Busy, Busy ME!

I try to do a good job of posting my speaking engagements on my social media platforms, in the order they are upcoming, but the period between late April and mid-June is giving me a run for my money - especially when it comes to "self promotion," which I'm really not that good at. I post my appearances in support of the organizations that are hosting me, and because I want the public to know that great information and opportunities for learning are available. To that end, I've decided to do this quick blog to show what is coming - and a bit of what has already passed, in case you are interested in exploring video options with those organizations. :)

Me speaking at NGS 2023
(Photo compliments of Sheryl Sims)

This is easier than it looks, because I'd already made this list for myself, so it's just a matter of copy/paste and adding the links! I will still try to post, as I always have, but this gives me (and anyone interested) a one-stop reference point! :)

MAY

Sat. May 2 - Webinar - Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) -https://fgstampa.org/event/fgs-tampa-meeting-4/

Wed. May 6 - Live Webinar - North Carolina Genealogical Society -https://www.ncgenealogy.org/event/live-webinar-with-renate-yarborough-sanders-may-2026/

Wed. May 13 - Speaking Engagement - Landowner's Conference - Birmingham, AL (in person) - https://sflrconference2026.sched.com/

Tues. May 19 - Speaking Engagement - Conejo Valley Genealogical Society (CA) - https://conejovalleygenealogicalsociety.org/

Wed. May 27 - Sat. May 30 -  National Genealogical Society Conference - Fort Wayne Indiana (In person: Speaking on Friday and Saturday) - https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/

JUNE

Sat. June 6 - Prince William County Central Library (in person) - Manassas, VA  https://pwcgov.libnet.info/event/16244492

Tues. June 9 - Webinar - Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project - Roanoke Cooperative - https://www.roanokecooperative.com/calendar-events/webinar-tracing-your-roots-getting-started-with-genealogy-research/

Sat. June 13 - Clayton Library, Clayton, NC (in person) -https://townofclaytonnclibrary.libcal.com/event/16727535

Sun. June 14 - Speaking Engagement - St. Phillips Episcopal Church - Richmond, VA (in person - private event)

In between these speaking engagements, I have a ton of family events (grandchildren!), also involving travel, so this is a really busy/crazy time for me.  There is also the usual slate of meetings and medical appointments sprinkled into all this, so there's that, too. Oh, and I can't forget my coaching sessions and consultations. (Is this TMI?) 🤣 I'm excited about all of it, but just hoping my body can keep up! Anyway, I hope to see as many of you as possible, either virtually or in person, if I'm coming your way. Let me know if I should expect to see you!

Happy Spring and happy researching!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2026/05/busy-busy-me.html

Me on the Mic - Early 2025

Me speaking at the 2023 NGS Conference in Richmond
(Thanks, Sheryl Sims, for the photo!)

Well, this "Renate on the Mic" post, which I started doing a few years ago, started out as just a way of announcing my Black History Month presentations, but has evolved into a somewhat longer list, including speaking engagements that extend beyond that, into the first few months of the year. So, in keeping with this "new" tradition, here's what I have coming up (as of today) for the earliest months of 2025. Links are provided for events that are open to the public.

January

11th - Getting Started with Genealogy Research Workshop - First Baptist Church Denbigh, Newport News, Virginia (Canceled due to weather.)

11th - AAHGS Central Maryland Chapter - (Online. All are welcome.)  

February

1st - AAHGS NC Chapters - Annual Black History Month Conference

4th - Hampton University OSHER - Part 1 (Lecture) - Members only.

8th - International African American Museum - Black History Month Series

13th - Georgia Genealogical Society - Monthly Meeting

15th - Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.- Epsilon Kappa Zeta Chapter, with Amherst Glebe Arts Response, and Virginia Humanities - Tracing Our Roots 

23rd - Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society Email tyrrellcogenealogy@gmail.com to request the link.

25th - Hampton University OSHER - Part 2 (Workshop) Members only.

March

1 - First Baptist Church Denbigh: Getting Started with Genealogy Workshop (rescheduled from 1/11)

6th-8th - RootsTech 

8th - California African American Genealogical Society - 18th African American Genealogy Seminar (Keynote) - https://aafhs.com/

16th - Newport News Public Library (Registration opens on 3/1/25)

That's where I'll stop for now. Events are added to my calendar each week, so if you're interested in knowing what I'm doing, the best thing to do is to follow me on Facebook, where I typically announce any public engagements.

Also, many thanks to those of you who follow me around and support my speaking engagements. It means the world to me to see you at my events, whether in-person or virtual, especially when I know some of you have heard me speak a million times. :) I just love the way we support each other in the genealogy community! We are all in this together!

