|
This year’s February 20, 2010 "Finding Your Ancestors' Voices" Family History Symposium will serve as the appropriate closing event for the National Archives at Atlanta's “Documented Rights” exhibit that gives a voice to the struggle for freedom as part of Black Family History Month and will include presenting the Community Service Award to Martin Luther King, III, the eldest son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
In partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this free symposium will be held from
10 a.m.- 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 at the National Archives at Atlanta located at 5780 Jonesboro Rd.
in Morrow, GA.
Seating is limited! Register online now! or call 404-252-4864
The symposium will include a complimentary lunch provided by Chick-fil-A for registered attendees.
Registered attendees should arrive prior to 10 a.m. to check-in. Attendees will receive a free packet of materials along with a CD that contains the Freedman Bank information that was released in 2001 through the efforts of the LDS Church.
Workshops will feature speakers and authors addressing tools for researching and writing one's family history, snapshots of the King Family's genealogy and discussion of exciting new digitization projects that will provide even greater access to genealogical information.
Lectures will include:
- "Historical Snapshot of Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church". Benjamin Carver Ridgeway, Educator and Author of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church will share his historical snapshot of the nearly 125-year history of the church where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. joined his father as his co-pastor in 1960.
· "Maximizing Free Online Genealogical Research Tools". Steve Burton, Field Relations Manager of www.familysearch.org, will present free online genealogical research tools managed by the LDS Church including detailing the GSU project that will seek to digitize some 400,000 World War II draft cards for Georgia.
· "From the Roots of a Tree". Ashley Judy, National Archives at Atlanta Researcher, will present her research on Martin Luther King, Jr. - arguably the most revered Civil Rights leader in the course of American History.
· "The African American Collection at Ancestry.com". Quinton Atkinson, Director of U.S. Content Acquisition for www.ancestry.com will share details about their partnership with www.familysearch.org and the National Archives at Atlanta where they will be digitizing 4,000 inward coastwise Slave Manifests for the Port of Savannah, GA covering the period from 1790-1859. The manifests list names of slaves, slave owner, the shipper and port of origin. Digitization of these records will provide researchers with easy access to the names of 18,000 slaves for the first time in 150 years.
· "Basic Genealogy How-To's". Bryndis Roberts, local genealogy expert, will share her knowledge about genealogy and will provide tools for starting your family tree.
Location
National Archives at Atlanta
5780 Jonesboro Rd
Morrow, GA 30260
www.archives.gov/southeast
Directions from downtown Atlanta, take I-75 South to Exit 233, Morrow. Turn left onto Georgia Highway 54/Jonesboro Road. Travel approximately 1-1/2 miles. The National Archives at Atlanta facility is the second building on the right after Clayton State Boulevard.
Map
Event Background
This year's Atlanta Black Family History Day is the 10th annual event and was an outgrowth of a national press conference held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when it announced the release of the Freedman's Bank CD in February 2001. The Freedman's Bank CD marked the completion of an 11 year project sponsored by the Church.
The CD is a record of 480,000 former slaves who deposited more than $57 million in the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company established in 1865. Unfortunately, the bank collapsed. However, this record has created one of the largest repositories of lineage-linked African-American records known to exist.
It's estimated that 8-10 million African-Americans living today have ancestors who deposited money in the Freedman's Bank. The CD represents an invaluable tool to help black families trace their ancestry and will be available again at this year's event. The sole mission in the Black Family History Day event is to assist black families learn how they can trace and link their ancestry even beyond the slavery era.
Past Speakers and Honorees
Mrs. Mary Sallie Clark Hughes “Mother Hughes” - humanitarian
Milton C. Clipper, Jr. - President and CEO of Public Broadcasting Atlanta (PBA)
Dr. Leland Jones - Morehouse College - International Chapel
Dr. Eve J. Higginbotham - Morehouse School of Medicine
Ms. Elizabeth Omilami - Hosea Feed the Hungry
U.S. Congressman David Scott
Atlanta chapters of chapters of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Monica Kaufman - WSB TV News Anchor
John Lewis - US Congressman
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
Commissioner Marjorie Young, Georgia Merit System; Alpha Kappa Alpha State Liaison
President of H.J. Russell & Company, Jerome Russell
Alexis Scott - Publisher of the Atlanta Daily World newspaper
Honorable Judge Nina Hixson
Charles Johnson - President of Sweet Auburn Foundation
Brenda Smothers - http://www.afrigeneas.com
Dr. Elijah McKenzie - Former Pres. of Citizens for Concerned Community
Mary Kay Hooker - Director, Atlanta Fulton County Library Center
For more information on National Archives at Atlanta's "Documented Rights” exhibit, visit http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/documented-rights.
|
