AARP Eye Center
Have you ever wondered about your family history? Do you have any idea where to begin researching?
Start your genealogical journey at a free half-day workshop in Cordova titled “Reclaim Your Ancestors: Bringing Genealogy to Our Community.”
The event on Feb. 23 at Advent Presbyterian Church is an attempt to “help us understand who we are, build bridges between generations and bind families together,” said organizer Nelvia Brady-Hampton, president of AARP Cordova Chapter 5449, which is co-sponsoring the workshop with the African-American Historical & Genealogy Club of Memphis.
She and her husband, Jack Hampton, founder of the Genealogy Club, began tracing their family histories several decades ago and have found them to be fascinating and significant. As a matter of fact, one reason they moved from Chicago to Tennessee was because they found family here. And they’ve learned so much.
“Jack found that he has a great great great-grandfather who served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War,” she said. “I found out recently that the family that owned my family once owned a gold mine! And I saw in the will of one patriarch that my ancestor was bequeathed to other members of the family as property. That was stunning.”
Brady-Hampton said she also learned that her father was a World War II hero who rescued several other sailors after their ship sank during a typhoon in the Philippines. Brady-Hampton is now awaiting her DNA test results to learn even more about her ancestral origins.
“It’s just been a fascinating experience for me personally. And it’s been fun,” Brady-Hampton said. She hopes that others will find it just as interesting and illuminating.
Speakers include Charles Williams, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Memphis. Individual assistance will be available at centers throughout the workshop, which runs 9:15-12:30.
Lunch is provided for those who RSVP by February 18 th at aarpcordova@comcast.net.
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