Discrepancies in Memories and Oral History

Memory is a funny thing and we know that when several people witness the same event such as an accident, they will all remember and recall it differently. This is a hilarious video of a discussion among three black gospel music pioneers, Thomas Dorsey, Sally Martin (lady on left side), and Willie May Ford Smith (lady on right side) about the origins of the first Gospel Music Convention.

Mr. Thomas Dorsey keeps his cool as he sits in between these two argumentative and highly opinionated women.

If I were the person who asked this question to these three gospel music pioneers, I would write down ALL sides of the story.

Using Google Docs

Google Docs
Google Docs is a free online tool which enables users to create and share documents online such as word processing, presentation, spreadsheets or forms.

This is a great tool particularly for collaborative projects where several individuals are composing or editing a document. Documents can be uploaded from and saved to your desktop, edited anytime and from anywhere there is Internet access. Files are stored securely online and the owner of the file can choose individuals who can access documents for either viewing or editing. Documents can also be made available to everyone on the Internetn to update such as what we see in Wikipedia

My Introduction to Google Docs
A few months ago, I was appointed to a work-related committee where our task was to research the feasibility of implementing a new program. The large committee which probably consisted of close to 30 people was divided into subcommittees. I was selected for the technology committee which consisted of four individuals including myself. The chairperson of this subcommittee began composing a set of questions on Google Docs which our subcommittee needed to investigate in order to complete our assigned task. She electronically invited or gave collaborative access to the each of our subcommittee members. I accessed the document and added three questions to ones that had been already added by other members of our committee.

“Wow, this is great,” I told the chairperson in an email.


I look forward to using Google Docs for both business and personal use.


More Information

For more information on using Google Docs, check out the links or videos below.

Google Docs Tour

Google Docs

Google Docs in Plain English

Teachers and Principals Talk about Google Docs

2010 New Years Genealogy Goals

My goal in 2010 is to complete some of the uncompleted genealogy goals of 2009. (Read more about my progress towards achieving these 2009 goals.)

Additionally, I would like to have more of my writings published in genealogy journals and in a book. I have been researching for 15 years now and have been talking about a book for almost as long. I hope to achieve this goal in 2010.

My motto for the new year is "I'm Gonna Win in 2010."

Assessment of 2009 Genealogy Goals

New Years Day is here again and it’s that magical time of the year to refocus and set new goals. Not only is it a time that people traditionally make resolutions, but it also is a time of reflection about the previous year. I set numerous genealogy goals during the year 2009; some were accomplished and others not. Below is an assessment of my achievement of 2009 goals.

2009 Genealogy Goals

Write

• Write, Write, Write! I did a lot of writing for my blog and began writing about my 15 year genealogy career. One thing completed was a timeline of significant accomplishments during this 15 year career.



• Write and publish articles for genealogy newsletters and journals. I did not have as many articles published as I planned. I did have two articles published in genealogy journals; both had been originally posted on my Find Your Folks blog. (Penny Candy and Blog Acknowledgement at Church Service.)



• Write a book on my family history. (See above in write, write, write section)



• Write articles for Find Your Folks blog. 168 postings in 2009 as compared to 104 postings in 2008.
  
  

Update, Organize, and Document

• Finish organizing my paper files into color folders. I did not complete this task, although I did work on it in 2009.



• Declutter and get rid of unnecessary genealogy related papers (printouts, pamphlets, etc.) Still a work in progress.



• Organize computerized genealogy files. Still a work in progress.




• Update and document all sources in Family Tree Maker Software. Still a wok in progress.
  

Attend Conferences and Classes

• Attend the National Genealogy Society conference in Raleigh, NC in May. I was not able to make it to the conference activities, but I did arrive to Raleigh on Saturday afternoon just before the vendor booths shut down. It was good to browse the booths containing various genealogy products and services.



• Attend the Black Genealogy Summit in Indiana in October. I had a blast at this conference and blogged a lot about my experience. I still have more left to write about this conference. Read my postings on the 2009 International Black Genealogy Summit.
  

Fellowship with Living Descendants

• Attend at least two family reunions. Attended the Carroll Family Reunion in July. Also attended the funeral in August of an Aunt and the 100th birthday party of another Aunt in December. Funerals and other family gatherings are also events to meet new family members. I met new family members at both of these events.