Thanks,                                                                                                                                    Renate

Permalink: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2025/01/me-on-mic-2025.html

Update to Funeral Programs Database

It's been a while since I posted the link to my (Mostly) African American Funeral Programs Database. This seems like a good time to share it, since I've just added two more programs, one of which is for a public figure - who was also a dear friend.

Calvin W. Pearson, Sr.

Front cover of Calvin Pearson's funeral program

Calvin was a noted historian and researcher, who was known, first and foremost, as the founder and president of Project 1619, a nonprofit that has played a crucial role in teaching and correcting the narrative about the arrival of enslaved Africans in English-speaking North America, for over 20 years. We became friends through our involvement with the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS); and, we subsequently discovered, through DNA testing, that we were also family - although we hadn't yet discovered who our common ancestors were.

Calvin's final arrangements were entrusted to Perkins Funeral Home, in Hampton, Virginia. To sign his guestbook and/or to view his obituary, click here. If you are interested in his funeral program, please visit my database and contact me via the link provided there. 

Here is the permalink to my database: https://tinyurl.com/SandersFuneralPrograms

Frances Lee Alton Hill

Front cover of Frances Hill's funeral program

I mentioned that I've just added two funeral programs to my database: the second was for my beloved Aunt Frances, wife of my mother's late brother, Howell Webster Hill, Sr. My aunt was a very special person, who God blessed to see almost 93 years, here on Earth. She had a quiet spirit (but she loved to talk!) and she loved and was loyal to all of her family and friends. I will likely write more about her on my family-focused blog, Into the LIGHT, so I won't say much more here. Her services were handled by Riddick Funeral Service, of Norfolk, Virginia. You can visit her memorial page, here; and, if you're interested in her funeral program, please reach out to me via my database, which (again) you can access by clicking on this link: https://tinyurl.com/SandersFuneralPrograms

Screenshot of a snippet of my database

As a reminder, my (Mostly) African American Funeral Programs Database is just that - a database. When you visit the link, you will find an excel spreadsheet that gives vital information about persons for whom I hold a physical (hard copy) of their funeral program. The information in the database will include names, birth/death dates and locations, names of spouses, and sometimes additional information such as nicknames or titles. When you see information for a person of interest, simply email me at yarsan@aol.com, to request a scan of the actual funeral program, which I will send to your email address. In some cases, if I have multiple copies of the program, I will gladly send a hard copy via U.S. mail. Also, if you have funeral programs that you would like to contribute or add to the database, please reach out to me at the same email - yarsan@aol.com. Those contributed to me are added to my page of the database; however, you will see that I allow others to add theirs, just as my friend, Adrienne Johnson, has done on Sheet 2 of the database, where she has added 198 (to date) additional programs! Be sure to check hers out, also!

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to check out the database!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2024/09/update-to-funeral-programs-database.html

Happy Juneteenth: Calling My Ancestors' Names

Do you (or did you) know your great-grandparents? We each have 8 biological great-grandparents; they are our parents' grandparents, and they existed whether we knew them or not. I never had the pleasure of meeting any of mine, but thanks to 31 years of genealogical research, I at least know and can call all of their names - and I can tell you a little something about each of them and their families of origin. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of any of my formerly enslaved ancestors, so I must only imagine what they looked like. However, my research has led me to many documents that allow me to tell parts of my ancestors' stories. This Cohabitation Record for my great-grandparents, Calvin and Precilla Yarborough, was one of the first I found that confirmed their status as persons who had been formerly enslaved.

On this special day - this JUNETEENTH* holiday - I pause to call the names of my known formerly enslaved direct ancestors who were alive to see freedom, in 1865. Three of those were my parents' grandparents, but they were deceased before my parents were born, so they never met them, either. ALL of these Ancestors were of an age to have known their status as enslaved and to have been already providing unpaid labor to their enslavers at the time of Emancipation. Many, as you'll see below, had lived long lives as chattel, and were blessed to live out their final years as free people. Again, these are only my direct ancestors, but of course they had siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins who shared their status as enslaved, and who may have been able to join the jubilee shout - "We'z FREE now!"

Great-Grandparents:

Calvin Yarborough - 25 years enslaved

Precilla (Shaw) Yarborough - 23 years enslaved

Pinky Tredwell- King Howell - 9 years enslaved

Great-Great-Grandparents:

Louis Neal - 50 years enslaved

Mary Neal - 55 years enslaved

Mack Tredwell - 52 years enslaved

Amy Littlejohn - 50 years enslaved

Lewis Davis -16 years enslaved

Dolly Ann Crutchfield -10 years enslaved

Asa (Asy) Brown - 22 years enslaved

Louvenia Ross Brown -10 years enslaved

Third-Great-Grandparents:

Elsy Littlejohn - 69 years enslaved

Everett Ross - 35 years enslaved

Minervia Dobbins - 35 years enslaved

Fourth-Great-Grandparents:

Essex Ross - 69 years enslaved

Chaney Ross Thornton - 70 years enslaved

------------------------------

 And, these are the known names of my direct ancestors, who were enslaved, but either didn't live to see "freedom" or whose death date is currently unknown. They are all my third-great-grandparents.

