Formerly, "Just Thinking", this blog presents the thoughts and experiences of a family historian working to demystify the past and uncover the stories of an elusive ancestry. NC surnames are YARBOROUGH, NEAL, GREEN, HAWKINS, DUNSTON, DAVIS, BROWN, ROSS, HILL, BRYANT, and DAVENPORT in Franklin, Warren, Halifax, and Tyrrell Counties.
With so much of my family's history shrouded in darkness, is my personal mission to uncover the hidden details of my ancestry and bring them INTO THE LIGHT.
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Showing posts with label genealogy speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label genealogy speaker. Show all posts
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.)
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
Hello! I hope this finds every reader
doing well in these interesting times. Back in April, in the early days of
this COVID-19
Pandemic we've all been living through, I wrote a post titled,
"Renate on the Web." Because of the lockdowns that had been put in
place, most of previously planned, in person events had been canceled, and
I'd found myself suddenly enjoying a greater web presence than usual. Thinking it would be temporary, I
decided it would be a good idea to compile and document all of my doings in one
place, hoping to create a record for the future as well as an easy way for
anyone interested in my work to find some offerings in one spot. Little did I
know, at that time, that this was just the beginning of what was about to
become the norm for most of us - living our lives (and our livelihoods) on the
Internet.
For a while now, I've been meaning to do another iteration of
"Renate on the Web," as I've been busier than ever before with
webinars, conference workshops, guest appearances on genealogy shows, and even
creating a show of my own on YouTube! All of that, along with continued client
work - with one big case being preparation for a Finding
Your Roots type of "reveal" on our local public radio
station - and writing newsletter articles and a guest blog post (coming soon),
I have been very, very busy! In this post, and one to follow, I’d like to share
a bit of what I’ve been doing.
For quite some time, I’d been
brewing an idea for a web show that would focus solely on highlighting the particulars
of North Carolina genealogy research for the purpose of supporting and informing those working in this area.
I also longed to bring together a community of North Carolina researchers, who
would hence connect with and support one another, in our research journeys.
The problem was, due to my own personal idiosyncrasies, I just didn’t have the confidence
to get this started. That was until it occurred to me, one day, to invite a partner
to join me in the endeavor – and that perfect partner was the incredible Taneya Koonce! One day, I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, and I came upon a post from Taneya, whom I’ve
known for about 10 years. As soon as I saw her picture, it hit me – “I should see
if she’d want to do the NC show with me!” So, I reached out to Taneya, pitched
my idea, and the rest is history!
Together, Taneya and I created a
plan for our show, which was to be a summer series, with episodes on the first
and third Saturdays of each month. With more people home and digging into research during the pandemic, we thought this series might provide the perfect boost for researchers who may be either just starting or trying to get to that "next level" in their pursuit of family history. The show would stay tightly focused on topics
related to genealogy research in the Tar Heel state, with Taneya and I doing
the presentations. 😂Well, shortly into our planning, we changed that! We decided
to open our platform, inviting nationally known speakers who had experience in
North Carolina research to be our featured presenters, with Taneya and I opening
each episode with shorter, introductory presentations on each topic. With this format,
we were able to highlight many of our gen-friends as “experts” on particular
topics, thus giving our growing community of North Carolina researchers quality
information and immediate links to connect them with proven resources that
would aid in their work.
And, so, on June 6, 2020, the
first episode of “Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy” aired! The show
has been a big hit and has turned out to be even better than imagined. Despite
some technical glitches here and there (which we choose to just laugh about),
all of the episodes have been well received, and the feedback has been amazing!
The entire purpose of this venture was to help others with their research, and
that goal has been (and continues to be) met – not just for North Carolina
researchers, but for others who are doing this work, everywhere! We had six LIVE summer episodes, and one very special, registration-only, Q&A episode,
which has not been aired, publicly. Our viewers have indicated that they’d like
the show to continue or to at least come back next summer, but the jury is
still out on that. For now, we’ve added a special Fall episode, and will likely
do one for each upcoming season… until summer comes, again. 😊
Please visit our NC Summer Series channel on YouTube to
view all of the previous episodes. In addition to a special THANK YOU to my amazing co-host,
Taneya, I’d like to express eternal gratitude to our guest presenters, who helped
to make this vision a reality. Kudos to:
*Diane Acey Richard (Episode 1: NC Birth Records)
*Drusilla Pair
(Episode 2: NC Marriage Records)
*Lisa Lisson
(Episode 3: NC Death Records)
Ari Wilkins
(Episode 4: NC Manuscript Collections)
*Doug Brown
(Episode 5: Research at the State Archives of NC)
*Shannon Christmas(Episode 6: DNA)
and
Judy Russell(Special
Fall Episode: Law in the Tar Heel State)
And thanks to all with asterisks
above, plusMichael McCormick, Connie Knox, and Craig Scottfor
participating as panelists on our very successful, registration-only Q&A episode! To stay up to date with our progress, please like and follow our Let's Talk North Carolina Genealogy Facebook page to join our community and get notifications about future events.
