Seminar discusses release of Freedmen records

After languishing for 140 years on the dusty shelves of the National Archives & Records Administration, the historically significant Freedmen records are finally becoming available for African-American genealogy research. The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia and volunteers from the Central Virginia Family History Centers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints will present a seminar entitled, "Whispers from the Dust: The Freedmen Records and African-American Family History" on Sat., Feb. 23, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Central Library, 9501 Lori Rd.

This free event, open to all regardless of faith or ethnicity, will help those interested in discovering their roots to learn how the records from the Freedmen's Bureau and Freedman's Bank and other developments in the digital world are rapidly changing genealogical research. The search for ancestors is especially challenging and frustrating for many African-Americans, who often discover their ancestral roots are shrouded in the institution of slavery.

The seminar will be presented by Dr. Darrell Walden, administrator for Virginia Freedmen Indexing and co-founder of the Virginia Freedmen Project. Walden is an amateur historian and is associate professor of accounting at the University of Richmond's Robins School of Business.

For more information, contact Pam Marshall at pamcmarshall@comcast.net.