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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

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Wisdom Wednesday: Community

Quotes For Healing at Beliefnet.com (Mary Williamson);  sxc.hu stock photo: Image ID 1124775 - Council
        Photo by: andreyutz Dec 23, 2008; http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1124775


Saturday, March 24, 2012

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Brought Home By a Story



Interstate 85 Business (Spartanburg, South Car...Interstate 85 Business (Spartanburg, South Carolina) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Brought Home By a Story won the "Best of Story Award in 2007." I remember my grandfather spending a lot of
 time at the kitchen table writing letters to his family members. I was amazed he knew so many people. After he passed away, my mom, my grandmother, and her siblings used to call to mind the days they spent in South Carolina. Read more:




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Dealing with Details: Oral History Will Link Us

Because I interviewed the grandson of Columbus McClure, I discovered the details about his tragic death.  I do have a few different versions of the story, but I had enough good clues to find the death certificate. I conducted this interview long before I actually got inspired to search for actual documentation. 


According to oral history, he was walking or driving across a railroad track which was very close to his home in Birmingham Alabama and was hit by a train.  It is not clear to me that he was walking.  He was a driver for a landscape company, so I am not sure why he would have been out walking down by the tracks.


I was able to confirm the fact that he was struck by the train from the death certificate. A few years ago, I  found the index at Ancestry.com. I had to contact the department of vital records to order a copy of the original. 


I was happy to discover further details:
Birth:   November 1881 in Alexander City
Father: Bill McClure

Mother:  Jane
Burial:  Woodlawn Cemetery

These details helped me to locate his grave and identify his siblings on census records.   

Friday, March 23, 2012

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Eyes to See

This is the electronic version of one of the books I designed. I hope to inspire more people this year to save stories.

Eyes to See: http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectId=1250807&productId=5&projectSponsor=171733

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Help the Threatened South Carolina Department of Archives and History

Photo of SCDAH by Robin Foster

It is a sad day to see history and access to documentation threatened.  We need to let the South Carolina legislature know that the South Carolina Department of Archives and History is important to us! I was there and signed their petition yesterday. If we do NOTHING, it will cease to exist as we know it:


"In June 2010 severe state budget cuts forced SCDAH to eliminate 11 full-time positions. The agency has lost two thirds of its work force in the past two decades, and yet has continued to perform it's core missions. Further significant reduction in FY 2011-2012 will force SCDAH to reduce those services that ensure the protection of South Carolina's historic resources. The end result of this pattern of budget cuts will be the destruction of this agency and the elimination of its mission."

At the time this article was written, no online petition existed.  Please let your voice be heard! Visit SC.GOV  to let them know how important it is that we protect this state agency whose mission it is to preserve 325 years of documentation and history (buildings, sites, education, records management, and records conservation) for South Carolina.   Let them know they need to "retain the funding for SCDAH in the FY2011-2012 budget."



We welcome any helpful ideas or feedback.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

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Do Not Deny DNA, Genealogy, or Moral Obligation

When I first began researching, I felt completely in the dark about my ancestors.  Neither did I have a clear knowledge of the type of people they were.  I felt a total disconnect because my grandparents on both sides had passed away.


I was concerned that my posterity would not have the knowledge of who these people were either so I took it upon myself to discover as much as I could in order to leave a record for generations to come.  At the time I began, there was not much hope offered to African Americans doing research. The scarcity of records I believe led people to erroneously think and teach that the documentation was non-existent.


I had this dark cloud over me that I constantly fought off. I did not want to buy into that way of thinking. All I had to go on was faith and hope that my journey would provide the clues I was seeking.  At the same time, I knew I could not ignore stories that I grew up hearing.


On my father's side of the family were stories of great persecution being from Mississippi and migrating away to Arkansas, Tennessee, and eventually North to escape the persecutions of Jim Crow. On my mother's side were different types of stories.  They were descendants of the slave holding family on three different lines that I know of so far.  I feel charged to get the stories on both sides as accurate as possible and to be as fair as I can.


