About this Event
Adults 18 & Up
Genealogy Mini Camp returns! Join us for a day-long series of seminars focusing on the challenges and rewards of researching African American ancestry and genealogy. Whether you're researching for yourself or others, all are welcome. Seminars are suitable for all experience levels.
Continental breakfast provided by the Friends of the Library.
See the agenda for detailed information. Speakers will present both in person and live via Zoom. The seminar will be in person in the library's Multipurpose Room.
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Presenter Biographies
Paul Beaty
Paul has reconnected over 100+ families through genealogy and other various DNA projects over the last 10 years. In 2006, he was introduced to Gina Paige and Dr. Rick Kittles, PH.D founders of African Ancestry, Inc. Through this connection, Beaty was able to re-connect his personal tribal African Ancestry to his American Ancestry.
Other companies Paul has and continue to work with are: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, 23 & Me, Ancestry DNA, GEDmatch, and others. He strives to reconnect all families who have been disconnected through slavery.
Paul is a member of African American Genealogical Society and the Dallas Genealogical Society.
Paul will be presenting in person.
Diane L Richard
Diane has been doing genealogy research since 1987 and since 2004 professionally focused on the records of North Carolina, other Southern States and migration paths to the Mississippi River. She has researched NC roots for the popular TV show Who Do You Think You Are? and appeared on the Bryan Cranston episode.
She has authored over 500 articles on genealogy topics, many for Internet Genealogy. In 2019 she published, Tracing Your Ancestors — African American Research: A Practical Guide, via Moorshead Publications. Since 2016 she has been editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) journal.
As a speaker she has delivered webinars and in-person talks about the availability and richness of records documenting southerners, pursuing formerly enslaved ancestors and their descendants, genealogical research tips, techniques, tools and strategies, under-utilized resource collections [online and on-the-ground], and much more. She has appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? (Bryan Cranston episode).
She is a board member of NC Historical Records Online (NCHRO), http://nchistoricalrecords.org/, non-profit organization dedicated to providing public access to high quality images of original records and other related information useful to researching North Carolina history and genealogy.
Diane will be presenting live via Zoom.
Terry M. Turner
I call myself a compassionate genealogist because doing genealogical research requires me to internalize a heart of compassion that allows me to embrace my ancestors in the most challenging conditions and lifestyles.
Unlike many who have been doing genealogy for decades, I began researching my family nine years ago. As a result, most of my ancestors I’ve discovered have been in the states of Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. In Georgia, I have solidified my paternal connections as far back as 1770. I have also traced their migration to Texas in 1854 and later to Oklahoma—shortly after the 1889 Land Run that opened the Indian Territory to new settlers.
In 2018, I authored a Christian historical and genealogy book titled God’s Amazing Grace: Reconciling Four Centuries of African American Marriages and Families. This book traces how Christianity and governmental regulations in the American slave system impacted the marriages and families of enslaved people and their descendants. Also, I am finishing a new book, When Grace Flows Backward: Embracing Our Ancestors, to be released this year.
In my retirement, starting June 2023, I plan to provide genealogy research services specializing in researching African Americans beyond the 1870 brick wall.
Terry will be presenting in person.
Debra Blacklock-Sloan
Debra Blacklock-Sloan, a fifth-generation Texan and native Houstonian, is a self-employed historical researcher and professional genealogist. She is currently the Freedmen’s Town R.B.H. Yates Museum, Inc.’s lead docent, education outreach and historical research director. Debra also operates a tour bus business of African-American sites across the country.
Tenacious about documenting the African-American footprint in Texas, she has participated in several, relevant collaborative projects from the Bernard Plantation to Frost Town. Debra is passionate about preservation and has received numerous accolades for her preservation and volunteer efforts. She has12 city designations, 30-plus state historical markers and 3 county historical markers under her belt.
Her memberships include the Association of Professional Genealogists, Harris County Historical Commission, Willie Lee Gay H-Town Chapter Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Oak Park Historic Cemetery Association, and Harris County African-American Cultural Heritage Commission.
Debra has presented several local workshops on African-American family research and has been featured in several newspapers and publications. She has also appeared on Great Day Houston segments where she researched talk show host Debra Duncan’s maternal and paternal ancestors. Blacklock-Sloan believes “finding one’s ancestors leads to finding oneself!”
She is the mother of two wonderful sons and five delightful, super intelligent grandchildren.
Debra will be presenting live via Zoom.
Sharon Batiste Gillins
Gillins is a native of Galveston, Texas with paternal ancestral roots in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana and maternal roots in Fort Bend County, Texas. She is a passionate family history researcher who has been actively involved in genealogical research and teaching for more than 25 years. Her professional career spans 40 years in education, retiring as Associate Professor at Riverside Community College, Riverside, California. She frequently delivers lectures and workshops at regional genealogy conferences and national genealogy institutes.
Sharon’s research and teaching focus on African Americans in the 19th Century through the mid-20th century. She emphasizes strategies researchers can use to extract and analyze information from underutilized record sources. Favorite research and lecture topics include the Freedmen’s Bureau, Southern Claims Commission, probate records and Juneteenth history. It is her work with slave-era manuscripts that motivates her desire to encourage more open communication and information exchange between families holding private manuscripts that document the presence of enslavers and/or enslaved people.
A determined gardener, Sharon has learned many lessons from gardening that she applies directly to her work in genealogy.
Cheri Hudson Passey
Cheri has been researching her family and helping others start their research since the early 1980s. Born in Camden, South Carolina, her ancestors have been in the state for many generations. She is truly a "Carolina Girl". A love of history and genealogy has grown into a passion for researching names, dates, and places and adding flesh on the bones with family pictures, stories, and ephemera.
Cheri is the owner of Carolina Girl Genealogy, LLC. Along with traditional client research, her Genealogy 1-on-1 Research Services include classes that provide individual and group instruction and coaching for all levels and needs. She also enjoys speaking and writing about the many aspects of family history and has spoken at local and state workshops, organizations, and conferences. She has also been an instructor at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.
She is a member of a team of genealogical researchers for the U.S. Army in their effort to repatriate Soldiers who have been listed as Killed in Action. By using her skills to locate next of kin, it is hoped positive identification through DNA testing will occur when remains are discovered and our war heroes can return home to their families.
Her blog, Carolina Girl Genealogy, has been instrumental in connecting with and sharing information about her family and the research process.
Sharon and Cheri will co-present live via Zoom.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Rita & Truett Smith Public Library, 300 Country Club Road, Wylie, United States
USD 0.00