AAGGKY Meets at Camp Nelson

The Third Saturday meeting of the African-American Genealogy Group of Kentucky (AAGGKY) will be on July 21, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. at the Camp Nelson Civil War Heritage Park, 6614 Danville Road, Nicholasville, KY 40356.  Click here for directions.

Camp Nelson was the largest recruiting, mustering, and training center for African American troops (called U.S. Colored Troops) in Kentucky and one of the largest in the United States. 

It is also served as a contraband or refugee camp for family members of the U.S.C.T. recruits. This camp, which was administered by the Rev. John G. Fee of the American Missionary Association and Captain Theron Hall of the U.S. Army, contained cottages, dormitories, a hospital, a school, a dining room, and a laundry and held over 3,000 people at one time. The illness and death which resulted from removal of the African American refugees from Camp Nelson in November 1864 led directly to the passage of a Congressional Act which freed the family members of the U.S. Colored Troops and the implementation of a more structured program by the Army to care for and educate these people. The Camp has a very rich and interesting history!

Staff of the park will present a program, movie and a tour of the grounds!  Last year, we met at the park in June and had a great time!  We need to let the staff know how to plan for the day, so if you plan to attend, please R.S.V.P. by Monday, July 16th.  Hope to see you there.

African-American Genealogy Group of Kentucky (AAGGKY)

Website: www.aaggky.org

Email: aaggky@yahoo.com or aaggky@yahoogroups.com
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(502) 422-4457

April in Paris - April 21, 2012

The April 2012 Third Saturday meeting will be held on April 21, 2012 at the Paris-Bourbon County Public Library at 701 High St. in Paris, KY.  This month's speaker and topic will be Reinette Jones, editor of the Notable Kentucky African Americans (NKAA) Database, who will tell about the formation of the database and the treasures found there.

"There are more notable African Americans with Kentucky roots and ties than any
one person knows about. Very little has been written about many of them and it
is a challenge to find what was written in the past. For some, their stories
have only been told by word of mouth. The Notable Kentucky African Americans
Database (NKAA) has been developed as a finding aid to bring together a brief
description of pertinent names, places, and events, and to list the sources
where additional information may be found."
The program will start at 1:00 p.m., but some of us will be there early (around 10:00 a.m.) to research the Library's extensive history and genealogy collection.  Why not join us?

Descendants of Black Bereans

Did you have family who attended Berea College prior to the 1904 Day Law when the school was ordered to become segregated?  Larry Hamilton's great grandmother, Cynthia Ross Hannon attended during that era and kept a journal with notes and letters from her friends. In Hamilton's book, Between Two Suns: The Berean Experience he used these notes as chapter headings.  Since both my grandmothers, Julia Gray Richards and Emma Blythe Turner were also students at Berea pre-1904, it made me wonder who else has connections to Berea during this period.  Anyone you know?