This program is independently owned and operated by Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage and is not affiliated with Rider University
SPEAKERS
Michael Coard
Activist / Keynote Speaker
Michael Coard, a criminal defense attorney with more than 20 years of state and federal trial experience, specializes in murder cases and worked at the Charles W. Bowser Law Center after serving as Legal Counsel for State Senator Hardy Williams. He received his degree in law from Ohio State University and his undergraduate degree in English Education and Political Science from Cheyney University.
While in law school serving as president of the Black Law Students Association, he led the activism that compelled Ohio State University which is the largest university in America) to divest all of its funds from companies doing business with or in apartheid- governed South Africa.
He is an adjunct professor in the African Studies Department at Temple University and volunteer instructor of Criminal Justice in the university’s Pan African Studies Program.
As an attorney, he successfully litigated at trial a historic Private Criminal Complaint that sought a murder prosecution of a white police officer who killed an unarmed Black teen. Furthermore, he is certified by the Court of Common Pleas to represent indigent defendants in death penalty cases. Also, he has served as local co-counsel for Mumia Abu-Jamal whose death sentence was vacated. Moreover, nearly half of his criminal cases in general are pro bono. And he is a recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s prestigious Thurgood Marshall Award as well as both the NAACP’s and the Barristers Association’s prestigious Cecil B. Moore Award. In addition, he is a recipient of Cheyney University Alumni Association’s Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award.
As a community activist, he is a founding member of Avenging The Ancestors Coalition (ATAC). ATAC is the organization that helped lead the historic and successful battle to force the federal government to agree to commemorate the African descendants enslaved by President George Washington at America’s first “White House,” which was located at the current site of the new Liberty Bell Center. And as a member of the Friends of Bethel Burying Ground, he is working with activists to have that South Philadelphia cemetery- where the remains of more than 8,000 African-Americans from the 1800s are desecrated under a trash dump and city playground- officially memorialized.
He has served as a Pennsylvania board member of the ACLU and the Philadelphia chapter of the National Lawyers Guild as well as a member of the Occupy Philadelphia Legal Defense Team and the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Also, he is a founding member of Judging The Judges as well as “F(ilm) The Police.” He serves as one of the attorneys for Heeding Cheyney’s Call, which is a coalition of Cheyney University supporters who are using the federal courts in a major civil rights battle to compel the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to end its decades-long racial discrimination against the oldest African-American institution of higher learning in America.
In addition, he hosts the “Radio Courtroom” show on WURD96.1-FM and the “TV Courtroom” show on Comcast/Verizon. He also writes columns for the Philadelphia Tribune and Philadelphia Magazine
Ric Murphy
Author / Plenary Speaker
Ric Murphy is an educator, historian, lecturer, charter member of Sons & Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, and award winning author, including the highly acclaimed Freedom Road. Ric was a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government; and he has a Masters in Urban Affairs from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Massachusetts. Mr. Murphy has served in elected and appointed positions within state and local governments, and has taught and lectured at the post secondary level. He has served as Chairman of the Board of several private and community based organizations; served on numerous national, local and not-for-profit Boards of Directors; served on countless Advisory Boards to community based organizations and not-for-profits; and has received numerous awards for his public activism and community work. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and his family lineage dates to the earliest colonial periods of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and of Jamestown, Virginia. His family lineage has been evaluated and accepted by the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Society of the Sons of Colonial New England, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. In his writings, Murphy explores the roles and rich contributions made by African Americans in United States history. He lives and works in Washington, D.C. and can be reached at ric@ricmurphy.com
Kathryn Knight
Author / Lunch Speaker
Kathryn Knight, who uses the pen name, K I Knight, is an international award-winning Author, Genealogist, Historian, Public Speaker, Cemetery Preservationist, and a Land Development Consultant. Over the last twelve years, Knight has documented 20,000+ hours researching the first recorded Africans to arrive in the English settlement of Virginia in 1619. Her passion is unrivaled and strongly evident in her published writings. Her literary work includes Fate & Freedom a five star – Gold medal historical trilogy detailing the lives of the 1619 Africans, as well as her nonfiction work, Unveiled – The Twenty and Odd, due to be released May 2019.
Knight’s journey began in 2006 when she discovered her husband knew very little about his ancestry. For Christmas of 2006, she gave her husband’s family an ancestral chart from present day back to the early 1600’s where, there, Knights resided in the early settlement of Virginia. With excitement, her father-in-law made a small request. He recalled an early childhood memory of woman he would see on occasion when he visited at his grandmother’s house. He remembered her dark skin and possibly her last name, Sweat. After substantial research Knight found the mysterious woman to be a “Sweat” cousin, visiting his grandmother.