On one hand, I need to help my family to know of the hard struggles that they overcame, while at the same time I must tell the truth about the small acts of kindness shown them on the other side of the family because they were not pure African descent.  I cannot tell you how controversial it is with living family members who are descendants of both races especially since some of them still face issues in their lives today.

My great grandfather, George, is the grandson of a slaveholder.
You face not being accepted by African Americans because you obviously are mixed with white and vice versa.  So sometimes you feel more comfortable alone or living your life in between both cultures.  I feel for them because I know of the pain they face inside. There is the pain of not knowing who you are, then the pain of finding out you are not exactly what you thought you were.  


When I had my DNA tested last year, I was happy that I had kept the perspective that I have had all along.  I want to see genealogy eventually unite all races of people.  We who work day in and day out to document the lives of our ancestors and help others are the closest group of people with the capacity to help pull this off. I discovered that I am:

64.49% Sub-Sarahan African
31% European
3.1% East Asian & Native American
1.1 % Unasigned

I always said to my family while growing up, "Why hate? If I hate people of a different race, I am only hating myself."  How those words rang true when I received my DNA results.


I have not spoken much about this dual journey to identify my ancestors and to fulfill my moral obligation to bring unity where I can.  It is becoming a journey of great healing for me.  Until recently, it was only a dream that I would have opportunities.  I feel very blessed to be in South Carolina and to be able to journey to the places my ancestors trod especially in Union County. 


I was fortunate to give three different presentations in the town of Union this year. Two of the presentations were on African American research.  At the first presentation I expressed my desire to help bring all people together.  I saw smiles come from people present from both races. After the first presentation, a gentleman shared with me that I am his cousin through the grandson of the slave owning family.  He told me how I could find documentation on the fact that my ancestor was the first person to own a car in Union.


No sooner had he shared this information, when my African American cousin walked up, and expressed his desire to find the very document. I was astounded.  I located the car registration this week at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.  I cannot wait to present it to my cousin.  


The experiences that I am having in Union are like no other I have had presenting.  Because it is my ancestral homeland, people of both races introduce themselves afterwards as my cousins, and people are anxious to share their knowledge about connections to my same name ancestors.  I am glad that I have not allowed myself to ever prejudge.  I am so fortunate and thankful that the people of Union have opened their hearts to me and that I can work out the obligations I have on their fertile ground.  


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Monday, March 5, 2012

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Evidence of a Legacy in the 1940 US Census

I pretty much knew subconsciously that when I look back at the US Census, I have been looking to verify more about my ancestors than just names, dates, and places.  The excitement I feel as I pour over its pages along with the satisfaction and pride I feel as I closely inspect the family groups has not been something that I have articulated before now.


Looking back at what the 1940 US Census meant to African Americans, I came across a April 1940 issue of "The Crisis,"  the official journal of the NAACP founded by W. E. B. Dubois. In this issue, an editorial entitled, "Aid the Census," reminded African Americans of their duty to help with  taking the census and making sure the information given was as accurate as possible.


The census was one way they could clear up certain misconceptions about "their ratio to the whole population"and arguments such as they did not own property or pay taxes.  The editorial also mentioned there were a thousand other reasons including literacy information, type and extent of employment, church membership, voting age, population distribution, and businesses owned.


You can read the entire article here (bottom right corner):



The Crisis, Pg 113, column 2, Apr 1940, 28 pages, Vol. 47, No. 4, ISSN 0011-1422, Published by The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc.


Every census previous to 1940 has also provided evidence of the family values which were taught to me.   This has been the reason for the excitement and joy I have felt in my search.  I am greatly anticipating searching out these ancestors again when the 1940 US Census is made available.  The important data mentioned in this article in "The Crisis" most definitely helps to raise the status of African Americans in the minds of many in that day, but I hold my ancestors to the high standards they set for me.  When I see the evidences of the following, I realize that in my own life I am basically continuing a legacy which began well before me.
  • Marriage and two-parent households
  • Property and land ownership
  • Business ownership
  • Education
  • Proximity to parents and other extended family

I am more determined to see this wonderful cycle continue.  I hope my posterity will be fortunate down the road to have the same pleasant feelings when they look back on me.  
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