Past Events

Aug 09 – Annual Society Picnic at St. Moses the Black

July 12 – They’re Not on Census by Janis Minor Forté

June 14 – Oral History Interviews: Capturing Family Voices That Last by Jernone Smith

May 14 – Genealogy Reboot (Session 4) with Phyllis Ray

May 10 – Memorial Day Find-a-Grave Fieldwork (Pt. 1) by Jernone Smith

May 07 – Genealogy Reboot (Session 3) with Jernone Smith

Apr 30 – Genealogy Reboot (Session 2) with Juana Ervin

Apr 23 – Genealogy Reboot (Session 1) with Jernone Smith

Apr 12 – Mapping African Americans by Shamele Jordon

Mar 08 – Bringing the Past to Life: Incorporating Genealogy into the High School Classroom by Michael Andrews

Mar 07 – Celebrating African-American Genealogy by Anita Boyd & Grace Dumelle at the Church of Latter-day Saints Chicago/Hyde Park

Feb 08 – Four Women: Matriarchs Who Preserved Family and Faith Under Slavery in Mississippi by Alvin Blakes

Jan 11 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 14 – Annual Christmas Party at St. Moses the Black

Nov 9 – Stop Dreaming, Start Publishing: How to Publish What You Know Using Amazon’s KDP by Anita Boyd

Nov 8 – Calumet Heritage Day at Sand Ridge Nature Center

Oct 12 – Using Your Skills in Locating Descendants of 19th Century Lynched Victims by Char McCargo Bah

Oct 11 – 43rd AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference |

……………Contracts & Kinfolk: Finding Family Through Land , Labor, and Legal Trails (J. Mark Lowe, Dr. Deborah Abbott, & Char McCargo Bah)

Aug 10 – Annual Society Picnic at St. Moses the Black

Jul 13 – Roots, Records, and Resilience: Using HBCU Libraries and Archives for Genealogical Research by Christina Vortia

Jun 21 – Juneteenth Jubilee at Sand Ridge Nature Center

Jun 08 – Journey to Juneteenth by Evelyn Nabors 

May11 – Open Forum: Let’s Talk

Apr 13 – Madison Veal: A One Year Odyssey Around the Confederacy by Alvin Blakes

Mar 09 – Bringing Green Book Locations to Life: Chitterlin Circuit, BBQ, and more by Shamele Jordon

Feb 09 – Mound Bayou Museum of African American Culture & History by Hermon, Sr., Hermon, Jr., and Darryl Johnson

Jan 12 – Annual Business Meeting/Election of Officers

…………… – How to Find Your World War I Ancestors by Johnette Brooks

Dec 10 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 12 – Oak Woods Cemetery Notables by Sherry Williams (Bronzeville History Society)

Oct 15 – Conference Sunday

Oct ?? – 41st AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

……………..

Sep 10 – How to Use FamilySearch for African American Research by Eli Kirshner

Aug 20 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 09 – Preparing a Genealogy Will by Evelyn Nabors

Jun 11 – Allen County Public Library by Curt Witcher

May14: Open Forum: Let’s Talk

Apr 16 – Black Pearls of Genealogy by David Anthony Taylor

Mar 12 – Augustus Cemetery Research by Shanna Wolf Augustus

Feb 12 – From Needmore to the Negro Leagues: Rediscovering a Hometown Hero by Anita Boyd

Jan 08 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec ?? – Annual Christmas Party

Nov ?? – 

Oct ?? – 39th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep ?? – 

Aug ?? – Annual Society Picnic

Jul ?? – 

Jun ?? – 

May ?? – 

Apr ?? – 

Mar ?? – 

Feb ?? – 

Jan ?? – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 13 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 08 – 

Oct 11 – 

Oct 9/10 – 38th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference |

………………Genealogy Vision 2020: Research ~ Retool ~ Reconnect

Sep 13 – 

Aug 09 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 12 – Binga: The Rise and Fall of Chicago’s First Black Banker by Don Hayner, Author

Jun 14 – Ask Tony: Strategies: Research Strategies for AAGHSC Members by Tony Burroughs, Author of Black Roots

May10 – Open Forum: Let’s Talk

Apr 12 – DNA for Beginners by Cheryl Varner

Mar 08 – Black Heroes of Fire: The History of the First African American Fire Company in Chicago – Fire Engine Company 21 by Dekalb Walcott, Author

