Why I’m Studying About African American Research
This past week I attended the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI for short) that was originally scheduled for three days of instruction at the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) but because of Covid-19, was scheduled online. This gave me the opportunity to attend. Check out their website for next year’s courses. Just $50 can reserve you spot! I took Track IB: Methods & Strategies for Slavery Era Research , coordinated by Dr. Shelley Murphy. We had these wonderful instructors: Nicka Sewell-Smith “Systems to Track and Document Enslaved Populations.” Excel or Google Sheets is your friend in keeping track of all of the data about the enslaved and enslavers, plus keeping track of DNA matches. “No Stone Unturned: Case Studies in Identifying the Last Slaveholder.” Surnames are not always an indicator of last enslaver. It was seeing her success stories. “Case Studies in Gray: Identifying Shared Ancestries Thru DNA.” Lots more use of online DNA sites a