Knight’s curiosity about her husband’s Sweat line led her back to the 1640’s where documentation showed how and when the line originated. An order for punishment involving Robert Sweat, an Englishman and an African woman, charged with fornication. The African woman would prove to be Margaret Cornish, one of the first Africans in the English settlement of Virginia. Knight’s curiosity turned into an uncontrollable passion to resolve her many unanswered questions. Her passion quickly turned to an addiction when she decided, she must find the true story behind their arrival, where they came from and who they were. After using cluster genealogy tactics, Knight discovered a different narrative then what was being told by our historical societies and in our classrooms. In 2010, Knight commissioned a painting by the highly acclaimed maritime artist, Richard C. Moore, entitled, “The Battle of the San Juan Bautista.” In 2016, as an advisory board member and historian for Project 1619 she co-curated the “1619 First African Landing” exhibit at the Hampton History Museum in Hampton, Virginia. Today, through her literary work, Knight shares the truth with the world.
Knight is a board member for the Florida Author’s & Publisher’s Association. She is a member of the National Genealogy Society, Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society, Florida State Genealogy Society, Virginia Genealogy Society, Virginia Historical Society, Florida Historical Society, American Historical Association, Genealogy Speakers Guild, Association of Professional Genealogists, the Alliance of Independent Authors, the National Association of Professional Women, Women in Film and Television, and the Director of 1619 Genealogy. The mother of three adult children, Knight lives in Central Florida with her husband, Tom.
LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson
Certified Genealogist / Speaker
Using DNA to Identify Enslaved Ancestors: I will introduce basic concepts and special considerations relevant to using DNA to identify enslaved ancestors in the antebellum period
Board-certified since 2015, LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson was elected as a trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) in 2016 and currently serves as the BCG Treasurer and the co-chair of the Intellectual Property Committee. She enjoyed a 35-year career as a tax lawyer before her 2013 retirement as a partner from the big four accounting firm of Ernst & Young. She is most proud of her service on the staff of the bipartisan, bicameral, Joint Committee on Taxation of the U.S. Congress where she helped to craft the historical Tax Reform Act of 1986. LaBrenda is now a full-time genealogist focused on teaching and writing. Her research centers on African American families that survived American slavery, primarily in the Carolinas.
LaBrenda has published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, among other publications, and in 2016 she published a guide for researching African Americans in her home county in South Carolina, a book that was hailed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s long-running genealogy column as an important model for all counties of South Carolina and other states. LaBrenda earned a BA from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and both a Law degree and a Master of Laws degree from New York University. She is a graduate of the Boston University Online Genealogical Program (OL5), and currently works as a facilitator on the faculty. In addition, LaBrenda is the Registrar General for the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, a national lineage society that honors ancestors who were enslaved in the United States before 1870. She completed ProGen 13 and is currently serving as the mentor of ProGen 37. LaBrenda was the SLIG 2019 Course Coordinator for “1619-2019: Four Hundred Years of African American Genealogy.”
Presenters
Gigi Best-Richardson
Presenter: 1619-1665: African Versus European Indentureship & Escheatment of Land
Delve into the actual living conditions of Gigi's colonial family. Her ancestors were treated, both similarly and differently depending on whether they were African or English. Her PowerPoint Presentation allows you to experience the lives of these and other subjects proven and verified by Court documents and Colonial records.
Gigi Best is a Historian, Genealogist, Poet, Speaker, Bookseller and Curator of Best Richardson African Diaspora Literature Museum (Non-Profit). She is the author of a historical novel, Thomas the Melungeon.
She currently resides in Tampa, FL with her husband. Gigi was born in Goldsboro, NC and raised in Camden, NJ. Writing since the age of nine, she received her A.S. and B.S. Degrees as an adult with four children and later, attended Graduate school. At these Universities she was awarded “Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges” and All-American Scholar.”
A member of Phi Alpha Theta; Historian, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, ASALH and a member of several National Hereditary Societies, where she held many leadership positions: Vice President, Sons and Daughters U.S. Middle Passage; Florida Governor, Registrar and Treasurer, Sons and Daughters of the Pilgrims; Librarian and Secretary, Daughters of American Revolution; Chaplain and Secretary, Daughters of Union Veterans of Civil War; Historian, Colonial Dames of 17th Century and First Families of North Carolina, etc. As a Genealogist, she has proven her Best, Hardy, Sutton, Durant, and Tilden ancestors to 1569 and her FPOC Locust ancestors to 1629.
Rick Geffken
Presenter : Yaff: The Amazing Life & Journeys of a Middle Passage Man, 1647-1703
Historic images and documents will illustrate the story of this highly unusual and little-known Middle Passage African man who was enslaved by two of the most influential founders of colonial America: Lewis Morris and William Penn. Attendees will learn about this atypical story of how an enslaved man earned his freedom. It is ultimately a personal story of resilience and one of triumph over enslavement.