Feb 09 – Lifting As They Climbed: Mapping a History of Black Women on Chicago’s South Side by Essence McDowell

Jan 12 – Annual Business Meeting 

Dec 19 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 11 – Mississippi Death Index Working Session

Oct 14 – Conference Sunday (Nicka Sewell Smith)

Oct 13 – 36th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference |

……………Covering It All: From Asking Grandma to Finding Cousins on Social Media

Sep 09 – Conference Preview

Aug 12 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 09 – Illinois Servitude And Emancipation Records by Anita Boyd

Jun 10 – African American Proverbs: A Chicago Family Treasure by Marcus Ahmed, Ph.D.

May 13 – Open Forum: Let’s Talk

Apr 08 – 4-H Curriculum and Genealogy Project by Venita McDonald

Mar 11 – Avalon Public Library by John Luke, Branch Manager

Feb 11 – Stephen Douglas: The Chicago/Mississippi Connection by the Mississippi Study Group

Jan 14 – Annual Business Meeting/Election of Officers

Dec 10 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 12 – 

Oct 13/14 – 35th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference |

…………………Uniques Issues Researching African American Genealogy

Sep 10 – Exploring the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern Illinois University

Aug 13 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 09 – Julius Frankel Collection of Chicago History Museum by the KITO (Kentucky-Indiana-Tennessee-Ohio) Study Group

Jun 11 – Finding Civil War Soldiers in Your Family by Sherry Williams (of the Bronzeville Historical Society)

May 14 – Open Forum: Let’s Talk

Apr 09 – Alabama Study Group & Venita McDonald

Mar 12 – Teaching History through Art: 1861 – 1865 by LaNaye T. Lawson, Black Chicago Museum

Feb 12 – Strong Beautiful African American Women by Melvin C. Ryan and Paul Holmes, AAGHSC members

Jan 08 – Annual Business Meeting/Election of Officers

Dec 11 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 13 – 

Oct 7/8 – 34th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | Back to Basics: Effective Search Techniques

Sep 11 – Illinois Study Group Presentation

Aug 14 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 10 – Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio, and Freedom by Sonja D. Williams, Author

Jun 12 – Researching at the National Archives in Washington, DC by the Mississippi Study Group by Vera Shack/Desiree Booker

May 08 – Archival Imaging and Document Preservation by Thomas Tracy and Ernest Rose

Apr 10 – Alabama Study Group Presentation

Mar 13 – Technology Group Presentation

Feb 14 – The Quivers Family Saga by Lovie Warren

Jan 10 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 13 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 08 – Overcoming Brick Walls, Part II – Anita Boyd delves into William Floyd’s Prater Family of Gallatin, Illinois

Oct 24 – 33rd AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

……………Was the Second City Your Ancestor’s First City? (AAGHSC & ISGS Cohosted this year’s conference)

Sep 13 – How to Design Your Family History so It Looks Good (And So Do You) by Karen Taylor

Aug 09 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 12 – Brick Wall Strategies by Anita Boyd

Jun 14 – Billiongraves.com Fieldwork: Lincoln Cemetery

May 10 – Find-a-Grave Computer Tutorial by Anita Boyd

Apr 12 – How to Edit and Organize Newsletter Writings and Family History Stories by Marcus Day

Mar 08 – Carter G. Woodson Library by Rodney Freeman, Director

Feb 08 – Kings: The True Story of Chicago’s Policy Kings and Number Racketeers by Nathan Thompson

Jan 11 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 14 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 09 – Computer Performance: Tips & Strategies

Oct 12 – Kaskaskia to Quebec: Linking My Native American and French Canadian Ancestry to the Founder of North America by Michael Henderson

Oct 10/11 – 32nd AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | Under the Vital Umbrella

Sep 14 – Private J. W. Williams: Civil War Veteran by Judith Samuel (of the Illinois Study Group)

Aug 10 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 13 – Mississippi Death Index Project and Jackson Funeral Project by Nettie Nesbary, Lettie Sabbs, Desiree Booker, Sheila Smith (of the Mississippi Study Group)

…………… – Educable Children Census index by Anita Boyd (of the Mississippi Study Group)

Jun 08 – Getting to Know Your Ancestors 1870 Neighbors: Evelyn Nabors and Clara and John Hodge (of the Alabama Study Group)