Peter Littlejohn (1782-1855) - husband of Elsy

Lewis - father of Lewis Davis

Lavinia - mother of Lewis Davis

It has become my life's work to research my ancestry and to share what I've learned with my family and with the larger community. I pay homage, every day, to my ancestors - those who were "free" before 1865 and those who were enslaved. Let no one tell you that you can't find your ancestors before 1865 - or before 1870, when formerly enslaved persons appear, by name, on Federal Census records. That's a LIE; and, every name you see above is proof of it! I knew nothing about my ancestry, before I started asking questions and doing the work, in 1993. If you're reading this, and you want to explore your own family history, let this post be incentive to you. There are more resources available to you than ever before, and you can get started with this research right from the comfort of your own home. YOU CAN DO IT! By Juneteenth 2025, you can be calling your own ancestors' names!

Thanks for reading - and happy Juneteenth!                                                                                        Renate

* "Juneteenth," officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name is a portmanteau of the words "June" and "nineteenth," as it was on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Grandger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, in Galveston, TX, following the end of the Civil War. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth)

Black History Month 2024 - Renate on the Mic!

For the past few years, I've done posts at the beginning of February to announce my upcoming Black History Month speaking engagements - and while I was at it, I went on and included talks for the few months that followed. I'd told myself I wasn't going to do it, this year, but as February approaches (tomorrow!) I'm realizing that sharing in one place is actually easier than trying to remember to post each event as it approaches. I'll still try to do that, for some, but anyway... here it is. (I'm only doing one month, this time.)

Black History Month 2024 - Here's where you'll find me! 

(Registration links are included if/where the talks are open to the public and I have them. All talks are virtual, unless otherwise stated and all times are given in Eastern time.)

February 2024

7th - (1:00 p.m.) Comite' des Archives de la Louisiane, Inc. (Baton Rouge)                                     https://www.lecomite.org/announcements.html

8th - (6:00 p.m.) Virginia Beach Genealogical Society  https://www.vbgsva.net/                

10th - (12:00 p.m.) Black Family Genealogy and History Society (Phoenix, AZ)                                bit.ly/BFGHS-zoom

10th - (2:00 p.m.) Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society - Jean Sampson Scott            Greater New York Chapter (Invite only)

13th - (7:00 p.m.) Virginia Beach Genealogical Society/How-To Group (VBGS members               only)

15th - (7:00 p.m.) Family Tree University (Webinar) http://tinyurl.com/FTU-Sanders

16th - (2:00 p.m.) Buffalo and Erie County Library                                                                             https://buffalolib.libcal.com/event/11665869

17th - (2:00 p.m.) Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society(CA)                                       http://tinyurl.com/SBCGS-Sanders                

29th - (11:30 a.m.) ROOTSTECH (Salt Lake City, UT) - In person and Virtual (See below for link.)

March 1 - (6:30 p.m.) ROOTSTECH (Salt Lake City, UT) - Virtual (See below for link.)

As you can see, I am giving two presentations at RootsTech, in Salt Lake City. I will be presenting in person, but only one of the talks will be hybrid. Registration for the virtual conference is FREE. Click here to learn more about RootsTech and to register to attend!

Well, there you have it. These are my scheduled presentations for the coming month. I do hope you'll join me for as many of these as you can. Don't forget to register at the links, above, and to add the events to your calendar. And, if you're looking for a speaker for your genealogy event, feel free to reach out to me at yarsan@aol.com to request a list of my current topics or to discuss your organization's needs.

I'll see you around - and thanks, in advance, for your support!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2024/01/black-history-month-2024-renate-on-mic.html

52 Ancestors - Week 4: "Witness to History"

 This will be short and quick:

The prompt for Week 4 of "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" is "Witness to History. 

I'm pleased to be able to say that I, personally, witnessed the election of our nation's first black President, Barack Hussein Obama, in 2008 and that my vote went towards putting him in office, not once, but twice! However, it is even more meaningful to me that members of my family, who lived through and personally experienced all the years of the Civil Rights movement (during which I was a child) were also able to vote for and see President Obama take the highest office in the land.

Photo source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/barack-obama/

In that light, I am featuring photos of two of my family members who lived to proudly see our first black President and his beautiful family take residence in the White House.

This is my "aunt," Ruby Powell Greene, wife of my late cousin, Judge George Royster Greene,

at an event prior to Mr. Obama becoming President.