Rick Geffken has written for publications such as Family Times Newsletter (Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society); The Two River Times; The Howell Times; The Crown (Christ Episcopal Church, Shrewsbury); and The Monmouth Connection (the Monmouth County Genealogy).
Rick has presented historical research topics at the New Jersey History & Historic Preservation; the Symposia for the Navesink Maritime Historical Association, and has appeared on New Jersey Cable’s television show, Family Historian.
Rick has spoken about such Monmouth County historical topics as: Quakers & Slavery in NJ; NJ’s Submarine Inventor: Simon Lake for audiences at the Trent House Museum, the Quaker Meeting of Shrewsbury, the Battleground Historical Society, etc. He is a Trustee of the Shrewsbury Historical Society; Past-president and a Trustee of the Jersey Coast Heritage Museum at Sandlass House; and a member of the Monmouth County Historical Association. A retired U.S. Army officer and Viet Nam veteran, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from St. Peter’s University, a Secondary Teaching Certificate from Monmouth University, and a master’s degree from Montclair State University. Rick Geffken’s books: Lost Amusement Parks of the North Jersey Shore; The Story of Shrewsbury Revisited, 1965-2015; and The Hidden History of Monmouth County.
Steve Hammond
Presenter : Piecing Together a Family History through Genetic Genealogy
This session will share the author’s personal DNA test results and show how the information gained from DNA tests can aid in providing additional insight for family historians. We’ll take a quick look at deep ancestry and what genetic genealogy suggests about the origins of a few of the presenter’s ancestors. A short overview of the genetic genealogy tool box will help set the stage for looking at how some family history questions are being answered by the DNA study that was initiated in 2016, as well as the strategies that are being used to address other questions that have yet to be answered.
Mr. Hammond is a retired federal employee having spent his entire 40-year career as an earth scientist with the United States Geological Survey. Steve has now swapped his full-time geology work for genealogy and family history research. His goals are to educate and inspire others to document their own family history. He is a 7th generation member of the Syphax family of Washington, DC: a line that moved by force to New Orleans and then by choice to Denver. He has participated in a variety of National Park Service programs at the Arlington House – the Robert E. Lee Memorial to highlight the lives of his Syphax ancestors and other enslaved Americans on the estate. He has spoken at the African American Civil War Museum and the historic Decatur House on Lafayette Square both in Washington, DC and has contributed to exhibits at George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He has been interviewed by numerous organizations including NPR, C-Span, Civil War Times and Arlington (VA) magazines among others, as well as for numerous newspaper articles to provide authoritative family-history information and historical perspective.
Other genealogy interests revolve around research on the movement of enslaved ancestors to New Orleans, LA with a primary focus is on the years leading up to and including the Civil War and the Reconstruction era.
Steve is a charter member of the SDUSMP, and a member of the AAHGS, the Louisiana Historical Society and Friends of the Thomas Balch Library (Loudoun Co. VA) Black History Committee. He currently serves as a Trustee at his Alma mater, Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. He resides in Sterling, VA.
Janelle McDowell
Presenter: Teaching Slavery to Children
Janelle McDowell, a graduate of George Washington University, was an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea. Even in Korea, Janelle was sure to spread her passion for her ancestors and educating others about African-American history. She conducted a series of lectures titled, “The History of Racism” at Sinbanpo Middle School in Seoul, where she taught Korean students about slavery, the myth of race, and the dangers of racism. She also appeared on a South Korean web show sponsored by the Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) News where she discussed the movie Get Out from an African-American’s point of view, utilizing her Korean speaking skills. Janelle has been working for Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage as an associate researcher while working on her debut historical science fiction novel. In September of 2018, she illustrated, wrote, and published volume one of a coloring and activity book series titled, Forced American Heroes which she designed to help children aged 7 and up celebrate the amazing contributions enslaved people (Forced American Heroes) made to the United States. Volume two of the same series was published on February 1, 2019, and Volume 3 and a special volume specifically for teachers is in production. She can trace her ancestry to over 38 enslaved people of African-descent.
Eugene "Gene" Armstead
Presenter: Basics of Genealogy with Family Search Tutorial
Eugene “Gene” Armstead, Jr. is the current President of the AAHGS-NJC and has been researching his genealogy since 1998.
Mr. Armstead’s research has always combined both his wife’s and his own ancestors. He found the ship’s manifest that recorded his wife’s great-grandmother’s arrival in America. Later, he found newspaper articles that corrected family lore about her great-grandfather’s arrest.
Mr. Armstead knows that to complete our research processes and practices is important. However, successful solutions often come from unexpected
Amy Thiriot
Presenter: Basics of Genealogy with Family Search Tutorial
Amy Tanner Thiriot is the author of the forthcoming book Slaves in Zion: African-American Servitude in Utah Territory. She is an independent historian specializing in biography and African-American slavery in the American West. She has coupled a degree in history with her long-time engagement in genealogical research to tell the stories of the forgotten women and men of the American West. She is the director of the Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Family History Center, and she blogs at The Ancestor Files, Keepapitchinin, and Genealogy’s Star.