May 11 – How to Conduct Research in the Caribbean and the West Indies by Paul Holmes

Apr 13 – Life and Times of Dinah Washington by Damita Cox

Mar 09 – Writing Your Family History by Ivy Dunn

Feb 09 – One Black Family’s History in the Military by Joe Wiley

Jan 12 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 08 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 10 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 13 – not Kenyatta Berry

Oct 11/12 – 31st AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | Freedom is a Process: Not a Moment

Sep 08 – Research in the Public Libraries by Mary Williams

Aug 11 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 14 – Newspapers & Genealogy: An Awesome Combination by Tim Pinnick

Jun 09 – Invisible Black Pilots of World War II by Karen Taylor

May 12 – We Came on Ships by Rev. Dr. Eric King and Ashieka Daniels

Apr 14 – Uncovering Ancestral Convict Files: Prison Records at the California State Archives by Angela McGhee

Mar 10 – Reflections: Documentary-Style Photograph Series by Terrence A. Reese

Feb 10 – Grand Army of the Republic by the Illinois Study Group

Jan 13 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 9 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 11 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 14 – Ancestors On-Line: Using the Web by John Cooper

Oct 12/13 – 30th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | Counting Your Ancestral Pearls: Fundamentals to Futuristic

Sep 09 –

Aug 12 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 08 – DNA vs. Genealogy: Which is More Relevant by William Floyd

Jun 10 – Mine Owne Ground: Free Blacks in Colonial Virginia by Professor Tim Breen

May 13 – Slave Genealogy by Tony Burroughs

Apr 15 – Various Genealogy Topics

Mar 11 – Census Records and the 1940 Census by Nettie Nesbary & Lettie Sabbs

Feb 12 – Using Primary Sources by Cristal Simmons

Jan 08 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 11 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 13 – Genealogy Fair: Show and Tell by AAGHSC State Study Groups

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Dr. Sheila Smith

Oct 09 – Couch Potato Research by Gwili Posey

Oct 7/8 – 29th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 11 – How to Prepare for a Research Trip to the Allen County Public Library (Fort Wayne, IN)

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Emerson Stewart

Aug 14 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 10 – Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner

Jun 12 –

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Nettie Nesbary

May 08 – World War II Experiences by AAGHSC veterans: Dr. Welton Taylor & Tim Black

…………… – Korean War Experience by AAGHSC veteran: Curtis “Kojo” Morrow (Buffalo Soldiers)

Apr 10 – Collective Memory vs. Institutional Memory by Tony Dunbar

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Paul Holmes

Mar 13 – Born Colored: Life before Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama by Erin Mitchell

Feb 13 – How Advertising has Affected the Psyche of Blacks by Lowell Thompson

Jan 09 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 12 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 14 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 10 – Genealogy of Jesus by Rev. Dr. Walter McCray

Oct 8/9 – 28th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 12 – Wills & Probates by Judge LaGuina Clay-Clark

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Emerson Stewart

Aug 08 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 11 – Research Trip Travel Techniques by Anita Boyd

Jun 13 – The Old Scrappers by Dr. Anderson Thompson

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Paul Holmes

May 09 – Record Searches at Pilot.FamilySearch.org by Angela McGhee

Apr 11 – AAGHSC’s Heritage Book by the Alabama Study Group

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Nettie Nesbary

Mar 14 – Ida B. Wells by her granddaughter, Michelle Duster

Feb 14 – Black Presidents by Dr. Delbert Blair

…………… – Beginner Genealogy Breakout: Doris Davis

Jan 10 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 13 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 08 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 11 – Virginia Study Group

Oct 9/10 – 27th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 13 – Mahalia Jackson by Bertha Reine

Aug 09- Annual Society Picnic

Jul 12 – Breakout Session: To Be Announced

Jun 14 – by Tony Burroughs

May 10 –  

Apr 12 – No Meeting (East Sunday)

Mar 08 – Tennessee Study Group

Feb 08 – Banished: American Ethnic Cleansing tells the story of sundown towns, black expulsions, and the Cobbs (of Pierce City, Missouri) by their great-grandson, Charles U. Brown

Jan 11 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 14 – Annual Christmas Party

Nov 09 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 12 – Reginald Washington, NARA

Oct 10/11 – 26th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 14 – Land (Heir Property) by Geraldine Simmons, J.D.