And, this is my late mother, Mary Anne Hill Yarborough,  just after she had cast her vote (for the second time) for President Barack Hussein Obama.

There've been so many witnesses to history in my family, and even a few history makers, themselves. Stay tuned for upcoming posts - and feel free to read back over previous posts - to learn more!

Thanks for reading!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2024/01/52-ancestors-week-4-witness-to-history.html

                                            

#52Ancestors: Week 1 - "Family Lore"

 2024! Happy New Year!

I have not been a good blogger, but I'm hoping to recommit to this platform by participating (once again) in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" blogging initiative! Thankfully, Amy gives participants grace - there is no pressure to post every single week. As a matter of fact, we are free to change it to 12 Ancestors in 12 Months - or whatever suits our lives and schedules. I love (and share) Amy's perspective that anything we do is more than we had before! 

The prompt for the first week is "Family Lore," also known as "oral history" or "oral tradition.
No matter what you call it, this is something that I don't have a lot of in my family - especially not in my immediate lines. What I've discovered, through the past 30 years of interviewing relatives, is that even where my family members did have stories, most of of them only contained that tiny "grain of truth" that we all know is usually there. My research has uncovered realities that don't match what has been passed down; and that hasn't made me very popular with some of my family members, most of whom were new to me - discovered as a result of my research and/or dna testing.

Here are just a few of the stories that have been fine-tuned by my work:

1. Oral history:  My second-great-grandmother, Anna Green, was at least 1/2 Native American. Her mother was "full-blooded Indian."

Truth: As uncovered by MtDNA testing done by a cousin who is a confirmed direct female descendant of Anna Green: The MtDNA is from Africa.

2. Oral History: There are three distinct, unrelated groups of black HILL families in Tyrrell County, NC. 

Truth: All of the black Hills in Tyrrell County, NC trace back to one couple, my third-great-grandparents, Charn/Charlton/Charnton/Charleston Hill and Grace/Gracy Bryant, free people of color, born in 1794 and 1800, respectively. The couple had at least 9 known children, from whom all of the resulting Hills in Tyrrell County descend.

3. Several of my GREEN ancestors moved to New York and were living/passing as white and all had white spouses. Another was said to have been doing the same in Florida.

Truth: Although these ancestors certainly looked white, most of the records I've found them in record them as black, mulatto, or Negro. Only one, my second-great-grand-uncle, William A. Green, had consistently ambiguous racial categories, and more often than not, was noted to be white. William was also the only one who actually married white.

               

              This is either Bettie or Ruby Green.

William Adam Green, who served 
in a black regiment during the
Spanish American War, but tried 
to obscure his race in New York.

By the way, the cousin in Florida married a black doctor, who worked in a black hospital, and they had a home in the historical black American Beach. 

4. Oral History: My mother's father abandoned their family before my mother turned four, and they never heard from him again.

Truth: Well, this one is kind of juicy, but I won't go into all the details on this post. My grandfather, Daniel W. Hill, did abandon my mom and their family before my mother turned four, but it turns out he rented a room in the boarding house next to theirs, at least for a while, because my mom's older brother recalled him sitting in an upstairs window "glaring" at them, all the time, and I have a 1937 document (SSA) giving that house as his address. However, he didn't stay there long. My mother lived her entire life believing that her father had just disappeared, never to be heard from, again. But the truth of the matter is that he got involved with another (also married) woman, impregnated her, and then died in June of 1940, one month before my mother's half-sister (who my mother never knew or knew about) was born. My mom was 6 years old at that time.

SS Application of my grandfather, Daniel Hill, showing him living next door to his family in 1937.

5. Oral history: This one is a little different, because the "family lore" actually evolves around the name my father's family has carried, since my great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough, was emancipated in 1865. Whenever I questioned my late aunt, Susie Yarborough Hawkins, about our family history, she always told me that all she knew was that we "had some connection to the Neals" or that "we were supposed to be Neals." But that was all she would say. She couldn't explain the how or the why of it. 

The TRUTH, in this case, is that we were supposed to be (and are genetically) Neals.  My great-grandfather, Calvin, chose the surname of his last owner; but the rest of his family, from whom he'd been separated, took the name NEAL, which was the name of the family Calvin was born enslaved to. 

                    

If you have a Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscription, you can learn more about this here. 

