Good Genes Genealogy Services

February 17, 2023

How to interview your family members

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It’s tough to ask tough questions

Have you ever wanted to ask questions of your relatives and backed away because it was not “a good time?” We have.

It’s time to get busy. Grab a notepad, make sure your audio and video recorders are sufficiently stocked with new batteries, put on your listening ears and initiate your family research.

It may be uncomfortable for some relatives to open us. That’s natural. Learning what to ask and who to ask questions of, are key to your success. Before you get knee deep in researching family history, make a list of your prospective interview subjects by simply asking, “do you mind if I interview you (or discuss with you) about our family history?”

Once you get to “yes,” you are on your way to discovering the gems and rough spots in your family.

How to handle interviews

You should seek information from everyone in your family, friends, neighbors, clergy, co-workers of your loved one. Whoever is willing to open up and share, are great informants.

  1. Often the oldest person you can speak to in your family, is the best source for robust information about your loved ones.
  2. Daughters and sons of elderly parents are often great sources of information to aid in your genealogy research.
  3. Neighbors, cousins and other relatives of all ages are great sources of information. Our maternal great grandfather’s delayed birth certificates lists a relative and neighbor as informants for Eugene Gibson Owen, Sr. to obtain his official documentation some 56 years after his birth. See below:
Great Grandfather Eugene G. Owen, Sr.’s delayed birth certificate from the state of Tennessee. He was 56 years old when received.

Who should your interview?

  1. Ask your interviewees if they are comfortable being recorded by video and audio devices, or other means. Negotiate for your best mutual benefits.
  2. This is not the time to pretend you are Oprah Winfrey or another celebrated interviewer who may garner as much attention as the interview subject.
  3. Remember that some matters are touchy subjects. Be sensitive to the questions that may not immediately or ever yield you answers from the person(s) you interview.
  4. Be humble. Humility goes a long way in family discussions.
  5. Listen. Listen. Hear them. Listen. Don’t overtalk your interview subject.
  6. Do not judge their comments. Their comments may not agree with today’s understanding of similar situations. For instance, some of our relatives stressed the importance of being silent against stiff situations involving racist behaviors towards them. Some interviewers may prefer to speak up, or vice versa in such situations.
  7. Organization matters. Establish your goals in interviewing your loved ones through a series of inquiries you have developed out of natural curiosity and “things” you may have heard or been told through family grapevines.
  8. Be flexible. Your established goals to glean certain information may not be forthcoming. In some cases, you may have to adapt your interview collection methods to meet your relatives where they are. For instance, I provided one of my loved ones with the opportunity to record their story. He mailed the cassette recordings to me. I had to locate a cassette player to download the important family data.
Grandson,John C. Kimbrough, (seated) interviews his Grandfather, Dr. Rodney S. Wead, on Wead’s porch in St. Louis.

Schedule time to meet

The more your relatives age, the more questions arise about what the loved ones know that can add value to your family’s history.

  1. Schedule a mutually convenient time to hold a virtual or in person meeting.
  2. The interviewer should make the request and establish the approximate length of the meeting. In person meetings tend to be longer than online meetings. Allow for the extra time.
  3. Plan for multiple meetings to gain a wide berth of information about your family.

Location matters

  1. Where you meet is key to the success of the information you obtain.
  2. In person meetings should also be guided by where the interviewee wishes to dish out the desired family information.
  3. In some cases, the interviewer may wish to recommend the location for the discussion. For instance, I asked my father to take the most comfortable chair in my home to begin our series of discussions. My maternal grandmother preferred a lunch date. My maternal grandfather was confined to a skilled nursing facility. That’s where I retrieved, we spent three days discussing our family.

What you should ask

There are myriad of questions to ask your loved ones in anticipation of great information about your family. One half of the Good Genes Genealogy team — Ann Wead Kimbrough — is a career journalist who’s interviewed perhaps thousands of individuals.

