Free Webinars to Celebrate Black History Month!

This mild and so far un-winter-like February brings us Valentine’s Day, Presidents’ Day, and, perhaps most importantly, Black History Month. Regardless of your cultural or ethnic heritage, if you are an American, then the experiences of everyone who has lived, worked, and sacrificed for this country are yours too. And the uptick in DNA testing during the past few decades has made it very clear that many of us are more diverse than we had ever imagined.

Even if you aren’t African American, February brings all of us a chance to learn more about the important contributions African Americans have made to our society. And if you are African American, or if you just want to learn more about how to approach Black genealogy, you are in luck because there are many free and interesting opportunities waiting for you this month.

Here are some online and in-person webinars you might be interested in participating in; all are free, but you do have to register.

Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis is presenting “African American History” as a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, 14 February at 7:00 p.m. (Central). You can learn more about some of the important Black women and men buried in this historic cemetery. Registration is here.

If you prefer an in-person experience, this lecture will be repeated on Wednesday, 21 February at 6:00 p.m. at the Parkview branch of St. Louis County Library, 8400 Delport Drive, St. Louis, MO 63114. You can register on the St. Louis County Library website.

Or you can register for the in-person lecture on Tuesday, 27 February at 7:00 p.m. at the Mid-County branch in Clayton at 7821 Maryland Avenue. Registration for that night is here.

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American Ancestors by the New England Historic Genealogical Society is sponsoring several free lectures this month. If you act quickly, you can still register for “Introducing 10 Million Names: Recover. Restore. Remember.” This lecture is tonight, 12 February 2024 at 5:00 p.m. (Central) Hear from several prominent African American historians who will discuss the history of slavery in New England and how this ongoing project is working to preserve their legacy. You can register here.

American Ancestors is also presenting “Getting Started in African American Family History Research” on Saturday, 24 February. This all-day event is free and consists of four different lectures throughout the day. You can attend one or all of them, and they will be recorded and shared with registrants. Learn more and register here.

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St. Louis County Library is hosting additional Black history/genealogy programs:

• Nick Sacco with the National Park Service will present an in-person lecture on “Slavery in St. Louis” on Wednesday, 21 February at 6:00 p.m. (Central) at the Lewis and Clark branch, 9909 Lewis-Clark Blvd., 63136. (No registration necessary)

• On Thursday, 22 February, Jeffrey Edison, museum educator for St. Louis County Parks, will talk about the enslaved people who built and ran the farm at the Daniel Bissell house in north St. Louis County at the Prairie Commons branch, 915 Utz Lane, Hazelwood, 63042. This lecture is in-person and begins at 10:00 a.m. (Central) (No registration necessary)

• Also on Thursday, 22 February, Mr. Edison will present “York and the Lewis and Clark Expedition” at 2:00 p.m. (Central) at the Oak Bend branch, 842 S. Holmes Ave., 63122. (No registration necessary)

• On Monday, 26 February at 6:30 p.m. (Central), “African American Genealogy: A Mississippi Case Study.” This is a webinar via Zoom led by author Len Campbell who will talk about his book on the Rock Hill Community in Panola County, Mississippi. Registration is required.

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Finally, if you dried a load of laundry today or ate some peanut butter, hit a golf ball from a tee or sharpened a pencil, you have an African American inventor to thank. You can start learning about some of these unheralded individuals who have improved our lives in this Wikipedia list https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African-American_inventors_and_scientists and follow that up with another 101 Black inventors here: https://www.cadcrowd.com/blog/top-101-black-inventors-african-americans-best-invention-ideas-that-changed-the-world/

(John Lee Love, inventor of the pencil sharpener. 

Image from "Top 101 Black Inventors and African American's Best Invention Ideas 

that Changed the World" by MacKenzie Brown, Cad Crowd, published 7 September 2023.)

We know you will be inspired when you discover more about these amazing people!