Well, those are just a few examples of "family lore" that has been been shared with me and debunked, since I started doing this work. Remember that these stories will usually have some bit of truth in them, somewhere, but it's up to us - the researchers - to uncover the truth of each matter, as best we can, using all of the tools we have at our disposal to dig into the past. :)

Thanks for reading!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2024/01/happy-new-year-i-have-not-been-good.html

Renate on the Web (and In Person!) - 2023 First-Half

 As in the past couple of years, I have several speaking engagements coming up, as we go into Black History Month and the Spring season. I've been pulling back a bit, though, so this year's list is not as busy as before. As you'll see, we are starting to get back to in person events, so my usual "Renate on Web" title for this post had to be edited! :)

Where's Renate?                                                                                                                Here's what I have going on for the first half of 2023. Where possible, I'll include a link where you can get more information and register for the events, if interested. All times given are in Eastern Time. I will also indicate with ($) at the end of each event that is not free. Here goes!

January 2023

28th - AAHGS-Greater Richmond Chapter, Monthly Meeting (Hybrid): Topic - "Researching Enslaved Ancestors" Click for more info and to register.   https://aahgsrichmondva.com/eventscalendar/

February 2023

4th - Stark Library, Canton, OH (Virtual): Topic - "From Yarborough to Neal: Reconstructing My Enslaved Family Using DNA" https://stark.libnet.info/event/7483558

10th-11th - North Carolina AAHGS Annual Black History Month Banquet and Conference: Opening Conference Speaker  https://tinyurl.com/ncaahgs2023 ($)

18th - Norfolk (VA) Public Library - Jordan-Newby Anchor Branch at Broad Creek, Norfolk, VA: Topic - "Researching Ancestors of Color" https://norfolkpubliclibrary-adultprograms.eventbrite.com

25th - Union County (NC) Library (Virtual): Topic - "Using Funeral Programs to Inform Genealogy Research"   (No registration. Click link at time of event (2/25/23 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern) This is a hybrid event.    https://www.unioncountync.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/1356/1040

March 2023

25th - North Carolina Genealogical Society, Virtual Conference: Topic - Records of the Freedmen's Bureau - There's Something for Everyone" https://www.ncgenealogy.org/event/ncgs-2023-virtual-conference-coming-soon/ ($)

April 2023

7th - (2:00 p.m.) Legacy Family Tree Webinars - "Tick Marks and Number Counts: Understanding and Using the Slave Schedules" - The live presentation is free and the replay is free for one week, but registration is required. Available to subscribing members after the first week. Register here: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/tic-marks-and-number-counts-understanding-and-using-the-slave-schedules/                                                              Update: This lecture was recognized as the highest rated on Legacy Family Tree Webinars for the month of April! What an honor! I hope you'll check it out! :)

11th - (1:00 - 2:00) Wake Forest University: "Conducting Research on Enslaved Humans Owned by Wake Forest College" - Z. Reynolds Library, Wake Forest University. This is an in-person event sponsored by the Department of Sociology, RECAAL, and the Provost's Office. (Open to the public.)

13th - Virginia Beach (VA) Genealogy Society: Understanding and Using the Slave Schedules - This is a hybrid meeting. Email meetings@vbgsva.net to request the Zoom link. 

26th-29th - Ohio Genealogical Society 2023 Conference, Kalahari Resort and Conference Center, Sandusky, OH; "What Brought Them Here 1803-2023" - I'll be giving four lectures. Click link for conference and registration information: https://www.ogs.org/2023-conference/ ($)

May 2023

2nd - Genealogy Quick Start, with host Shamele Jordan - "DNA Discovers Granddad's Dalliances" Tune in LIVE! https://www.youtube.com/@GenealogyQuickStart/featured

31st  - National Genealogical Society 2023 Family History Conference, Richmond, VA; "Virginia, the Deep Roots of a Nation" Pre-Conference Day

June 2023

June 1- 3 - National Genealogical Society 2023 Family History Conference, Richmond, VA; "Virginia, the Deep Roots of a Nation" - I'll be giving two lectures: F242- Enslaved Ancestral Research in Virginia and North Carolina and S352- "From This Day Forward" - Documenting Marital Unions of Enslaved and Emancipated Persons." Click link for conference and registration information: https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/ ($)

4th - Let's Talk North Carolina Genealogy! Season 3, Episode 11: "Researching the Wake Forest 16" - I will be sharing information about the descendant research I'm doing for Wake Forest University, regarding the 1860 sale of 16 enslaved individuals to create an endowment for the school. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/LTNCGS3E11

14th - Lemonade Insurance Employee Group - "Records of the Freedmen's Bureau: There's Something for Everyone!" (Private event)

17th - (1:00 p.m.) Historical Society of Washington County, VA, "Reclaiming Our History" Annual Conference (Virtual) "Researching Ancestors of Color" Register here.

It's good to see folks and to be seen!                                                                                        One of the best things about returning to in person is thinking about seeing gen-friends, old and new! I am looking forward to seeing and meeting as many of you, as possible, at these upcoming events!

