Searching for Your Ancestors: The Genealogical Impact of Forced & Voluntary
Migrations
*Saturday, September 14, 2019* | 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
*OPTIONAL OPEN HOUSE: Friday, September 13, 2019 *| 10:00 AM–4:30 PM
*Library of Virginia* | 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia 23221
Cost: $35 ($14 for optional lunch)
The 1619 arrival of Africans marked a pivotal moment in Virginia’s history
and eventually caused major shifts in its economy and culture. The 400th
anniversary of this seminal event invites us to examine its influence on
the practice of family history as well as the impact of subsequent
migrations to, from, and within the commonwealth. Many American families
have ancestors who migrated through Virginia, crisscrossing the map within
historical migration routes. Africans and African Americans suffered the
harshest experience of all migrants, experiencing the horrors of slave
ships and having their families forcibly separated in the routine
transactions of the American slave trade to which Virginia was essential.
Famines, land clearings, poverty, and religious persecution pushed British
and European souls out of the Old World to find a new life and new land in
Virginia and beyond, whether as indentured servants or willing immigrants.
In the process, native people lost their land to the colonizers due to
warfare and forced resettlement.
This conference explores the ways in which the search for ancestors in
records is affected by these historical currents. Attendees can learn more
about the historical context of their family history stories and shed light
on their ancestors’ journeys.
Join us for an exciting day of family history exploration and
networking. Keynote speaker Ric Murphy—an educator, historian, lecturer,
and award-winning author and the national vice president for history with
the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society—will discuss "The
400th Commemoration of the First Documented Africans in English North
America."
An optional open house on Friday, September 13, offers computer lab
sessions on topics such as newspapers and maps, one-on-one "Ask an Expert"
sessions, and a tour of the Library. (Reservations are required for the
“Ask an Expert” sessions. To schedule one, contact Ashley Ramey at
[log in to unmask] or 804.692.3001.)
The Library of Virginia hosts this third annual Family History Day
conference in collaboration with the Virginia chapters of the Afro-American
Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc., the Middle Peninsula
African-American Genealogical and Historical Society, and the Richmond-area
congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with
support from FamilySearch.
For more information, contact Ashley Ramey at [log in to unmask]
or 804.692.3001.
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
This list is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
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