  1. Start with the basics in questions and allow it to build from there. The basic questions are “who, what, when, where, why and how?” Samples of what to objtain from your planned family discussions are found on the information sheets that Good Genes Genealogy Services has provided via its Genealogy Store.
  2. The questions provided in our e-workbook that was designed for the two workshops held on Feb. 11 and Feb. 18, 2023 in partnership with Atlanta’s Hillside International Truth Center, are designed to get at the core of the results needed to effectively conduct genealogy and ancestry research.

Interpreting results

It’s time to edit.

  1. Download your interviews onto another device as soon after your interviews as possible. In journalism circles, we were encouraged to review our reporting and begin writing while the information “was still hot.”
  2. Add notations in the margins of your written notes, or highlight your online reporting, or mark the time codes on your broadcast recording equipment when key points are made.
  3. Check out the information that you obtained. It is easy to get addresses or street names incorrect by your informants. There are plenty of historical maps, street directories, church records, ancestry, governmental and other data available to check the facts.
  4. In some cases, check back with the informants after interviews to help clarify the matters discussed.
  5. Produce your results in formats that are comfortable with you and family members. There are several genealogy books, other guides and even family Bibles that are great sources of recording the information from your well-earned interviews.

Happy researching!

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January 29, 2023

After 90 years: Amazing genealogy research techniques locates famous ancestor

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Charles I. Brown gets proper burial

A founder of the 109-year-old international Black male fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., was long “missing.” He is now found.

For serious genealogy researchers, it is a joyful and encouraging example of how customized techniques resulted in a fraternity victory and for Black genealogy research.

The absence of Charles I. Brown on earth was recorded beginning in 1924. In 1999, a small group of tenacious Sigmas, led by their “International Historian Mark “Mallet” Pacich, began a search on the whereabouts of their founder.” In 2015, the men of Phi Beta Sigma, found Brown’s body and they commenced with burying him with proper rites. Facts about his whereabouts during the missing years are still trickling into the fraternity.

More than 1,000 men and friends of Phi Beta Sigma at the dedication ceremony that included a church installation for the late Charles I. Brown

“He got lost,” said Rev. William Major during a Founders Day program in metro Atlanta. “Through genealogy research … he was found. He died in 1981,” Major said.

Major’s remarks were emotionally delivered in honor of the three founders of Phi Beta Sigma during the 2023 Metro Atlanta Founders Day program that included the fraternity’s sister organization, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. The two Black Greek-Letter entities are the only ones constitutionally bound in its founding. Dr. Ann Wead Kimbrough of Good Genes Genealogy Services, Inc. is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

Major and Kimbrough

Rev. William Major, left, and Dr. Ann Wead Kimbrough at their Fraternity’s and Sorority’s Founders Day observance in Decatur, GA. (Photo: Provided by Ann Wead Kimbrough)

On Jan. 9, 1914, on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., Brown, along with A. Langston Taylor and Leonard F. Morse, founded Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Today, the international organization is comprised of more than 150,000 college-educated and professional men, predominantly of African American origin. Since its inception, Phi Beta Sigma has been open to men of all race, religion, class and national origin.

Charles I. Brown, third from left, with his two other founders (right of him) and members of the Alpha Chapter, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Howard University

The fantastic search for the Phi Beta Sigma Founder Brown is well documented. What makes the search for Brown remarkable: Full use of available research resources. Flexibility and strategy are the keys to success in genealogy and ancestry research. In one blog, these words are instructive to all researchers:

THE SEARCH FOR CHARLES I. BROWN

The purpose of this blog is to gather information relating to Charles I. Brown. A most honorable founder of Phi Beta Sigma. We by no means claim a patent on the subject, nor are we seeking to upstage those who have done research prior to ours. We are willing to accept any and all help with this project. This is a plea to all brothers if you have any information, be it rumor, gossip or speculation please post it here.

http://charlesibrown.blogspot.com/

Details of the successful search

That is valuable content within the search-for-Brown blog:

Founder Brown is said to have been born in Topeka, Kansas in 1890. Census records show that his father was Rev. John M. Brown and that his mother was Maggie M. Brown. However, records at Howard University from 1910 have Founder Brown living at 1813 Titan Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was very cordial and very popular with the student body and Howard University Administration. He is credited with choosing the 9 charter members of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity. Founder Brown founded the Delta Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, on April 9, 1917, and through oral interviews was a teacher at the Kansas Industrial School for Negroes in Topeka, Kansas.