     

Picture 1 - With genfriends, Shelley and Tim in Fluvanna, Virginia (unsure of year)

Picture 2 - With genfriends Amy and Peggy at OGS 2022

Picture 3 - With genfriends Shelly, Judy, Thom, and Gary at NGS 2017

Renate

P.S. This post will be updated as additional events are added. If you are interested in having me as a speaker for your organization, please email me at yarsan@aol.com to request my current list of topics. I'd love to hear from you!

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2023/01/renate-on-web-and-in-person-2023.html

Renate on the Web: Black History Month 2022

Updated 2/21/22

Black History Month is every month, for me! However, we've just entered the nationally appointed month of recognition and celebration - the "formal" Black History Month, if you will, which actually began with Carter G. Woodson's "Black History Week," back in 1926, but was designated in the United States as "Black History Month" in 1976 - and has continued to be designated as such by every American President, since then. 

Black History Month is also a very busy time for genealogists (and historians) who speak on topics related to African American research. Many of us are bombarded with requests to appear during the month of February, which we happily accept, but certainly would love for this level of interest in our specialization(s) would be present throughout the year. :)

I have been posting some of my upcoming events on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets but, that can get exhausting and also confusing if I don't do a good job of keeping up with what I've already posted and where! But, while doing some reviewing and editing on my blog this morning, I ran across a post I'd done almost a year ago called, "Renate on the Web" and I realize I must have been feeling much the same way, when I decided to go on and post my upcoming appearances for that particular period. "Ah-ha" (I said to myself): "THIS is what I need to do now!" So, here we go! 

Renate on the Web: February 2022                                                                                      (Please click on links for times and additional info. ALL events are virtual!)

Please join me for some (or all) of these exciting events!

1. Friday, 2/4/22 - Clayton Library (Houston, Texas) - "In Their Own Words: Voices from the Slave Narratives" https://houstonlibrary.libcal.com/event/8494212 (Scroll to bottom of page.)

2. Saturday, 2/5/22 - North Carolina Chapters of AAHGS - Black History Month Conference - "Freedom Bound: Escaping Bondage for Life in the North" and "We Were Supposed To Be Neals: Reconstructing an Enslaved Family Using DNA" https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nc-aahgs-black-history-genealogy-virtual-conference-2022-tickets-222988814547

3. Sunday, 2/6/22 - Let's Talk North Carolina Genealogy - Monthly Research Chat (Theme: "Love is in the Air." Join me and my cohost, Taneya Y. Koonce, as we gather with other North Carolina researchers to share findings, conundrums, celebrations, and stories from our family history journeys. All are welcome! Registration required. https://bit.ly/2022-ltncg-research-chats

4. Saturday, 2/12/22 - Hampton Roads Chapter of AAHGS - "Putting Your Fingers to Work: Transcribing and Indexing Historical Documents" (This is a joint presentation with Selma Stewart. The focus will be on African American projects.) Email aahgshr@gmail.com to request meeting link.

5. Thursday, 2/17/22 - Bay Shore Brightwaters Library (Brightwaters, NY) - "Genealogy 101: Researching Ancestors of Color" https://www.bsbwlibrary.org/black-history-month/  Scroll down to "Zoom Programs." To register and receive Zoom information, email rs@bsbwlibrary.org.

6. Saturday, 2/19/22 - International African American Museum (Charleston, SC) - "African American Genealogy Research in the North Carolina Gullah-Geechee Corridor" Registration required. Click here for link.

7. Wednesday, 2/23/22 - AARP and Richmond Chapter of ASALH - "Wind Down Wednesdays: The Dismal Swamp and African American Freedom Seekers" with filmmaker, Brian Bullock. (I've just been added to this program as a panelist, with Mr. Bullock after he presents one of his short films, so you may not see my name on the advertisement. The discussion will center around taking road trips to ancestral locations!) Registration is required. https://aarp.cventevents.com/event/ea2d90c2-7c1e-4a06-9ef3-1d8794323643/summary

8. Friday, February 25 (NEW!) - Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project - "Finding Calvin: Following My Enslaved Ancestor Through Multiple Owners: A Case Study" Set a reminder to join the Zoom meeting on February 25 at 1:00 EST. Here's the link!  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85372515448

National Geographic Podcast - I'm also pleased to be a contributing member of an exciting podcast, "Into the Depths," featuring National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts, who sets off on the journey of a lifetime to meet the divers, marine archaeologists, descendants of those brought over on slave ships, as well as historians investigating the lost stories of the slave trade. This is a six-episode podcast, airing on Thursday evenings, which actually began on January 27, and runs through March 3. I was hired as Ms. Roberts' genealogist and will be included in the March 3 episode, as well as in the March issue of National Geographic Magazine (cover story!), which will be released on February 8th.

