Wednesday, February 14, 2001
|
Wednesday, February 14, 2001 |
|
LDS Church releases new African-American data on CD In conjunction with Black History Day, Feb. 26, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is releasing a new genealogy CD for African-American genealogical research.The CD contains approximately 500,000 African-American names that have been gathered from research done on bank records from the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company was chartered by Congress in early 1865, for the benefit of ex-slaves. More than 70,000 African Americans held Freedman Bank accounts. Bank records document the names and family relationshops of account holders. In many cases, families who had been separated when members were "sold" have been reunited through the extraction process. "While these records are incomplete by normal genealogical standards, they are one of very few sources to document people of African American descent for this time period and are a vital collection for those with African American ancestry," a spokesperson said. Here in the Atlanta area, news of the new research material will be announced at a press conference next Monday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center, and there will be a live feed from a press conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, home base for the LDS church and the location of its huge genealogical library and storage facility. After the press conference, the CD will be available at local Family History Centers in Newnan and Jonesboro, or will be available to order from the LDS church for a minimal cost. Information may also be obtained from the church's web site, www.FamilySearch.org. |
