EVENT: Finding African America Roots – From Oral History Back to Slavery
Shamele Jordon will use her personal research, as well as her professional experiences to help attendees understand opportunities and new approaches to uncover the sometimes complex trail faced by African Americans in researching family history.
Continue Reading Add comment January 31, 2010
CONFERENCE: Annual Underground Railroad History Conference
9th Annual Underground Railroad History Conference
Organized by the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc., hosted by Russell Sage College of Troy, NY and in collaboration with Rensselaer County Historical Society.
Gender, Class, Race and Ethnicity in Abolitionism, on the Underground Railroad, and in the Struggle Since
February 26 – 28, 2010
Schedule of Events
February 26
Day Program
The Not So Underground Underground Railroad, presented by Kathy Sheehan, Rensselaer County Historian and Mary Liz Stewart, Scholar-In-Residence, the Sage Colleges and co-founder URHPCR
Evening Program
Guest Lecturer: Rhonda Y. Williams, PhD
Address: Railroads, Streets & Bridges – Black Women & Freedom Journeys
• Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer
• Associate professor of history at Case Western Reserve University
• Program faculty for the ethnic studies and women and gender studies programs
• Author of The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women’s Struggles Against Urban
Inequality (2004)
February 27
Day Program
Keynote Speaker: Rosemary Sadlier, President, Ontario Black History Society
Address: Mary Ann Shadd – Publisher, Editor, Teacher, Lawyer, Suffragette
• Lobbied Canadian government to declare February as Black History Month
throughout Canada
• Author of The Kids Book of Black Canadian History (2003), Tubman: Harriet
Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Her Life in the United States and Canada
(1996), Mary Ann Shadd: Publisher, Editor, Teacher, Lawyer, Suffragette (1994)
Evening Program
Art Exhibit Opening & Book Signing
Mark Priest, artist – The Charles Nalle Rescue exhibit
Scott Christianson, author – Freeing Charles book signing
February 28
Tours of the Underground Railroad and African American heritage sites
For a complete listing of pre-conference activities, workshops, speakers, accommodations, sponsors and directions, please visit the UGR website at: www.ugrworkshop.com or call directly at: 518-432-4432.
Click here
Add comment January 28, 2010
New PBS Series, “Faces of America” to air this year
THIRTEEN, Kunhardt McGee Productions and Inkwell Films, in Production on New PBS Series, Faces of America
Presented and written by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ‘Faces of America’ takes the quest begun in ‘African American Lives’ and ‘African American Lives 2’ to a new level to provide an understanding of American identity and history.
June 30, 2009
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–America is a nation of immigrants, and the richly diverse racial, ethnic, cultural and religious heritage that truly defines the American experience is the focus of Faces of America, a new four-part PBS series from the producers of African American Lives (2006), Oprah’s Roots (2007), African American Lives 2 (2008), and most recently Looking for Lincoln (2009).
“We hope to show how immigration of peoples from around the globe so profoundly has reshaped what it means to be ‘an American’ and continues to affect how we talk about identity throughout our society today.”
Since 2006, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr has been helping people find long-buried details of their recent and distant ancestries by restoring the branches of their individual family trees and then analyzing their DNA. Faces of Americaexpands the role of DNA science to take the exploration of identity to an entirely new level. The series will film the sequencing of the full human genome for two of the series’ participants – a scientific and filmic first – to reveal detailed information about their ancestral make up. (more…)
Add comment January 22, 2010
Ancestry Magazine Discontinues Publication
15 January 2010
For 25 years, Ancestry magazine has been a valuable, timely resource for family history professionals, hobbyists, and novices alike. For a variety of reasons, the time has come for us to discontinue publication. Over the last few years, we have found that with the expanded accessibility of terrific family history content published online at Ancestry.com we can reach a larger and broader audience than the limited distribution of a print publication.
The March/April 2010 issue will be the final issue of Ancestry magazine. Subscribers to Ancestry magazine with current subscriptions that will not be completed by the mailing of the March/April 2010 magazine will receive prorated refunds. Subscribers will find a letter enclosed with their final issue informing them of these details. We are also no longer selling new magazine subscriptions nor renewing those that have expired. Single copies of past issues, including the upcoming March/April issue, will be available for purchase in our online store.
With Ancestry magazine we have loved the opportunity we’ve had to write about the best of what we found in the world of family history. We thank our readers and contributors for sharing our enthusiasm for all things genealogy.
Sincerely,
The Ancestry Magazine Staff
Add comment January 20, 2010
WORKSHOP: US Census Records
January 30, 2010, 12-3 PM
AAGG will hold a workshop on US Census Records from 12-3 PM at Community College of Philadelphia, located at 4725 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, PA.
The workshop is open to our members for FREE. The fee for non-members is $10.00.