Also, in June, I was invited by Geoff
Rasmussen and Marian Pierre-Louis to do my very first presentation
for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, the ultimate web site for genealogy
education! Their request was for my very popular talk, “Finding Calvin:
Following My Enslaved Ancestor Through Multiple Owners.”
This presentation is an overview,
in a (loose) case study format, of the methodology I used to document my
great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough’s, 25 years of enslavement under several
different owners. The invitation was to participate in Legacy’s inaugural “Free Webinar
Weekends in June – African American Track.” I had a great time recording the webinar with
Geoff and then listening to it, when presented by Marion on the appointed date.
If you’re a Legacy subscriber or would like to become one, I’d love for you to
check out Finding Calvin!
Zoom, Baby!
Like just about everyone, I’ve
been spending a LOT of time on Zoom calls, for all kinds of meetings and
events. I can’t begin to recall everything I’ve done on Zoom, during this
pandemic, but one of the most memorable was cohosting a family reunion meetup, for
the very first time. Yes, in collaboration with two of my cousins, Willa-Jo
Green (of Maryland) and Jamila Taylor (of Washington State), the
first-ever Hawkins-Green Descendants Virtual Family Reunion Meetup was
held. I’m so glad we did that when we did, because, since then, we’ve lost our
101-year-old family matriarch, my cousin, Florine Green Edgerton. May she
rest in peace.
I actually blogged about this event,
so just
click here to read all about it!
Well, that’s it for this update. I’ll be
back, soon, with another post about Renate on the Web! 😊
It's Me!
Over the past couple of months, I've had several opportunities to appear on the Internet, sharing my thoughts and expertise, not only in the area of genealogy research, but I also got a chance to talk about my first love - educating our children! It occured to me that maybe it would be a good idea to start sharing on my blog when I do these things, so, although self-promotion still doesn't come easily to me, here I am doing just that!
1. Family History Fanatics - February 7, 2020 "Dispelling the Myths of African American Genealogy Research"
I was invited by Andy and Devon Noel Lee to appear as their guest on their popular You Tube show, Family History Fanatics, to discuss common myths about African American genealogy. This show is an interview format, with the hosts asking me prepared questions, and me giving expanded responses to educate the viewers about the topic. This was a really fun experience, and I hope to return to the show, again! Please click on the picture, below, to hear our discussion!
2. North Carolina Genealogy Society Virtual Conference "Researching Enslaved Ancestors: It Takes a Village!" March 14, 2020
It was my honor to present this webinar as a part of the North Carolina Genealogy Society's Second Annual Virtual Conference. Unfortunately, I'm unable to link to it, because it is only available to paid registrants, but I'm pleased to share that my session was well- attended and I've gotten lots of positive feedback. This is one of my most popular lectures. It's purpose is to encourage descendants of enslavers and other antebellum property and business owners to connect with and become engaged in the research of descendants of the enslaved. In this presentation, I offer suggestions and authentic examples of how that can be done, and share stories of successful connections made between descendants of enslaved and enslaver ancestors!
Opening slide from my presentation
This was the slide, created by NCGS, that was on the screen while I was being introduced.
3. Blog Talk Radio - Coping with "Schooling" Kids at Home March 27, 2020
It was so fun to finally be a guest on my friend Bernice Bennett's show, "Research at the National Archives and Beyond." Although her long-running show is on hiatus, right now, she is using the platform, during our Coronavirus crisis, to invite guests to come on and share with her audience about a variety of helpful and informative topics. This was the first time, since my 2017 retirement from teaching, that I'd had the opportunity to speak on the subject of education, and it felt so good! Please click, below, to enjoy this very short (15 minutes) chat with Bernice!
Although the focus of this post is to share what I've done, recently, as the featured guest or presenter in the online world, I'd also like to share these two appearances I've made during this time on Black Pro Gen LIVE!, where I'm a regular panelist. Black Pro Gen LIVE! March 10, 2020 Episode 107 - The Count: Unearthing the Gems in the 1900 and 1910 Census Black Pro Gen LIVE broadcasts feature a panel from Black Pro Gen, led by host, Nicka Smith, discussing a variety of topics of related to genealogy research, with a focus on researching ancestors of color. These regular episodes air twice, monthly. You can access the schedule for our sixth season by clicking here.
