My month began in Morrow, Georgia (outside of Atlanta). February 2-4, 2023, I attended a 3-day event presented by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Metro Atlanta Chapter and the Georgia Archives. The theme was "African Americans in Georgia: Education, History, and Genealogy". This was my first visit to an archive and to say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. However, I did achieve my main goal which was to see a copy of the original will of Bozeman Adair, the enslaver of some of my Washington family: Sylvia, Elijah, and Ned.
In the photo below I am looking through the vertical files. I went through all files with my Georgia surnames and locations.
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| February 2, 2023 |
After two days of presentations focused on education and history, I was one of the AAHGS-Atlanta members who were scheduled to present a genealogy workshop. There were two genealogy tracks -- Track 1: Genealogy Basics and Track 2: African American Genealogy in Georgia. My presentation, "Document Analysis/Evaluations & Timelines" was in Track 1.
On February 11th, I also gave the presentation to the Buffalo Genealogy Society of the African Diaspora (BGSAD), my local genealogy group, during our monthly meeting.
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| Genealogy presentation at the Georgia Archives, Morrow GA February 4, 2023 |
On December 22, 2022, storyteller Rosalind Campbell Hunter and I were scheduled to give a workshop on beginning storytelling to art students working on the project -- "Sharing Our View 25th Anniversary: The Art of Storytelling" -- under the direction of local African American artists, John Baker and James Cooper II. The date of our presentation was the last day of school before the Christmas break; however, due to forecast of heavy snow weather conditions all extra-curricular activities were canceled. Our presentation wasn't at a school, but it was an afterschool activity, and no students came for this scheduled session. Thanks to cellphone technology, Rosalind and I were recorded so the students could be shown our presentation at a later date.
When I attended exhibit opening on February 10, 2023, at the Birchfield Penney Art Center (Buffalo NY), I was pleasantly surprised to see that the images of Rosalind and I were part of the exhibit.
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| Birchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo NY February 10, 2023 |
On February 25th I gave a Zoom presentation for beginning African American genealogy research to the Gamma Chi Chapter, Inc, of Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc for their Black History Month meeting.
"Hello Ms Bush,
Thank you for the excellent presentation on African American Genealogy Research provided to the Gamma Chi Chapter, Inc, of Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. Your slide presentation will be posted on our website; thank you for sharing it. Following your presentation, I received numerous comments from our members as to the benefit of this presentation in their personal research. I too am encouraged to continue my efforts in documenting my family’s history.
On behalf of our basileus, Mary Walker, the Membership Development Committee, and myself, thank you for donating your time in support of our Black History Month Program.
Sisterly,
Edna Fleming"
So, the month ended as it began, giving genealogy presentations . . . and the genealogist in me couldn't ask for anything better.
Copyright © 2023 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.