Click here for more information and to access all available episodes of the podcast and here for the National Geographic Magazine web site.  Though I don't yet know what parts or how much of my research actually "made the cut" for publication, I am ever grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Tara Roberts and to have been included as one of the "featured voices" in this amazing project!

Currently, these are the presentations I have for February 2022, but requests are still coming in, so stay tuned for updates! (I'm saying a prayer that I haven't forgotten anything!) I will also add a few of my commitments for March and April, below.

MARCH

March 3-5/2022 - RootsTech Connect! "Who Ya Gonna Call? Myth Busters" and "What To Do When There's Nothing To Do" (These are both short versions of larger presentations, due to the RootsTech format.) To register, for the world's biggest genealogy conference, visit   https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/next/

 Thursday, 3/10/22 - The Genealogy Center at Allen County Public Library - "Researching Formerly Enslaved Ancestors: It Takes a Village!" - Registration link not yet available, but check this link for updates: https://acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy

Saturday, 3/19/22 - Tidewater Genealogical Society (Virginia) - "Researching Free People of Color in Virginia and North Carolina: 1800-1865" Registration information will be forthcoming. Email VATGS@verizon.net with questions.

Thursday, 3/24/22 - College of Coastal Georgia - "Using Funeral Programs to Inform Genealogy Research" https://upto.com/e/F12WO

APRIL

Friday, April 1, 2022 (NEW!) - Legacy Family Tree Webinars - "We Were Supposed to be Neals: Reconstructing An Enslaved Family Using DNA" Come along on this journey as I share how, using a combination of DNA and traditional research, I was able to find the family of my once enslaved great-grandfather, Calvin! This live presentation is free and will be available for one week for non-members of Legacy. After that, a subscription (well worth it) will be required to view it. Register here! https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/we-were-supposed-to-be-neals-reconstructing-an-enslaved-family-using-dna/

And since I'm on a roll, a few blasts from the past!

January 2022 - North Carolina Genealogical Society and PBS - Virtual Sneak Preview of Season 8 of Finding Your Roots with follow-up discussion panel - Panel discussion available on YouTube at this link: tinyurl.com/NCGSPBS

December 2020 - Another View (Radio Show) - Finding Your Roots, WHRO Style! This is part 1 of a two-part event with Barbara Hamm Lee (host) and Lisa Godley (producer) of this popular PBS local radio weekly radio program. Click here to listen:                                                https://mediaplayer.whro.org/program/anotherview/e/anotherview-thursday-december-10th-2020

The second part of this wonderful event was a LIVE Genealogy Reveal, presented on Zoom, during which I present Ms. Hamm Lee and Ms. Godley with the results of my research on their extensive family histories. Grab some popcorn and join the fun and excitement as I reveal their roots, "WHRO Style!" (Click to watch!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ABGudqXJhbc)

I hope to see you (virtually) soon! :)

Thanks for reading!

Renate

Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2022/02/renate-on-web-black-history-month-2022.html

MY Black History! Mary Anne Hill Hoggard Yarborough

The month of February is recognized in the United States as "Black History Month." For me, every month is Black History Month, but, in alignment with the February theme, I've decided to share a little bit about my own family - my BLACK family - to be added to history's annals. When possible, I'll be using obituaries and/or other already-published media, because my time isn't what it needs to be for me to write all there is to say about each person, at this time.

I'll begin this venture by telling you about my mother, Mary Anne Hill Hoggard Yarborough. 

Age 10 - 1944

 

My mom was born in 1934 in Norfolk, Virginia, to parents Mary Davis and Daniel Webster Hill. She grew up in a still-established neighborhood, called Lambert's Point. Her father abandoned the family when she was four years old - never to return. She didn't know or remember him, at all, and she lived with the shadow of his abandonment, all her life. It wasn't until just a few years before she passed that I discovered, while researching my grandfather, that he'd actually died in 1940 - less than two years after he left his family. My mother had lived her entire life feeling that her father had simply never come back - never cared enough to contact them - when actually, he'd met his demise when she was just 6 years old. Although I have a photo that I believe might be of my grandfather, my mother had never seen a picture and had no memory of what her father even looked like, so she was unable to verify that it was or wasn't him.

 As a child, Mary Anne learned to play piano and became very accomplished, playing for several churches in the area, when she was just a young teen. My mom was very smart. She was an honor student at Booker T. Washington High School, from which she graduated in 1951, already a young mother and wife to her first husband, Edgar "Red" Hoggard.

