Symposium at Georgia Archives will explore 400 years of black history

The black experience in Georgia is the subject of an upcoming symposium organized by the Georgia Archives and the Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.

Entitled “1619-2019: African Americans’ 400-Year Journey – Footprint in Georgia,” the event is free. It will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., February 9, at the Georgia Archives, 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow. Registration begins at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided for a donation.

This year marks the 400th year commemoration of the first landing of captured Africans on American soil, in 1619 in Virginia. The program features expert speakers, cameo portrayals of historical luminaries and chapter members’ ancestors. Speakers and topics will be: Tuskegee University professor Dr. Lisa Bratton on before the colony; genealogist Kristin Harms on Georgia’s founding in the 1730s; Emory University Professor Dr. Candy Tate and AAHGS member Louis Childers on arts and music; and former NBA player and Hawks announcer Mike “Stinger” Glenn on sports. Other speakers include historian Dr. D.L. Henderson on education; historian Velma Thomas on Atlanta; genealogist Johnette Brooks on military research; church historian Jacqueline Henderson on religion; and Georgia Archives staff archivist Kayla Barrett on relevant research resources at the Georgia Archives. For more information, call 678-364-3710 or check www.georgiaarchives.org or www.aahgsatl.org. Note that, due to the partial shutdown of the federal government, at press time, no Black History Event is yet scheduled at the National Archives at Atlanta.

South Carolina genealogy magazine offer

Brent H. Holcomb, the longtime editor of the South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research will offer to new subscribers a discount of $30 for a year’s subscription for 2019. Checks should be made to SCMAR and sent to P.O. Box 21766, Columbia, S.C. 29221. Back issues are at libraries with genealogy collections and the Georgia Archives. While focusing on South Carolina records, many articles contain notices from religious newspapers. For example, he is currently running abstracts from the Lutheran Visitor, which includes many Georgia people, including those descended from the Salzburger settlement at Ebenezer. It’s well worth subscribing if you have South Carolina connections. For his other publications, see scmar.com.

Genealogical societies in the future

For an interesting article — “The Genealogical Society: Revise or Demise?” (2016) — see Donna Cox Baker’s website, The Golden Egg Genealogist at gegbound.com and search for “genealogical society.” Explore the site for other good articles.