The annual Black History Month symposium, co-sponsored by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Metro Atlanta Chapter and the National Archives at Atlanta in Morrow will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Feb. 15 at the Archives.
The theme this year will be “The Enduring Chronicle: Civil Rights and the Railroads.” The program will focus on civil rights records in the National Archives that relate to railroads.
The morning program, featuring professor Anthony Baker of the John Marshall School of Law, focuses on the case of Sallie Robinson, beginning in 1879, which led to a major U.S. Supreme Court decision. The afternoon session will discuss the impact of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters on the civil rights movement. As part of this, historian Robert West will portray a train porter to highlight the effect porters had on better economic and social opportunities during this era.
Registration is free, limited to 200 people, and includes lunch. To register, email ancestryatl@gmail.com. For more information about the society’s Metro Atlanta Chapter, go to www.aahgsatl.org. Also posted there are other events going on around the city for Black History Month.
For more specifics about the National Archives programming and access, contact Joel Walker at 770-968-2530 or www.archives.gov/atlanta. The National Archives is open Mondays-Fridays for research as well as the third Saturday of each month.
Railroad records
The National Archives at Atlanta houses records of the Railroad Retirement Board for the entire nation, and that is a great resource for genealogy as well as learning more details about a relative’s career working for the railroads. If you have not searched for a file for someone who spent their career with a railroad, you should do so.
Freedmen’s Bureau records
The Freedmen’s Bureau contracts from 1865 to 1872 for the state of South Carolina recently have been posted on Familysearch.org. While these 118,000 images will be a great resource for anyone working in African-American history and genealogy, they are not yet indexed, so searching them is not easy. Contracts from other states will follow soon.
Family History Fair
A Family History Fair will be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2021 Redwine Road, Fayetteville. Keynote speaker is Roger Hoffman. Three classes will be offered: Beginning the Adventure, Internet Resources and Vaulting the Brick Wall. They are free; registration is not required. For further information, contact Maureen Keillor at 404-414-9975.
