Genealogy series will aid blacks

In commemoration of Black History Month, the Utah chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society and the Family History Library announce the sixth annual African-American Family History Research Series.

The free event will be held Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

The daylong series of classes and workshops will be kicked off by keynote speaker the Rev. Khadijah Matin, the national AAHGS president residing in New York City. The Rev. Matin has more than 30 years of service in the areas of history, health and adult education. Her research has focused on Midwest and Native American/African-American history.

She is a popular national lecturer and performs as a master storyteller, focusing on her family's history in the Midwest (Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska) and Ontario, Canada, as well as 19th and 20th century African-American history.

The Rev. Matin is also an executive board member of the Kansas Institute for African-American and Native-American Family History. The free classes will address popular genealogy topics and tips to succeed in doing African-American family history research. The library staff and volunteers will be available

throughout the day to offer free personal assistance. The Rev. Matin's presentation will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the main floor classroom. Family history classes and assistance with individual research will immediately follow the keynote address.

The class topics include: "The Power of DNA — Discovering Relationships." "Beginning Research," "Preserving Living Memory," "Researching Burned Counties," "African-American Online Resources," "FamilySearch Indexing," "Southern History" and "Genealogy Using Census Indexes Effectively." For a complete schedule of classes and times, go to FamilySearch.org, then to Family History Library Monthly Class Schedules.

There are three ways to register for the free classes: Send an e-mail noting desired classes to FHLClassReg@ldschurch.org; call 240-4950; or register at 9 a.m. the day of the event in the Family History Library. The Family History Library is located at 35 N. West Temple, directly west of Temple Square.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world's largest repository of genealogical resources. FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve Inc.