Janice Cross-Gilyard
Presenter: Connecting To the Enslaved Using their Own Words: WPA Slave Narratives
Janice Cross-Gilyard joined the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society – New Jersey Chapter (AAHGS-NJ) in March of 2016 and currently serves as the organization’s Vice President. She is the Editor of the Family Times Newsletter, and she is responsible for managing the Facebook page for AAHGS-NJ. She has conducted her family research for the past 19 years and documented her family history back to 1790. She is proud of her ancestors, which include farmers, educators (two founded colleges), midwives, and pastors. Ms. Cross-Gilyard is currently the Customer Care Manager for Panos Brands, Inc. (Walden Inc.) and is responsible for all of their small business clients and consumer business. Prior to her employment with Panos Brands, she worked in Public Relations for 20 years as a Media Relations Professional, providing consulting services for Johnson & Johnson, Vistakon, Ciba-Geigy, and Matrix Initiatives.
Renate Yarborough Sanders
Presenter: The Case for DNA: Why Should I Test?
Are you on the fence about DNA testing? Do you wonder if the results are “real” or if they can truly help you to further your genealogy research? Different types of DNA testing are available and can help to inform genealogy research and authenticate your family's narrative. Specific examples are shared in this introductory-level presentation.
Renate Yarborough Sanders has been formally engaged in genealogy research for 22 years. She descends from formerly-enslaved ancestors, as well as enslavers and free people of color. Renate authors two blogs: “Into the LIGHT”, focused on her own family history; and, “Genea-Related”, a platform for presenting a variety of information of genealogical interest. Renate also produces a “(Mostly) African American Funeral Programs” online database, in which she publishes vital data extracted from funeral programs. Renate is a member of the NC Genealogical Society, the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society, the Heritage Society of Franklin County, NC, and the Tyrrell County (NC) Genealogical and Historical Society, and is a panelist on BlackProGen LIVE, an online program presenting topics of interest for people researching ancestors of color. She has published articles in genealogical newsletters, and in the Franklin County (NC) Heritage Book (Vol. 1), and she volunteers in the historical and genealogical community by indexing and transcribing original documents. Additionally, Renate is the newsletter editor for the Hampton Roads Chapter of AAHGS, is a member of the AAHGS National Editorial Board, and serves as a volunteer photographer for Find-A-Grave. Renate retired in July 2017 from a 32-year career as elementary educator.
David Patterson
Presenter: The Basics of Genetic DNA
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) David Patterson is the president of the North American Division and Co-founder of the Heredia Genealogy Company. The company is a Partnership between Ellsworth and Nunez Group Inc. and Karen-Nichols Rexwall of the Bossbon Research and Consulting, based in Europe.
He had a dual career of 22 plus years as a United States Military Officer (active & reserve) and was also employed at a Fortune 500 company. He has management experiences in operations and corporate sales at General Foods (Maxwell House Division) and its successor company.
David has spent 40 years in researching and studying African, United States, European, Ancient, Military and World history. He has taken courses and conducted personal research on World geography. He has taken academic courses on this subject matter in college and at various US Army Schools/Colleges. David has a Bachelor of Science degree and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College (Graduate level). He was later selected out of large list of candidates to become an instructor at the US Army Command and General Staff College.
David has incorporated his vast experience of history and geography in his quest to understand and uncover his family history and genealogy. He has taken a number of DNA tests at various DNA testing including 23 and me, Ancestry and Family Tree DNA, utilizing Gedmatch tools with the objective of uncovering his family history. David started with the knowledge of only understanding 4 generations of his family history up to 1870. He has through intensive research over the past 5 years utilizing various DNA test results, Gedmatch research tools and researching relative’s genealogies, family histories has been able to successfully uncover his family previously unknown family history. It includes uncovering a family history going as far back 1800 years on at least one of his family lines. Additionally, David has made connection with his African relatives thru DNA testing. These African relatives revealed his family’s name, history, village and country in Africa prior to being enslaved and brought to colonial America.
David has been able to uncover his family history, names and lines from colonial America back to Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
The Heredia Genealogy Company will assist clients in recreating their family genealogy, history and identifying and reclaiming their family names.
The management team of Heredia also includes Karen-Nichols Rexwall who has over 40 years of genealogy research experiences in the North America, Europe, and Central/South America, etc. Our team has the knowledge on the pros and cons of taking a DNA test at various DNA testing companies. We have the knowledge of working with various genealogy research tools like Gedmatch to assist our clients in recreating and exploring their family history. We bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to assist our clients in their objective in finding their genealogy roots.