The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is offering a free beginner genealogy workshop Saturday at 10 a.m. at the William Winter Archives and History Building, the department said.
The seminar will cover basic research procedures and strategies for genealogical research, including techniques for African American genealogy, the department said. The workshop is held every February, is open to everyone and participants may sign up for a free research card, the department said.
The department said the Archives and History has several resources for genealogical research, including fellowships and finding aids.
Joyce Dixon-Lawson, formerly the manager of research and genealogy at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, will teach the workshop. Dixon-Lawson, who now works as a contract worker and freelance researcher for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, has been teaching genealogy for more than 30 years, she said. “You can’t rely on someone else to tell you what your history is. You need to know for yourself,” Dixon-Lawson said.
Dixon-Lawson outlined challenges in genealogical research for African Americans, saying researchers often must search slaveholders’ records such as deeds, wills and probate records because formerly enslaved people were not named on the federal census until 1870 and many changed last names after emancipation. She said some documents are inaccessible, lost or inaccurate and that research can carry an emotional toll. “Genealogy is a lifelong project. It’s personal, sometimes heartbreaking and very addictive,” Dixon-Lawson said. She advised would-be researchers to make a plan, get a research partner, keep digging, keep moving and verify everything, she said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
