Genealogy & Family History
About this Event

Researching the Formerly Enslaved

November 12, 2024 @ 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PST (Online Only)

Please register for your Zoom Link

The Black Reparations Project (BRP) is dedicated to advancing education, research, and policy on Black reparations. Upholding values of joy, healing, love, and collective liberation, BRP facilitates meaningful conversations, policy analysis, and community engagement on reparations. In this spirit, renowned genealogist Nicka Smith will lead a series of Fall 2024 virtual workshops to deepen understanding of African American genealogy in relation to reparations. These workshops will cover the basics of family history research, the lives of the formerly enslaved, and ancestral land connections. The workshops aim to create thoughtful learning and empathy, enlightening participants about personal and collective narratives tied to reparations. Open to all and free to attend, the workshops promote genealogy awareness and a culture of healing, wellness, and inclusivity.

Researching the Formerly Enslaved

Welcome to our workshop on Researching the Formerly Enslaved, the second workshop in our Genealogy Workshop Series! Join us for a fun and informative online event where you can learn more about tracing your family's roots and discovering your unique heritage. Our workshop series will cover topics such as researching genealogy records, using DNA testing for genealogy, and preserving family history. Whether you're just starting out or looking to expand your genealogy knowledge, this workshop series is perfect for all levels of experience. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to connect with your past and uncover fascinating stories about your family. Get ready to dive into the world of genealogy!

Genealogists and family historians alike have spent decades looking for a tried and true method for unearthing slaveholders of those enslaved prior to 1865. Learn how three crucial record sets (Civil War Records/Pensions, the Freedmen’s Bureau, and Probates/Successions) can become just the wrecking ball needed to obliterate brick walls related to slavery.

Additional Sessions with Nicka Smith:

Beginning Genealogy and Family History

October 22, 2024 @ 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PST

Join the Black Reparations Project for this first workshop in the series of virtual genealogy workshops led by renowned genealogist Nicka Smith. The interest in family history has grown exponentially over the last decade and has become a national phenomenon. In this session, learn the basics of genealogy research, ways that descendants of both free people and the formerly enslaved can trace their ancestors, and how the use of DNA is leading the way to repair families torn apart by the system of slavery.

Researching Ancestral Land

February 11, 2025 @ 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PST

Black Americans who emerged from enslavement were eager to take advantage of all the rights and privileges of their newfound citizenship. One of the rights they often pursued was owning their own land. In this session, learn how to identify if an ancestor owned land, how to trace the chain of ownership of land that’s been in a family, and how to break down details mentioned within land records to glean more information on those mentioned.

Event Sponsors:

Mills College at Northeastern University:

-The Black Reparations Project

- The Office of the Dean & the Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Northeastern's Oakland Campus:

-Northeastern Law Center for Law, Equity and Race

UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy

The Nicodemus Historical Society

Descendants of Enslaved Communities at UVA

Technical support provided by Emend The Mass Media Group

For questions please contact: [email protected]

Nicka Smith is a host, consultant, and documentarian with more than 20 years of experience as a genealogist. She has extensive experience in researching the enslaved and their communities and is an expert in genealogy research in the Mississippi Delta.

Nicka has diverse and varied experience in media with a background in audio, video, and written communications. She’s appeared on TODAY, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, an Emmy winning episode of the series Who Do You Think You Are, was featured in the groundbreaking short film, A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson, and has been interviewed by National Geographic, TIME, USA Today, and New York Times. She is the host of BlackProGen LIVE, an innovative web show with more than 130 episodes focused on people of color genealogy and family history.

Nicka is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, as well as a a member of two lineage societies: Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage, and the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. Nicka is a past board member of the California Genealogical Society, and the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California. Nicka is also active in the descendant community movement as a member of the board of the Descendants of Enslaved Communities at University of Virginia, as a genealogy advisor to the Descendants of St. Louis University Enslaved, and as a genealogy researcher for Justice for Greenwood’s We Are GreenwoodTM Genealogy Project, which seeks to identify living descendants of those directly affected by the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Nicka is the family historian and lead researcher for the Atlas family of Lake Providence, East Carroll and the founder and lead researcher of Trask 250, a descendant community of more than 8,000 whose ancestral slaveholders have direct ties to Amherst College and University of Mississippi.

Additionally, Nicka has a current role as a senior story producer at AncestryTM, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, and guides and coaches an active group of family historians at the Who is Nicka Smith Patreon community.

Black Reparations Project (BRP) is a collaborative effort between faculty and students at Mills College at Northeastern University and U.C. Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. Our work is focused on promoting education and research on Black reparations policies and initiatives in California and across the nation. Grounded in principles of joy, healing, love, and collective liberation, the Black Reparations Project creates opportunities for individuals to come together to study, discuss, and contribute to policy analysis that supports Black reparations. We are conducting research and analysis of reparations implementation and planning considerations, challenges, and successes. We seek to meet the need to increase formal Black reparations learning opportunities, further build connective tissue among movement leaders, provide academic research and policy analysis support for Black reparations initiatives, and maintain continuous documentation of reparations movement works. The BRP leadership team includes Dr. Ashley C. Adams, Director (Mills College at Northeastern University); Dr. Erika Weissinger, Director (UC Berkeley); Dr. Darcelle Lahr, Director of Curriculum (Mills College, NU); Ife Tayo Walker, Director of Events (Mills College, NU).