• Continue to contact living descendants of ancestors in order to find additional family information. I don't think I contacted any new family members, however, several of them discovered me through the Internet and the library.

DNA Testing

• Have additional family lines tested to determine their African connection, or relatedness to other families with the same surname. I did not have any DNA testing done in 2009.
  
  

Genealogy Presentations

• Conduct at least two genealogy workshops. Conducted Four workshops in 2009. June-Oral History Workshop, September-local workshop on African American Genealogy , and October-workshops on blogging at Black Genealogy Summit in Fort Wayne, Indiana and for my local genealogy society.
  
  
  

Blogging and Technology

• Continue genealogy blogging and strive to post daily. I still aspire to achieve this goal, but did not achieve it this year.



• Learn how to use new blog tools to add to blog. Learned how to add audio through videos. Also purchased a digital voice recorder in which audio can be converted electronically



• Learn how to podcast and post to blog. Did not do podcasting, but did add audio through videos. (See above posting)
  
  
• Continue using Facebook for genealogy social networking sites. Used Facebook and Twitter as tools to promote my blog postings. Through Facebook, I connected with several old classmates from school. Also connected with a few family members in the Pair family.



• Explore other new Internet resources that will aid in further advancing genealogy. Set up a YouTube channel and posted one video so far. Video on youtube was discovered from someone from Roots Television, who asked to post my video on this site. Video is now on Roots Television.
  
  
  
  
  

All Smiles - Aunt Della's 100th Birthday Celebration

Aunt Della is all smiles as several party attendees stop by her table to personally wish her a "Happy 100th Birthday.

Happy 100th Birthday Aunt Della

Happy 100th Birthday to my Aunt Della Moore Richardson who turned the big 1-0-0 on Saturday, December 26, 2009. She celebrated her day with a big birthday party and numerous family and friends and some county officials helped her to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Aunt Della was the youngest daughter born on December 26, 1909 in the Liberty area in Greensville County, VA to Robert Moore and Mary Eliza Robinson Moore. She is the youngest sister of my paternal grandmother Hattie Moore Pair and is the last living child of her family.

Until a few years ago, Aunt Della thought she was born in 1910 instead of 1909, but research revealed a birth year of 1909. Read more about this discovery.

Aunt Della is assisted by her oldest grandson in cutting her 100th birthday cake.

What a blessing it was to attend Aunt Della's 100th birthday party.

On December 26, 2009,
Aunt Della was QUEEN FOR A DAY!

More party details and photos to come . . . .

Memory Monday: Passing the Laptop

On Sunday, November 1, 2009, I traveled home from attending the International Black Genealogy Summit in Fort Wayne, IN. This was a bittersweet day which signaled that my good times had come to an end. My travel partner, Selma and I arrived at the airport early to be sure that we didn’t have to rush and arrived at the gate where we would be boarding our airplane with a lot of time to spare and to relax.

“It’s time for the chat…see if you can get online,” Selma told me after we were seated for a few minutes.

This was some time after 11:30 a.m. and Selma was referring to the genealogy chat of Afrigeneas in which we regularly attend on Sunday mornings and other days of the week.

Connection to the airport’s Internet server went smoothly and within a short time I had accessed the chat.

'Selma and I are waiting in the Fort Wayne Airport for to go home,' I typed in the chat window. The group already knee that we were returning from our trip to the International Black Genealogy Summit because this had been a major topic of discussion for several weeks prior to the conference. The few people who were in the chat that morning had not attended this conference. Several of the other regular chatters were also on their way home from the conference and Selma and I were thrilled to have met so many Afrigeneas chatters at the conference.

I typed in a few other things related to the conference and then passed the laptop to Selma. For the remainder of our time waiting to board our flight home, Selma and I took turns participating in the chat and passing the laptop to each other. In the video below, Selma is sitting in the airport on the laptop participating in the Afrigeneas Chat. Notice the big smile on her face. Ahh! the joys of Technology.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy News

Publication by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, (1884-1968)

Photo taken at Gospel Spreading Church, Newport News, VA by Professor Dru

Read more about Elder Michaux

Clowning Around in Junior High Orchestra Class

These are photos from my junior high school orchestra days in 9th grade, 1977-1978. As you can see, my orchestra mates are taking a break to clown around. During these days, a junior high was called an Intermediate school in our school system, and consisted of 8th and 9th grades.