SEPT/OCT 2014
Unearthing the Histories
of Kentucky’s Black
Families
Persistence is critical when traditional
resources are lacking
by Doris Settles, Staff Writer
Frequently, African Americans
encounter a frustrating dearth of
information when researching
their family histories. The African
American Genealogy Group
of Kentucky (AAGGKY) was
formed out of that frustration.
Unique methodology, persistence and sharing of information
is critical in the face of the lack of
traditional resources. AAGGKY
members say they’ve found information on family members filed
under A for African, B for black,
C for colored or N for Negro,
as well as in the backs of books,
totally unindexed and more often
nonexistent. But if you happen
to find that missing piece of your
family puzzle, which fits in so
many others’ puzzles as well, how
might you be able to share that
resource?
Enter 11 researchers who
gathered in January 2011 to form
AAGGKY.
The group meets every month
on the third Saturday at easily accessible places throughout Central
Kentucky. Rotating meeting
locations allows for a higher level
of participation and availability
of those resources that do exist.
Meetings are free and open to any-
11
one. They feature speakers, roundtables or panel discussions and
hands-on workshops. AAGGKY
members share research successes and disappointments and
offer tips and techniques unique
to conducting black genealogical
research in Kentucky.
“We have never had a meeting
where somebody didn’t make a
connection with someone else,”
said group president Sharyn
Mitchell. “Several times a year
we have one-on-one workshops
where we work together to break
through those brick walls and find
those connections.”
With a mailing list of more than
500 people, both African American and Caucasian, a membership
nearing 100 and between 25-75
people attending each meeting,
AAGGKY encourages both blacks
and whites to work together to
ferret out their histories.
“We encourage descendants of
slave owners to share their deeds,
ledgers and Bibles that document
the stories of slaves so intermingled stories may be found,”
Mitchell said. “With every passing
minute, we are losing our histories
to death, memory loss and record
destruction.” The AAGGKY attempts to minimize this loss.
Anyone interested in researching, preserving and sharing the
stories of Kentucky’s African
American generations is invited
to join AAGGKY. “We are accountants and plumbers, janitors and teachers, preachers and
presidents, housewives and truck
drivers,” Mitchell said.
For more information, visit the
organization’s Web site at www.
aaggky.org.
With every
passing minute,
we are losing
our histories to
death, memory
loss and record
destruction.”
—Sharyn Mitchell,
President, Afric