Genealogy Workshop at St. Paul's Baptist Church

There is an upcoming Genealogy Workshop at St. Paul's Baptist Church. St. Paul's has always been a place where members of the African American community can come for worship and fellowship. However, the church also offers a variety of resources to the community in order to provide assistance and enrichment in other areas of their lives.

With that said, St. Paul Baptist Church is hosting its first Genealogy Workshop on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 8:30 to 12:00 pm. The workshop will feature a Keynote Speaker as well as several local Genealogists, including myself, Karen Burney, Linda Bradley and Annette Madden who will be teaching beginning, intermediate and advanced classes in Genealogy. These classess will teach attendees skills and techniques that will enable them to reconnnect with their ancestral pasts including some of their slave ancestors.

This workshop serves a as a milestone, not just in Sacramento but for African American churches throughout the country. The church has always been a refuge for Africans Americans since slavery. It is only fitting that the church is allowing its present members to trace their roots and reconnect with their ancestors many of whom also relied on the church in their lifetime. In doing so, St. Paul is setting a precedent for African American churches throughout the Country.

Due the overwhelming interest and response, the classes are already at capacity. However, I wanted to do a story on the event so that it might spark interest in future seminars as well as encourage other churches in the African American community to host similar events.

African American Civil War Memorial

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about the US Colored Troops. In it, I mentioned that Ancestry.com has a site you can search for your ancestors or other relatives who may have served.

I also want to tell you about the African American Civil War Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The Museum which has a memorial sculpture that is surrounded by a memorial wall in remembrance of the contributions that these soldiers made.

The museum curators utilize photographs, documents and state of the art audio visual equipment to convey the heroic's of the soldiers in their struggle for freedom.

The Museum is located at 1200 U Street N.W., Washington, DC 20009 and is open Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturdays, 10 AM to 2 PM.

I was in D.C. about 3 years ago and as you probably know, there is a lot to see there so I did not get the chance to visit this museum but I plan to. If you are in the D.C. area, please make a point to see this museum. The contributions of these men are invaluable not only to African Americans but they influenced our current way of life in America.