Aug 10 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 13 – Breakout Sessions: To Be Announced

Jun 08 – My Famous Relatives: Sam Cooke by L.C. Cooke

………….. – Etta Moten Barnett by Sue Barnett

…………… – Langston Hughes by Marjol Rush-Collet 

May11 – Ghana by Roma Stewart, discussion leader

Apr 13 – Alabama Study Group & Janis Forté, moderator

Mar 09 – Reparations by Barbara Baker of N’Cobra

Feb 10 – Underground Railroad (Chicago & Calumet areas) by Naomi Davis, C/Cure  (Chicago/Calumet Underground Railroad Effort)

Jan 13 – Annual Business Meeting

………… – Breakout for Beginners

Dec 09 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 11 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 14 – by Ivy Dunn

Oct 12/13 – 25th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 09 – State Study Group Breakout Sessions, featuring Ken McKay (Tennessee)

Aug 12 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 08 – Timuel Black, Jr.

Jun 10 – Alabama Study Group

May 13 – by Eric Smith

Apr 08 – Alabama Study Group

Mar 11 – Black Loyalists by Karen Massey

Feb 11 – Using Maps in Genealogy by Cristal Simmons

Jan 14 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 10 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 12 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 13/14 – 24th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Oct 08 – 

Sep 10 – 

Aug 13 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 09 – 

Jun 11 – 

May 14 – 

Apr 09 – 

Mar 12 – 

Feb 12 – Using Maps in Genealogy by Cristal Simmons

Jan 08 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 11 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 13 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 13/14 – 23rd AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Oct 09 – 

Sep 11 – 

Aug 14 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 10 – 

Jun 12 – 

May 08 – 

Apr 10 – 

Mar 13 – 

Feb 13 – 

Jan 09 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 12 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 14 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 10 – Breakout Sessions: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Genealogists

Oct 8/9 – 22th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 12 – State Study Groups: Carolinas, Virginia, Mississippi, & Georgia

Aug 08 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 11- State Study Groups : Alabama, ALTO, & Tennessee

Jun 13 – Janis Minor Forte & Guest (So. Africa)

May 09 – Breakout Sessions: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Genealogists

Apr 11 – Group Discussion

Mar 14 – Nathan Thompson

Feb 08 – Timuel Black

Jan 11 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 14 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 09 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 12 – Breakout Sessions: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Genealogists

Oct 9/10 – 21st AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 14 – State Study Groups: Carolinas & Mississippi

Aug 10 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 06 – State Study Groups: Alabama & Tennessee

Jun 08 – Land Grants by Roma Stewart

May 11 – Breakout Sessions: Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Genealogists

Apr 13 – Researching Funeral Homes/Special Tribute to Berceuse Johnson

Mar 09 – 

Feb 09 – 

Jan 12 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 08 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 10 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 13 – 

Oct 11/12 – 20th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 08 – 

Aug 11 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 14 – 

Jun 09 – 

May 12 – 

Apr 14 – 

Mar 10 – 

Feb 10 – 

Jan 13 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 09 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 11 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 14 – by Ivy Dunn

Oct 12/13 – 25th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 09 – State Study Group Breakout Sessions, featuring Ken McKay (Tennessee)

Aug 12 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 08 – Timuel Black, Jr.

Jun 10 – Alabama Study Group

May 13 – by Eric Smith

Apr 08 – Alabama Study Group

Mar 11 – Black Loyalists by Karen Massey

Feb 11 – Using Maps in Genealogy by Cristal Simmons

Jan 14 – Annual Business Meeting

Dec 09 – Holiday Celebration

Nov 11 – Genealogy Fair: Show & Tell

Oct 14 – by Ivy Dunn

Oct 12/13 – 25th AAGHSC Annual Family History Conference | 

Sep 09 – State Study Group Breakout Sessions, featuring Ken McKay (Tennessee)

Aug 12 – Annual Society Picnic

Jul 08 – Timuel Black, Jr.

Jun 10 – Alabama Study Group

May 13 – by Eric Smith

Apr 08 – Alabama Study Group

Mar 11 – Black Loyalists by Karen Massey

Feb 11 – Using Maps in Genealogy by Cristal Simmons

Jan 14 – Annual Business Meeting