Census records and oral interviews have showed us that Founder Brown was alive in the Topeka, Kansas area until 1931. Some believe that he was a casualty of the First World War; others believe that he moved.

https://charlesibrown.blogspot.com/

While there are several aspects of Brown’s life that has not yet been fully restored, it is heartening to known that his remains were claimed by his beloved fraternity and he was given a proper memorial service. His legacy is worth reading.

CHARLES I. BROWN
August 27, 1885 – December 21, 1981

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December 11, 2022

Encouragement for family ancestry slueths: Finding a Christmas present in the past

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This December 1963 photo unlocked a few mysteries about our maternal grandmother

Often the Good Genes Genealogy Services team will encourage our fellow ancestry history seekers to review your family documents, spaces such as attics and garages, and other artifacts for clues to our family history.

We used our advice.

Searching through our grandmother’s boxes, we found cool materials that revealed brand new information about her job title at the United States’ only military air command headquarters.

Give yourself a present from the past. Happy searching!

Seated left, “Mama” Helen Wilks Owen Douthy — maternal grandmother of the Good Genes Genealogy Services team — was 45 years old when this photo was taken. She was a cast member and costume staff member of the Omaha, Nebr.-based The Repertory Players. She is pictured here as they celebrated the wrap of their play, “Antigone.” Antigone is a classic Greek tragedy story about “man’s relationship to man, to the state, and to the gods.” It is worth reading and viewing the drama that tells of the cruel fate inflicted upon the deceased King Oedipus.

This article opened brick wall

The above find was hidden in one of many scrapbooks of our Mama Helen. For the first time, we learned that her title at the Strategic Air Command’s Offutt Air Force Base was as a weapon systems division secretary. The article was published in the SAC newsletter. Recently, we confirmed that Mama Helen was indeed a “Hidden Figure,” much like the ladies depicted in the award-winning non-fiction work.

This paper ticket shares much about Mama Helen’s resolve to be true to her passion of serving in the theatre. She was still serving as a secretary for a major SAC official and her work location was about 32 miles from Mama Helen’s home. The show began at 8:30 p.m. on five Sundays through December 1963. Mama Helen arrived home late and had to rise early to report to work by 8 a.m. She never had a driver’s license and did not drive. She depended on shared transportation. During the winter months, the likely icy and snowy roads were a bit dangerous, yet our “Hidden Figure” always accomplished her mission to work on the government’s secret work assignments.

This is a blast from the past: telegrams! It was a chic thing to send to anyone in 1963 as it meant that they paid $$s to deliver a message to intended receivers in record time. The telegram preceded today’s email system.

Bravo! Mama Helen was a cast member and helped to design and create the costumes. As children, we would often encounter various costumes for plays that were prepped in Mama Helen’s basement sewing cave.

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December 10, 2022

How our ancestors’ Christmas traditions brightened our lives

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“When I was a child, I remember my grandmother giving each of her grandchildren a large candy cane and $5 in an envelope. It didn’t matter how young or old we were, we all waited for and loved getting this gift at Christmas,” said Veverly Byrd-Davis of her grandmother who is now one of our ancestors.

Christmas traditions. The Good Genes Genealogy team recalls each Christmas receiving an orange or clementine, an apple, candy cane and bits of other candy in a small brown paper bag from our great-grandmother, Edna Robinson. Our dear ancestor made sure that each grandchild and children participating in the annual Christmas Eve pageant received the humble gift bags. It was a tradition born from the blend of African, European and indigenous Americans’ traditions.

