in the African American research track at FGS 2018 are there to help!

Sessions in the African American Track on Saturday, August 25 include:

Oral History: It Ain't on the Web by Tony Burroughs
James Dent Walker Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
Oral history is the first block to build a family history. It is vital because many family details will not be found on the internet or library and has a limited shelf-life. Interviewing techniques, equipment, questions to ask, maximizing a person’s memory and processing information after the interview are covered.

Looking for My Babies: Freedmen Searching for Family by Ari Wilkins
Countless African American families experienced the traumatic displacement and loss of family members during slavery. In the wake of Emancipation, African Americans from all of over the country desperately searched for their missing family members – using such resources as the Freedmen’s Bureau and newspapers.

Seven Strategies to Identifying Slave Ownership & Reconstruct Slave Era Families by Janis Minor Forte, MS
Using a set of specific strategies, this lecture provides an array of proven techniques and record group to aid in the identification and documentation of slaves, their families and their owners. The strategies also present methods to finding missing kin of slave era families.

Manuscript Collections in Libraries & Archives of Historical Black College and Universities by Deborah Abbott, PhD
HBCUs are often overlooked resources for African American research. Most were established after the Civil War and are located in former slave states and territories, but there were a few established in the north. These repositories hold a gold mine of records that may not be found anywhere else.

About the FGS Conference:

Dates: 22-25 August 2018
Place: Grand Wayne Convention Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana (across the street from the Allen County Public Library)
Featuring: More than 100 sessions, workshops, and special events.
There is something for every family historian at FGS 2018!  Go to FGS.org to see the full program and register! (Register before July 1 and save!)