Black Pro Gen LIVE! Roots N Chill: Week Two Wrap-Up
BPG's new "Roots N Chill" initiative, encourages our followers to focus on specific record types, each week, with the hope that everyone will seek out or revisit those documents, in their research, and look at them, critically, to better extract information and apply it to our research. Then, on Fridays, our panelists come together to discuss what we've done and to hear from the Black Pro Gen community, in the chat room! Be sure to follow Black Pro Gen on Facebook and Twitter to get posts about the featured documents for e
Since the start of the COVID-19 situation, I've spent more time on the Internet, than ever. My days, like many others, are filled with calls and Zoom meetings, mostly for business, but increasingly more often for pleasure, too. All of the meetings for organizations I'm a member of have now been held virtually. In addition, there've been planning meetings for upcoming events, which, originally planned as in-person activities, are now switching over to virtual. My church, which had not done live broadcasts before this, now has Sunday services and Wednesday Bible Study on Facebook Live. (Yes!) I've attended a "Socially Distanced Birthday Party" for my little 12-year-old cousin, and, since the start of this, I'm meeting each weekday with my precious 2-year-old granddaughter, to read and do preschool activities, before she goes down for her nap. Yes, I've been very busy on the www during the month of March, and with my state now under a "Stay at Home" order, until at least June 10th, I'm sure there is more of the same to come!
If you are looking for a speaker for an upcoming virtual event, I'd love for you to consider me. Click here for a list of my current genealogy presentations and remember that I'm always happy to discuss anything having to do with education - Pre-K through 5th grade.
Thanks for reading (if you've made it this far lol). I'll leave you with a couple of little snippets from today's session with my sweet little granddaughter. Enjoy!
We sing at least one song every day. I always ask her what she wants to sing, and 99.9% of the time, she chooses her ABCs. Sometimes she sings it reaaaaallly slooooowwwly, pulling out the notes. Other times, she sings it, quickly. So, today, I asked her which way she wanted to sing it. (I was really just checking to see if she actually knew the difference between the words fast and slow.) She does. :) Oh, and by the way, the reason I'm just moving my mouth is because whenever I try to sing the ABCs with her, she points her finger and hollers, "No, I do it!" at me. LOL
In this clip, Sana is reading printed words (and one number) on cards. We just started doing these this week.
Happy researching!
Renate
Permalink to this post: https://justthinking130.blogspot.com/2020/04/renate-on-web.html
I am an experienced teacher and genealogy presenter, available for speaking engagements, both in-person and virtually! Please email me at yarsan@aol.com for information about availability and fees. I would love to be considered as a speaker for your next event!
Speaker Bio
Renate Yarborough Sanders has been engaged in genealogy
research since 1997 and has been giving genealogy related presentations, to a variety of audiences, since 2012. She is the
descendant of formerly-enslaved ancestors, as well as enslavers and free people
of color. Renate is the author of two blogs: “Into the LIGHT”, which focuses on
her own family history; and, “Genea-Related”, which is a platform for
presenting a variety of information of genealogical interest. Renate also produces a “(Mostly) African-American
Funeral Programs” online database, in which she publishes vital data extracted
from funeral programs. For a more extensive bio, please email Renate at yarsan@aol.com.
Finding Calvin: Following My Enslaved Ancestor
Through Multiple Owners: A Case Study
In this
presentation, the researcher models the process used in verifying an ancestor’s
slavery status, and shares the methodology and documents used to document his
owners during 25 years of enslavement.
Researching Free People of Color in
Antebellum Years: 1800 – 1865
Discussion of the
lives and circumstances of FPOC in the states of North Carolina and Virginia, the
laws enacted to exert increasing control over them, and a look at useful record
types for researching this population. (This talk can be
broadened to include other areas.)
The Case for DNA: Why Should I Test?
Are you
on the fence about DNA testing? Do you wonder if the results are “real” or if
they can truly help you to further your genealogy research? Participants will learn
about the main types of DNA testing, and how each can help to inform genealogical
research. Examples of real-life DNA success stories will also be shared.
Getting Started with Genealogy
Research
How does one get started
with genealogical research? Today’s technological advances make it easy!
Getting started means going from what you know, to using a variety of resources
– in person and online – to discover the unknown. Learn about common record
types, and how to access them, in this informative workshop!
Getting
More Out of Your Genealogy Research: Methods, Documents, and Websites
An in-depth exploration
how to extract information from certain types of documents, as well as a
modeled approach to using some of the more popular websites for genealogical
research. This session can be extended include an additional “Part 2” hands-on workshop,
with participants on computers, for an added fee.