First fruits

In Rwanda, African, a Christmas tree ornament honors the “first fruits” tradition of offering the food to symbolize the annual rich harvest. We hang the ornament — a handmade, miniature basket — on our Christmas tree to symbolize the African tradition.

Deeply rooted Christmas traditions

Slaves, the St. Nicholas traditions, the Great Depression and the Black churches all have a common bond related to the presenting of so-called Christmas fruit bags.

Share your Christmas memories

The Good Genes Genealogy team asks that you share your memories of holiday gifts. You may place them in this post and/or make them a part of your holiday discussions with family and friends.

Happy Holidays

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November 21, 2022

Genealogy Book Black Friday Sale!

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We are thankful that you are a member of our genealogy family. To show our gratitude, the Good Genes Genealogy Services team is offering our November 2021 ebook, Family Ties That Bind, to you at a Black Friday 2022 rate.

We are providing you with preview of the book. Please follow the link to our publisher’s store, or pick up your copy on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Enjoy reading a portion of our Chapter 3.

Family Ties That Bind

Are you one-fourth or one-eighth African? The U.S. Census wanted to know

Chapter 3


There’s a knock on the door.
It’s Monday, June 2, 1890, the first day the U.S. Census takers began their monthlong gathering of data that would provide unique, one-time information forever etched in our historical documents. The questioner posed several questions to the household representative. Among those worth noting was the following:

Question #4 ask whether the races of the household inhabitants are “white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, Chinese, Japanese or Indian.” The Census questioner could no longer look at the household and answer the question. It was up to the household member to self-disclose the information. It was the first and last time that the “quadroon and octoroon” race descriptions were asked on Census documentations.

According to a National Public Radio report, “the government concluded: “These figures are of little value.” “Quadroon” and “octoroon” have never been used again for the census.”

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May 30, 2022

MONDAY MAY 30, 2022I STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF MY ANCESTORSYour connection to your ancestors is the shortest path to God. Whatever your connection to your ancestors is- whether it is a heart connection or whether it is a distant memory- they are a part of you. And you are a part of them. Your connection with them transcends lost stories, names, and pictures. You are here because of them, and their soul lives in your heart, bones, and flesh. I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors. I know that whether I know their stories or not, I am connected to them. We are bound together by a divine web of life. I call on them every day. I call on my biological ancestors, as well as my spiritual ancestors. My connection with my ancestors gives me life. It is my foundation. Thank you, Power, in me, through me, as me, around me, through the Christ within. And so it is.Honor your father and your mother,that your days may be long upon the landwhich the Lord your God gives you.Exodus 20:12Daily Thoughts from the HillCopyright: Hillside International Truth Center, Inc.Bishop Dr. Jack L. Bomar – Executive BishopBishop Dr. Barbara L. King – Founder

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From the resting place of Clark Atlanta University’s first president, Dr. Thomas Cole, Jr., to ancestors of other families, to relics of our past, our history is never forgotten.

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May 4, 2022

How to stay out of “trouble” when posting ancestry, genealogy, historic finds

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One of the best ways to attract the attention of the genealogy “police” is to utilize materials that are either copyright protected or belong to private collections. Instead, find the copyright owners and utilize government archives and subscription services — including those that require fees — to remain free and clear in your postings. For instance, my subscription with WordPress entitles me to pull photos from its files.

Photo by Kerde Severin on Pexels.com

Some tips:

  1. Remember to first check the copyright status of any document or visual element when preparing to post the material in the so-called public domain. Social media is considered public domain. Social media is not considered the public domain. It may seem as if I was double-speaking. I am and I am not. Here’s why:

Just because something has been posted to Instagram, Twitter, or other social media platforms does not mean that content is now in the public domain and free for anyone to use. Social media is no different than other forms of online content — the content creator retains the copyrights to any images, text, or video he or she created. When reusing content found on the internet it’s vitally important to make sure you have obtained the right to do so from the content owner.

https://www.freeadvice.com/legal/who-owns-the-content-posted-on-social-media/

2. I usually post content and pictures that are derived from my personal files, including photographs taken by me or someone who have given the “rights” for me to do so.

