Meetings are open to the public, and SYRBGS welcomes anyone interested in learning more about African American genealogy and discovering ancestors of African descent.
For September, SYRBGS is hosting a special presentation of “Breaking the Brick Wall: Tracing an African American Family from Freedom to Slavery” by Dr. Deborah Abbott.
Our September 21st meeting will begin at 10am. At 11am, we’ll watch a special live webinar presented by the Tennessee Genealogical Society:
“Breaking the Brick Wall: Tracing an African American Family from Freedom to Slavery”
The most difficult part of genealogical research for African Americans is finding and identifying slave ancestors and their owners. Using a case study, learn the importance of basic tools of family history research. This lecture will focus on the clues and resources needed to recreate an African American family’s journey from freedom back to slavery. Learn the importance of analyzing information and realizing how important collateral/cluster line research is in helping to move you toward success in the genealogical process. Starting with oral history and the 1950 U.S. Federal Census, we will follow an African American Kentucky family from freedom to slavery.
Dr. Deborah A. Abbott, PhD, is a professional genealogist, specializing in African American research, manuscript collections and genealogy methodology. She is an associate with the Kentucky-Tennessee Associates based in Springfield, TN; past president of the African American Genealogical Society, Cleveland, OH; and a retired professor of Counseling from Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. She holds both the BS and M.Ed. degrees from Tuskegee University in Alabama and the PhD degree from Kent State University in Ohio.