Researching Enslaved Ancestors
The presenter
shares and models best practice and methodology for researching formerly
enslaved ancestors. Participants learn about helpful record types and web sites
and how to extract data about the enslaved from records of slave-owning
communities.
Researching Formerly Enslaved Ancestors: It
Takes a Village!
This talk is
designed for descendants of antebellum property owners, particularly those who enslaved other humans. The focus is on how
descendants of slave owners are crucial to and can assist in the efforts of
those researching the formerly enslaved.
Researching Ancestors of Color
This session is
specific to researching ancestors of color, to include formerly enslaved and
free people of color. Participants learn which record types and web sites are
most helpful in this type of research and how to extract data about people
of color from various document types.
Using Funeral Programs to Inform Genealogy
Research
Funeral Programs
are often rich with genealogical information. In this talk, the presenter will
dissect the parts of commonly used funeral programs, and model how to extract
important genealogical information and clues from these valuable documents. In Their Own Words: Genealogy in the Slave Narratives Uncovering
the genealogy of the formerly enslaved can often be challenging; but sometimes,
the information is left in first-hand accounts, commonly known as "Slave
Narratives.” From books, to projects set up to learn about life during slavery,
researchers can find an abundance of genealogical and other information about
enslaved families, their owners, and their communities - straight from the
mouths of the Ancestors.
This weekend, I had the opportunity to give two presentations as the "Featured Speaker" for a genealogy symposium in Charlotte, NC. Held at the beautiful Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, the event was cosponsored by the church's African American Heritage Ministry, Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and Comprehensive Genealogical Services.
The day-long symposium, to which registration was open to the public, was the culminating event for the conclusion of 5 weeks of genealogy classes which had been held at the church, in which upwards of 50 students had been enrolled. The day included a period reenactment by a descendant of a formerly enslaved woman, recap sessions for the members of the two classes (beginner and intermediate), lunch, and two presentations by yours truly - "Finding Calvin: A Case Study" and "Introduction to DNA for Genealogy". Both presentations were extremely well-received and were followed by tons of compliments and expressions of gratitude from audience members. And, guess what? At the end of the day, I received an enthusiastic standing ovation - a first for me in the 7 years I've been giving genealogy talks!
The weekend was made particularly joyful and memorable for several other reasons, the most special of which was the fact that I got to spend time with FAMILY and FRIENDS. On Friday, my second cousin on my Green-Hawkins line, Kelly, who lives just outside of Charlotte in Mathews, picked me up and, after we got a quick bite to eat, rode me around to a couple of places I wanted to see - Johnson C. Smith University, where my aunt, Susie Yarborough, was a dorm matron in the 1940's and 50's; and Barber Scotia College, a school I recently discovered that my ancestor, Jessie Green, attended sometime between around 1916 -1920. (You can read about that, here.) Kelly and I had a lovely few hours together, and I'm ever-so-grateful that he so generously took the time to spend with me and to ride me around in the rain. After my afternoon with Kelly, I met up with a dear friend of 40 years and college sorority sister, Debbie, who lives right there in Charlotte. We had a great time catching up over a yummy dinner at the Rock Bottom restaurant.
With my cousin, Kelly
With my Soror Debbie
Then, on Saturday, Kelly attended the entire day of the genealogy event, just to support me! But, seeing Kelly wasn't the only "relative-treat" I got on this trip. Also on Saturday, I actually had the pleasure of meeting another second cousin - this one on my Yarborough line - for the very first time! Cousin Eunice and I have been communicating by phone, email, and Facebook for many years and she (and her brother, Samuel) even graciously tested their late mother - my father's first cousin - to assist in furthering my research. On Saturday, she too came to support me and to hear my talk about our shared ancestor, our great-grandfather, Calvin; and she also stayed the whole day! Meeting my cousin was such a pleasure! I look forward to seeing her, again!
With my cousin, Eunice
Having these two cousins present at the symposium on Saturday was amazing, in itself, but it also constituted a first, for me. I've been giving genealogy-related presentations since 2012, but this was the first time any member of my family has ever been in my audience. To have not one, but two family members present - representing different lines, at that - warmed my heart to no end. And, to top off my "family time" for the weekend, I was able to make a quick stop at Kelly's house, on my way out of town, to see his wife, Michelle, and my young cousins, William and Sydney. This brief, but pleasurable visit was the icing on the cake of a great visit to Charlotte!
Here are a few additional photos from my trip. I do hope to return to the "Queen City", someday, for a longer (drier) visit. I had a great time! :)
Barber Scotia College
Graves Hall at Barber Scotia
Corner entry and sign for Johnson C. Smith University
Marker on JCS campus honoring one of the
founders of my sorority
View of Charlotte Uptown from my
hotel room window
