Fort Wayne will host the first-ever joint conference of African-American historical and genealogical groups.
Beginning Oct. 29, more than 400 black genealogists will attend a three-day International Black Genealogy conference at the Allen County Public Library to learn more about searching for their family histories.
Most similar conferences for Irish or German research draw about 100 people. For an ethnic-based conference, the number of participants is huge, said Curt Witcher, genealogy manager for the library.
Participants include the Afro-American Historical and Genealogy Society chapters, special-interest groups of large societies, the Black West Coast Summit groups plus independent black genealogical and historical societies from the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
Witcher is expecting a large number of participants from Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis and other Midwestern cities as well, he said.
Such societies regularly meet on the East Coast or the West Coast. But they have never held a joint conference bringing everyone together in one place, Witcher said.
Some members of these groups were in Fort Wayne several years ago for a different research conference when they began planning for a joint event here. They were impressed with the city, Grand Wayne Center and the library, he said.
But the big draw for coming back was the library’s world-class collection, which includes some of the best sources for African-American research, Witcher said.
For blacks trying to find records of family living before the Civil War when slavery was still legal, genealogy research is a bit more complex. Slaves were often listed as property, which requires searching deeds and property records not just birth, death and marriage records, Witcher said.
During the conference, those interested in their family history will hear and learn from experts on this specialized branch of genealogy. The library will offer extended research hours to accommodate the conference attendees, he said.
The local African/African-American History Museum and the Fort Wayne Chapter of the Links Inc. are hosting the event with the library.
To learn more about the conference schedule and participating groups, visit www.blackgenealogyconference.info.