Booker T. Washington 1951

My mom went on to further her education, first at the branch of Virginia State College which became Norfolk State, and then at Hampton Institute (now University), where she was a member of the band and the choir, and from which she matriculated with a degree in Education (with a minor in Music), in 1956. A young divorcee, she remained in Hampton to begin her teaching career, at her beloved Aberdeen Elementary School, but, during that time, met the military man (my dad) who would sweep her off her feet and get her to leave what she had started, to join him in Bremerhaven, Germany, as his new bride. My mother became Mrs. Arthur P. Yarborough.

Mom in Germany with sons, Henry and Edgar. 

My mom secured employment in a DoD school in Germany, while adjusting to being a new wife, as well as mother to her son, Edgar, and stepson (though we never used that term), Henry, who had been adopted by my father and his first wife. Her life as the wife of an Army officer, mother, teacher, and homemaker left never a dull moment!

Before leaving Germany, my parents welcomed a son - their first child together - Arthur, Jr. Soon thereafter, the family of five would return to the States, and settle in Cleveland, Ohio, where their next blessing would arrive. A GIRL! Just what they'd wanted the first time around - the German name was waiting for the baby's arrival. "Renate" was here!

                          

                              Mom with baby Arthur in Germany

                        

                            Mom with baby Renate in Ohio

Mom with Arthur and me on church steps

 In 1964, Mary Anne and her family returned to her beloved Hampton, Virginia - her "home by the sea," and set up residence in the historic Aberdeen section of the city - first in "East Aberdeen," on Jordan Drive, and then to the home they'd waited for, in the newly built Granger Court East. She was able to return to teaching at Aberdeen Elementary, the school where her teaching career had started. In 1971, after many years as a 6th grade teacher, Mary Anne, secured her Master's of Education degree, and was granted a position as Assistant Principal. She spent a few years in that role, before finally getting the principalship of Tucker Capps Elementary School - a magnet school program with a fundamental theme that she was able to design, implement, and secure as a model for schools locally and statewide. As they say, though, "all good things..." (you know the rest) - and as is custom in our local school systems, Mary Anne was eventually transferred to what would be her last school, Burbank Elementary. Though she was saddened to leave Tucker Capps - having led there for 10+ years - she took her brand of excellence to the new building, and retired from there in 1990, having left a positive impact. Throughout her profession, Mary Anne demonstrated (and demanded) excellence; and she was rewarded for it with many professional recognitions and accolades, often appearing in the local newspaper for her accomplishments.

Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia  - 23 Jul 1987

Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia) · 25 Feb 1993, Thu · Page 59

Mary Anne and Arthur built a good life together for their family of six, although the marriage was tumultuous, at times. Though their relationship became a struggle, they made a decision to stay together until the last child graduated from high school. So, in June 1979, just a few days after my graduation, the marriage was over. 

The Yarborough Family

Mary Anne was very involved in her community. She continued to keep her hand in education, after her retirement, by supervising student teachers at Christopher Newport University. She was deeply involved in her church - Queen Street Baptist - on the Board of Christian Education, as a Sunday School and Vacation Bible School Teacher, as head of the Educational Outreach Program, and as the much-loved Director and Pianist for the Millie Patrick Children's Choir. She also worked with the Boy Scouts and the Pastoral Search Committee. She was a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma International Sorority for Women Educators and she always maintained a supportive and loving relationship with the church of her youth, Jerusalem Baptist, in Norfolk.

This photo shows Mary Anne wearing her Delta Kappa Gamma pin.She was always known as a "sharp dresser," a trait her daughter, Renate, didn't inherit. (She was always perfectly "put together" - hair, makeup, and clothing were always on point! .

Mary Anne Yarborough fought a battle for the last years of her life with a movement disorder that was never fully diagnosed. It was first said to be Parkinson's Disease, but didn't follow the patterns, so that was ruled out, as was Lou Gehrig's and many other suggested disorders. Though she lost the ability to care for herself, and her voice weakened to where it was difficult to hear or understand her, Mary Anne remained lucid and clear of mind until just before her death. Early on Christmas morning, of 2013, after spending Christmas Eve with her daughter and granddaughters, God invited my mother to her heavenly home, and she joined Him as she was sleeping. Though her last years were not what she'd dreamed of or hoped for, I thank God for the years He gave my mother. I know that she is rejoicing in heaven with her mother, brother, and especially with her son, my brother, Arthur. May she rest in heavenly peace.

To read my mother's obituary, click here.

                                  Mary Anne (on right) with her brother, Howell (on left) and two unknown children.                                     They are standing in front of their house, in Norfolk.

Mary Anne with her mother (center) and grandmother (Minervia Davis)

Mary Anne in NYC in the 50s

Mary Anne with granddaughters, Natasha and Natalia

Mary Anne enjoying her favorite thing: a "Coke-a-Cola"

                 Siblings, Mary Anne, Howell, and Jane with

                     their mother, Mary Davis Hill Thomas

I love you, MOM! :)