The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York City and the NYC chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAGHS) hosted the 12th annual Harlem African American Genealogy Conference on Saturday, March 19. The conference, which was held at the Church’s Harlem building and attended by approximately 150 people, showcased the Freedmen’s Bureau Project, the initiative to index more than 1 million Civil War-era records of about 4 million people — most of whom were emancipated slaves — and make them searchable online.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Jane Jones, director of the New York City LDS Family History Center, made a presentation on the Freedmen’s Bureau Project. She demonstrated the process of reviewing priceless handwritten records, such as marriage and family information and military service, banking, school, hospital and property details, and then indexing the information to make it easily searchable online for those who want to connect to their roots. Until the project was launched in June of 2015, this information had only been available to those who could go in person to the National Archives or read through non-indexed microfilm pages on FamilySearch.org.
“The conference was a success,” Jones said. “I had many attendees come up to me afterwards and let me know they were going to volunteer and ask for help getting started.”
“This is my fourth time attending this conference, and I always learn some new tricks for researching,” said Toni Armstead, a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) New Jersey chapter. “Today, I have determined to spend at least 10 hours to help index the Freedmen’s Bureau records.”
The conference kicked off with several family history consultants from the New York New York Stake volunteering to help individuals learn to use FamilySearch.org to find their families’ records. Members of AAGHS presented on “Telling Our Stories: Exploring Family and Legacy.” The keynote address was given by Dr. Kwasi Konadu, associate professor of history at City University of New York, who has conducted extensive archival and field research in West Africa, Europe, Brazil, the Caribbean basin and North America. He is the author of several books, and much of his writing centers on the African Diaspora.
Linda Vancol, LDS family history consultant for the Lincoln Square Ward, praised Dr. Konadu’s knowledge of using multiple tools to seek hard-to-find family history details: “Dr. Kwasi Konadu is an excellent speaker with knowledge of all genealogy pertaining to tools, language, folklore, songs, church hymns, lullabies and databases.”
The conference provides a unique opportunity not only to learn new search techniques but also to make new connections with Harlem community members who are interested in exploring more about their own family histories.
Alice Labrie, a former U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer who resides in Harlem, said she learned about the genealogy conference at the bus stop.
“As an American history buff, I greatly appreciated learning of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society,” Labrie said. “I am also aware of [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] and their dedication to genealogy and am appreciative of its contribution to American history and the founding of the USA.”
All attendees left the event with an informational packet explaining more about the Freedmen’s Bureau Project.
“I was humbled to be asked to present on the Freedmen’s Bureau Project,” Jones said. “It is such an important part of history.”