Nine Lectures on African American Genealogy

A total of nine lectures on African American genealogy are included in this year’s conference. There is a complete list below. There is a strong emphasis on early African Americans in California and the West.  Janice Lovelace is giving three talks and five other speakers are giving one as well.

Lovelace will talk about the long history of Black men and women in the American West and Southwest beginning in the 16th century (F313), how to research African American women (T252) and where to look for records of African American cowboys (W148).  Charlotte Bocage discusses the records she used to trace Pamela, an enslaved woman (T202). Calvin Dark will take listeners through the complicated scheme a southern slave owner set up to circumvent southern anti-manumission laws and free his slaves upon his death (T212).  Karina Robinson will talk about a few of the more than 360 African Americans who owned land in the first decade of California’s statehood. (T222).  Ari Wilkins will talk about how to search in newspapers to find enslaved and formerly enslaved people (T242).

Top L. to R. Charlotte Bocage, Calvin Dark, Janice Lovelace and Karina Robinson

Ari Wilkins

Speakers:

Charlotte Bocage has over four decades of experience in genealogy.  She has taught for OLLI at UCLA, Family Tree University and lectured at societies and conferences nationwide.

Calvin Dark is a cofounder of RC Communications, Duke University graduate, Fulbright Scholar to Morocco, and author of numerous articles on genealogy and oral traditions in North Carolina.

Janice Lovelace, PhD, is a genealogical researcher, lecturer, and author of the NGS continuing education course African-American Roots:  A Historical Perspective.

Karina Robinson, formerly the California State Librarian’s principal researcher and contributor to the biography  Kamala’s Way, holds an MA in history and a genealogical certificate from BU.

Ari Wilkins is a genealogy professional and staff member at Dallas Public Library.  Researching for the past twenty years, she specializes in African American research.

Jonathan Burgess (photo and syllabus n/a) is a battalion chief, Sacramento Fire Department, entrepreneur, founder of the African American Gold Rush Association, and descendant of Coloma’s African American Burgess family.