Roadblocks are common when people research their family trees, but it’s even more common for African-Americans to encounter obstacles.
Until 1870, historical records for members of the African-American community were sparse, but there are ways to find the information, according to Dr. Walter Curry, a Columbia, SC. resident whose award-winning book “The Thompson Family: Untold Stories from The Past (1830-1960),” is available at the Aiken Center for the Arts.
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Technology allows people to go beyond printed documents.
“A trend in genealogy people can use is to get their DNA tested,” said Curry, who travels to Aiken County on a regular basis to speak.
While DNA testing has become a popular new trend, Curry said one way he’s found to learn about his family’s past is through family reunions, where the stories of previous generations are shared and passed down.
African-Americans who descended from slaves can also find information about their families through records related to the slaveholder families, he said.
Published in 2018, his book includes vignettes of some of Curry’s ancestors such as “a slave who purchased his freedom, a relative who served as a cook in the Confederate Army, a young relative who was tragically murdered and a sharecropper who became a prominent soil conservationist,” his biography read.
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Curry said one of his ancestors worked under Samuel J. Webb, who served at the Confederate Powder Works in Augusta. Curry has spoken with genealogy experts in Augusta about the possibility of programs on the Georgia side of the Savannah River, as well as Aiken County.
In February 2020, he was part of a program to discuss a museum exhibition called “Salley and the Thompson family” at the Aiken County Historical Museum. He has plans to speak at that museum again in June.
In February and March, he partnered with the Aiken Center For the Arts, where he met with Aiken County school groups to talk about “using conversations about the past to help students shape the narratives of their future,” according to a news release from the Aiken Center for the Arts.
One of the schools he visited was Wagener-Salley High School, his mother’s alma mater.
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“My book will be part of the curriculum,” he said. “I’m very excited about that.”
He also spoke at New Ellenton Middle School and Jackson Middle School. Curry, who has a doctorate in education, said his book can be used for a variety of classroom topics including English, social studies and history.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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