An Upcoming Special Event

Those of you who tweet and those on Facebook may already know of this news. Others of you, it might be brand new. You may notice that over a month ago, I put a countdown calendar on my blog. Today it reads 667 days until A Special (Secret) Event. Secret should be revealed in about 7 days. Well here is the reveal.

Drum roll please?

The 2^nd International Black Genealogy Summit will be held 18-20 October 2012 in Salt Lake City. Here is the notice I got from the chair, Algurie Wilson, last week.

SAVE THE DATE, OCTOBER 18-20, 2012, FOR THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL BLACK GENEALOGY SUMMIT---Genealogists-Beginner through Seasoned Levels Will Have the Opportunity to Explore The Many Genealogical Resources at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah at the 2nd International Black Genealogy Summit.


The International Black Genealogy Summit Committee will be hosting the 2nd genealogy summit in Salt Lake at the Radisson Hotel. Many people who attended the first summit have been encouraging the committee to regroup and host another conference. Wait no more because plans are in progress to make this another successful summit. Beginner, intermediate, and advanced genealogists will convene for the 2nd International Black Genealogy Summit, October 18-20, 2012 at the Radisson Hotel, Salt Lake City. This conference will continue its legacy to bring innovative speakers, something special and hands-on approach to genealogical and historical research. Docents at the world’s largest repository of genealogical information will demonstrate research strategies, provide useful tips, and explore resources that will open doors to hidden treasures.

The Salt Lake Family History Library is known to have the world’s largest repository of genealogy resources. The comprehensive collection contains more than 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 727,000 microfiche; 356,000 books, serials and other formats; over 4,500 periodicals; 3,725 electronic resources including online genealogical databases. The library is open to the general public at no charge. There are approximately 700 trained volunteers who are knowledgeable in genealogical research and are always available to assist researchers.

Summit Planning Committee consists of Algurie Wilson, Chair; Deborah Abbot, Co-Chair, California African American Genealogical Society and a host of others. Any questions can be sent to information deleted from this blog. See 29 Dec 2010 note below.


General information about the summit will be forth coming. Please save the date October 18-20, 2012 for the 2nd International Black Genealogy Summit.

Well now. My genealogy social calendar for 2012 is filling up pretty quickly. First of all, our HARGROVE-WILSON family meets every other year. This year was Labor Day weekend in Madison, Morgan County Georgia. Madison is about 40 miles east of Atlanta. So the next reunion is scheduled for 2012. It is undecided at this time where the next reunion will be but I had submitted my vote for the location of my choice. Then, browsing around here and there, I found that the 2012 NGS Conference will be in Cincinnati Ohio 9-12 May. I live less than 20 miles away and was planning to attend. Now here is this one. Well, out of the three events, one of them may have to be eliminated. Tell you what, the eliminated one will certainly not be the 2^nd Black Genealogy Summit. So, let me figure out how much in airfare and lodging I need to save up to actually attend all three... A Lot!

Decisions, decisions.

Added Note 24 Dec 2010: I forgot to note their website. BlackGenealogySummit.com/. Please be patient, they will update it soon.

Additional Update 29 Dec 2010: I decided to delete Algurie's phone # off of my blog and updated to change her email address to not be phished. Contact her at Chairman AT blackgenealogysummit DOT com.

Lucy's Story by Larry Hamilton

We aren't going to let the IBGS go are we? I am not! I went to FGS 2007 but the 1^st Annual IBGS was all that And a bag of chips!

There's a gentleman and his wife, Linda and Larry Hamilton, I had lunch with at the luncheon on Saturday. I was supposed to mention before that Larry is one of the authors who was at the Summit. He just sent me a note and said his book, Lucy's Story, was cited as Top 100 book for 2009.

Also, the day after IBGS, he went to to Loveland, OH (Cincinnati suburb) for a book signing.

God Bless his Mom! She's 85!

Please visit Larry's website.


Then, the lady I sat next to at the luncheon, Michelle. I owe you some documents and hot links for the SHANKLEs in Jackson County, GA. I have not forgotten.

OK, I'm in!

I'm a Blogger now!

After attending the International Black Genealogy Summit (IBGS) (which was AWESOME) last weekend at The Allen County Public Library, I decided I needed a blog. I had already tentatively decided on the name for my blog. You may wonder My Colored Roots??? What's that about? You'll have to come back to see.

For those who weren't there or for those who missed it, there is a new African American Gateway at the Genealogy Center in the library. You kinda might miss it if you aren't familiar with their site, or you might miss it if you are familiar with their site. For those who weren't there or who haven't seen the Gateway yet, it's a culmination of a book previously published by Curt Witcher, director of the Genealogy Center. The book is titled African American genealogy : a bibliography and guide to sources and call number is 973 W771A. What's on the Gateway is updated info from the book and bunches of URLs. All of the books in the bibliography section are books actually in the Genealogy Center.

Anyway, welcome to my blog and please come back.