Add comment January 19, 2010
EVENT: Texas Genealogical Society’s Annual Seminar
Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 8:45 am – 4:00 pm
The Williamson County Texas Genealogical Society’s Annual Seminar will be held at the First United Methodist Church, located at: 1004 North Mays, Round Rock, TX.
Registration starts at 8 am.
Cost: $45 for WCGS members, $50 for non-members, $55 for registration after Mar 1. Registration at the door will be $55. The Registration Desk and vendors will open at 8:00 am.
Guest speaker is Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak. Her topics will include:
- Trace Your Roots with DNA
- Beyond Y-DNA
- Your Genetic Genealogy Options
- Remembering Our Ancestors
- Cases That Made My Brain Hurt.
Registration information may be obtained by clicking here or by calling 512-863-2685.
Add comment January 5, 2010
New Book: Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait
Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait by Molefi Kete Asante has recently been published by Polity Books. This is the first monograph to discuss the intellectual ideas of Maulana Karenga, founder of Kwanzaa and Kawaida Theory, in a sustained analytical manner.
His official bio on his website states:
Dr. Maulana Karenga is professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach. An activist-scholar of national and international recognition, Dr. Karenga has played a significant role in Black intellectual and political culture since the 60’s, especially in such educational and social movements as Black Studies, Black Power, Black Arts, Independent Schools, Afrocentricity, ancient Egyptian studies, Ifa ethical studies, the Million Person Marches, and reparations.
Furthermore, he is chair of Us (The Organization Us), and the National Association of Kawaida Organizations and executive director of the Kawaida Institute of Pan-African Studies. He has lectured on the life and struggle of African peoples on the major campuses of the USA and in Africa, the People’s Republic of China, Cuba, Trinidad, Britain and Canada.
Also, he is the creator of the pan-African cultural holiday Kwanzaa and author of numerous scholarly articles and books, including: Introduction to Black Studies; Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture; Kawaida: A Communitarian African Philosophy; Odu Ifa: The Ethical Teachings;Selections From The Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt; and Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics. (more…)
Add comment January 4, 2010
Guion Bluford: First African American in Space
The first African American to fly in space and the woman astronaut who helped rescue the Hubble Telescope will join other NASA heroes in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame this June.
Guion “Guy” Bluford became the first Black person in space as a member of the first space shuttle crew to launch and land at night.
Until 2007, Kathy Thornton held the record for the longest spacewalk by a woman. She was paired with astronaut Tom Akers to repair Hubble during two of the mission’s five spacewalks, “including the installation of COSTAR, or the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, which served as contact lenses to refocus light bouncing off Hubble’s primary mirror,” according to Collectspace.com.
Bluford’s four space flights opened the door for other African-American astronauts.
“We had to, as a crew, figure out the techniques that were required to launch the thing at night and as well as land the thing at night,” Bluford told collectSPACE in 2002 on the anniversary of his first mission in 1983. That flight, the STS-8 mission, was dedicated to deploying a multipurpose India-built satellite and conducting medical measurements to understand the effects of space flight on the human body. Bluford’s other missions included the first of the German-directed Spacelab science flights (STS-61A in 1985) and two Department of Defense-dedicated missions (STS-39 in 1991 and STS-53 in 1992).
“I feel very proud of being a trailblazer with reference to space flight, particularly for African-Americans,” he said. “I recognize I was one of several African Americans that came into the program, and I think we have all made significant contributions to the program.”
During her mission to repair Hubble, Thornton also jettisoned one of the telescope’s damaged solar arrays.
“It looks like a bird,” she commented, as the large array began to flap as the result of the shuttle’s thrusters being fired.
In addition to her work on Hubble, Thornton flew on three other shuttle missions, including STS-33, a 1989 defense flight; STS-73, also with Bowersox; and the 1992 maiden flight of orbiter Endeavour, during which she served as the spacewalk coordinator, or IVA officer, for the only three-person EVA in history. She then made a spacewalk of her own, demonstrating “how not to build a space station.”
Add comment December 19, 2009
FREE: Film Screening – “My Slave Sister Myself”
Lest We Forget Productions
Presents
“My Slave Sister Myself”
The next FREE film screening of My Slave Sister Myself will be held:
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Location: Church of the Advocate, 1801 Diamond St. Philadelphia, PA (215) 236-5848
Time: 6:30 P.M.
OVERVIEW: A documentary film and music video about how the Trans-Atlantic slave trade effected enslaved African females and correlates them with feelings deeply embedded in the souls of today’s African American women. The comparisons are compelling! It also reveals how slavery shaped perceptions of African American manhood. My Slave Sister Myself is a unique, thought-provoking film that uncovers a myriad of issues born in slavery, and continue to plague African Americans today. This informative 55 minute DVD sheds light on a dark and tragic period in American history. Come see this compelling film and join in the stimulating discussion that follows. FREE Screening Open To The Public!
DVD COST: $25.00 (Cash, Check or Charge Card)
2 comments September 27, 2009
