October is Family History Month

Leonard Smith III

Did you know October is Family History Month? Several states and cities have designated this month Family History Month. U.S. Senate has adopted similar resolutions in the past. It is estimated that there are over 80 million people researching their family histories. If kicked off Family History Month by donating my Harrell, Gordon, Vining, and Richardson Family History collection to the Amistad Research Center.

Nurturing Our Roots Television and Radio Talk Shows would like to recognize the author of the book entitled " A Beginner's Guide to Searching Family History" Leonard Smith lll. Leonard is the owner and president of LS3studios-an award winning multimedia production company. LS3 Studios offers a variety of services that include images and audio editing, production of broadcast quality video and multimedia presentation, custom photography and web development. For more information about LS3 Studios please visit http://www.LS3studios.com

LS3 Studios won two AVA award on March 13, 2013 in New York, NY There were 2,000 entries from throughout the United States, Canada and several other countries in the 2013 competition. Narrative Network and LS3 Studios were winners of the AVA Digital-Gold Award, for co-producing documentary trailer " From Shanghi to Harlem." in the category of Creativity Video and Production Editing.

New Orleans Musuem of Art(NOMA) presented a screening of LS3 Studio's " A Legend in the Classroom: The Life Story of Ms. Yvonne Busch, born in New Orleans in 1929 and raised in the historic Treme section of the city. Ms. Busch who mastered several brass instruments and wood chimes, became a touring professional by the age of 12, crisscrossing the United States as a member of the critically acclaimed "International Sweethearts of Rhythm" and the "Swinging Rays of Rhythm," two all female bands sponsored by the Piney Woods Country Life School, an African-American boarding school located in Piney Woods, Mississippi.

A Beginner's Guide to Searching Family History is a common-sense approach to you researching your genealogy. I share with the reader the benefit of the many years I have spent interviewing relatives, digging through courthouse records, traveling to historic sites, searching websites, and rediscovering the stories of those who came before us. I reaffirm the value of oral histories while also cautioning the reader to listen for contradictory narratives.

Get your copy today at http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Searching-Family-History/dp/1479144851

Leonard Smith III will be a guest on Nurturing Our Roots Blog Talk Radio Show with host Antoinette Harrell on Tuesday, October 15,  at 8:00 p.m. CST. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/antoinette-harrell

Harrell Family Papers Donated to the Amistad Research Center

Harrell donating family files: Photo Credit-Walter C. Black,Sr.

The Amistad Research Center is the nation's oldest, largest and most comprehensive independent archive specializing in the history of African Americans and other Ethnic Minorites. It was in the year of 2001 that I made the decision to donate my family papers to the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans, LA.

For the past two weeks I've been very busy preparing additional files to be donated for preservation. I getting stress how tedious that work is. I worked long hours organizing the files and going through every single sheet of paper, pictures and books. I have a long way to go yet

Harrell-Miller, Antoinette Family papers, 2000-2001 | Amistad Research Center

Scope and Contents: Antoinette Harrell-Miller of Amite, Louisiana, is a prolific activist who created a grassroots organization called Citizens for Change. Her papers consist of her book, You are My Shadow Gone But Not Forgotten: TheHarrell Family History with news clippings and family memorabilia that may have been used for her genealogical research and her book. The collection also contains photographs, leaflets, correspondence to local and state officials, and VHS videotapes.

Harrell-Miller, Antoinette Family papers 2004 addendum, 1939-2002 | Amistad Research Center

This addendum to the Harrell-Miller Family papers contains ledgers for the Petty AME Church in New Orleans, Louisiana, funeral books, and school books. The school books include a 1939 McDonogh High School autograph book and a 1976 St. Augustine High School yearbook. The church ledgers contain board and parishioner contact information, as well as financial records. The funeral books are for Isaac Stewart (1923-2002) and Michael Stewart (1958-1991).

Harrell-Miller, Antoinette Family papers 2005 addendum, 1925-2005 | Amistad Research Center

Scope and Contents: This addition to the Antoinette Harrell-Miller Family papers documents members of the Harrell and Stewart families of New Orleans. Prominent names include: Isaac Stewart, Juanita Stewart, Michael Stewart, Clarence Harrell, Minnie Harrell, and Edgar Harrell. Also included is documentation of Antoinette Harrell's activism on topics from affordable energy to reparation lawsuits, her work on African American genealogy, and information on Petty A.M.E. Church.  The collection contains correspondence; military, school, financial, voter registration, and property records; photographs; programs; flyers; news clippings, and other documents.

Harrell-Miller, Antoinette Family papers 2012 addendum, 1910-2011 | Amistad Research Center

This addition to the Antoinette Harrell-Miller Family papers documents members of the Harrell and Stewart families of New Orleans. Prominent names include: Isaac Stewart, Juanita Stewart, Michael Stewart, Clarence Harrell, Minnie Harrell, and Edgar Harrell. Also included is documentation of Antoinette Harrell's activism on topics from affordable energy to reparation lawsuits, her work on African American genealogy, and information on Petty A.M.E. Church and Fluker A.M.E. Church, both in Louisiana.  Of note are materials related to peonage cases in the South from the 1920s-1960s, information regarding Ballground Plantation (Mississippi) and Algodon Plantation (Madison Parish, LA), images of the Lawson family of Amite, Louisiana, and of Choctaw decent, and a 1910 letter regarding fundraising for the World’s Panama Exposition Company in Louisiana
The collection contains correspondence; military, school, financial, voter registration, and property records; photographs; programs; flyers; news clippings, and other documents.


                                       http://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/