Source: Ancestry, family files.

3. I usually seek photos to reuse that are from public sources such as the National Archives, Georgia Archives, newspapers and other media where the ownership is clearly stated. Please add the citations that are conveniently provided by the public site. For instance, the Digital Library of Georgia via GALILEO, offers five tabs on its site that include “cite.” Click on that tab and you will find the following for the photo that I am posting:

Citations
Photograph of the parent teacher association booth at the fair, Manchester, Georgia, 1953
MLA
Not Available. “Photograph of the parent teacher association booth at the fair, Manchester, Georgia, 1953.” Pine Mountain Regional Library. 1953, http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/pinemountain/do:bhtc53312.
APA
Not Available (1953). Photograph of the parent teacher association booth at the fair, Manchester, Georgia, 1953. Retrieved from http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/pinemountain/do:bhtc53312
Chicago
Not Available. “Photograph of the parent teacher association booth at the fair, Manchester, Georgia, 1953.” 1953. May 4, 2022. http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/pinemountain/do:bhtc53312.
https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gbp_bhtc_bhtc53312
https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gbp_bhtc_bhtc53312

4. Below is the content that accompanies the above photograph. I post it with a sigh of relief that all copyright and/or free use content is acceptable.

Collection:Pine Mountain Regional Library CollectionTitle:Photograph of the parent teacher association booth at the fair, Manchester, Georgia, 1953Date of Original:1953Subject:Parents and teachers assocations–Georgia–Manchester
Fairs–Georgia–Manchester
Coca Cola (Trademark)
Concessions (Amusements, etc.)–Georgia–Manchester
African American children–Georgia–ManchesterLocation:United States, Georgia, Meriwether County, Manchester, 32.85985, -84.61993Medium:photographsType:StillImageFormat:image/jpegDescription:Photograph captioned “The PTA booth doesn’t seem as busy as the Woman’s Club booth at present.” Two girls and a boy stand in front of the parent teacher association booth at the Tri-County Fair in Manchester, Georgia.Metadata URL:http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:gbp_bhtc_bhtc53312Digital Object URL:http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/pinemountain/do:bhtc53312Language:engOriginal Collection:Pine Mountain Regional Library, Manchester, GeorgiaHolding Institution:Pine Mountain Regional LibraryRights:

Locations

1 locations associated with this record

https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gbp_bhtc_bhtc53312

5. Be careful with the use of music as copyright infringement cases are plentiful in this category. Yet, there are many ways to work around using music in your genealogy spaces with safety and care. My advice:

Keep your ancestry genealogy research fun and worthwhile. The best way is to avoid collisions with those who troll with the intent to make innocent mistakes a big deal.

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it, establish your priorities and go to work.” Anonymous

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February 27, 2022

Closing the Month of Sankofa with Ancestral Prayer and Healing

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The gathering for ancestral prayer and healing at Hillside International Truth Center, Atlanta, GA

On a warm Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, Hillside’s Presiding Bishop Dr. Jack L. Bomar, led the sacred, community “Ancestral Prayer” ceremony. It included drumming that girded the rhymical and ancestral honoring blessings with the pouring of libations by Hillside member Sharon A. Smith. Today, she said, “I am the High Priestess” while acknowledging the oldest person attending the ceremony to give her the permission to continue.

The ceremony was the culmination of a monthlong series of genealogy workshops led by the Good Genes Genealogy Services team. GGGS donated its services to its host, Hillside International Truth Center, which is undergoing a massive renovation on the church’s nearly 50-year-old facility.

The outdoor ceremony was highlighted by Bishop Bomar leading the attendees in a process that began with everyone listing their ancestors on a blue sheet of paper. Everyone was asked to call the names of the ancestors and affirm the following prayer:

Some 60 persons recited the prayer and continued their family ceremony to remove any negative Karma they felt towards ancestors, and they symbolically cancelled all ancestral debt with the purpose of their families moving forward in all levels of prosperity.

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