Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P.O. Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031 or gagensociety.org.
The annual Black History Month event at the National Archives at Atlanta will be held 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Feb. 27 at the archives in Morrow. It’s co-sponsored by the Metro Atlanta Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
The topic will be Reconstruction and the promise of freedom. The event is free and open to the public, with lunch provided. Pre-registration is required due to limited seating.
Speakers will include Edna Medford, author of “Lincoln and Emancipation”; Ehren Foley of the South Carolina Archives on the role of the federal courts during Reconstruction; Kahlil Chism of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum on the success and failures of the Freedmen’s Bureau; Jelani Favors of Clayton State University on the impact and legacy of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments; and William Durant of the AAHGS on the Freedmen’s Bureau indexing project. They will be followed by Joel Walker of the National Archives speaking on Reconstruction documents the archives has here.
To register, go to aahgsatl.org. For more information on the National Archives, go to archives.gov/atlanta or call Joel Walker at 770-968-2530.
Genealogy workshop
The fifth annual genealogy workshop put on by Our Genealogy Group will be 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. March 5 at the University Center at Clayton State University in Morrow. The event is free, but an RSVP to ourgenealogygroup@gmail.com by Feb. 29 is required.
The scheduled topics, with three sessions per hour, include: creating pedigree charts, courthouse research, interview techniques, advanced research, organizing your records, genealogy software and DNA. To see the entire schedule, check ourgenealogygroup.blogspot.com.
For further information, call Rosemary Fischer, university archivist, at 678-466-4333.
African-American coastal heritage
Georgia's African-American coastal heritage has been the focus of the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition. They are planning an event to commemorate the musical heritage of Bessie Jones and the Georgia Sea Island Singers Feb. 25-28 at various locations. Over the past several years, the group has worked to preserve coastal African-American heritage sites and offer tours of various locations. Check ssiheritagecoalition.org to find out more.