Reference Review: African-American Genealogy at a Glance

September 19, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

Just the other morning, a young protege was saying that her research seemed unfocused and that she thought she needed to go someplace other than her usual research venues. I talked a few ideas with her. Then, the next day, I received a review copy of Genealogy at a Glance: African American Genealogy Research. My protege’s dilemma was solved (almost)!

A 2011 addition to Genealogical Publishing Company‘s series, Genealogy at a Glance, this four page reference is by Michael Hait, one of the points of light in the sometimes foggy world of genealogical research. (Wait, did you say four pages? Yes, yes I did say “four pages!”).

Okay, so I was skeptical, too, that such a topic could be adequately and accurately reduced to just four pages of text. But as I studied it, I found it to be concise, easy to understand, yet accurate and comprehensive. Hait covers the field very nearly completely in the space allotted. From “Basic Research Sources” to “Free African Americans in the North and South” the author gives tips and reference citations. He tells where to find the records (many have limited availability).

This reference is useful for novice and experienced researchers alike. It certainly is a road map of sorts for the newcomer; for the old hand, it may jog a memory or inspire a new approach. For all experience classes, it can provide an organizing template for research.

The material really is usable “at a glance.” Hait’s writing is direct and active; the editorial lay out is easy to follow. At the end, he includes a short list of online resources and a “Further Reading” section.

A concession to space, no doubt, was the omission of special collections at academic research institutions such as the Louisiana State University Libraries or the University of Virginia, which house many files of slave-owning families.

But nonetheless, Michael Hait, who writes the African-American Genealogy Examiner column, scores again with this simple, but elegant reference guide. Check out Michael’s own websites at haitfamilyresearch.com and Planting the Seeds.

Genealogical Publishing Company is the world’s leading publisher of genealogical books and CD’s, with over 2000 titles in its catalog.

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God Bless . . .

September 11, 2011 Craig Uncategorized

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September 11, 2001: All History is Personal

September 11, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

[Prologue: The following is merely a rendition of my personal experience on September 11, 2001. It is not particularly poignant or profound; merely observational. There are no stories of extraordinary heroism or the like. It is, however, a bit out of context, since like all historical pieces, it's part of a larger story about being in Washington--that is, official "Washington," in the four years after 9/11/2001, a story I'm just beginning to tell.]

I flew into town arriving late that night. At the hotel, the desk clerk told me that there had been some mistake in my reservation and I could stay there just one night and I’d have to find accommodations elsewhere for the remainder of my stay.

I made a quick call to one of my contacts and she said that they would work the issue in the morning, but that I should bring all of my luggage with me because I’d be moving to another hotel. They wanted to see me in the office at 8:00 a.m.

Certain that the greatest adventure of my life was about commence, I hurriedly readied for bed to get a good night’s sleep. The President of the United States about a week earlier officially had informed the Senate that he was nominating me to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior, in charge of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. And now the Senate had scheduled the first of two committee hearings on my nomination. It would be in four days.

As I drifted off to sleep in Alexandria, Virginia, I glanced at the clock. It was 11:30 pm, September 10, 2001.

*** *** *** ***

I took a taxi to Main Interior, located about equidistant between the White House and the State Department. The area was becoming familiar, as I had been there several times since the President had announced his intent to nominate me in August.

I was escorted to an office on the sixth floor where I would “live” while being briefed and prepared for the Senate hearings. As I settled in (with all of my luggage in tow!), I was struck by the surreality of it all. I was not rich or famous; I was just a guy from suburban Sacramento; an ordinary guy with a dog and a mortgage on what could be said to be a modest ranch-style house. Yet, here I was in the Nation’s Capital being prepared to meet the Senate of the United States!

My first briefing that morning was to be with the Interior Department’s liaison with the Defense Department, on issues that concerned both departments. My briefer was a smart and savvy Air Force colonel named Tom Lilly. We had met during one of my earlier visits and had gotten on well. (I was a colonel in the Air Force Reserve and had served twice at the Pentagon).

Tom and I had just begun to discuss business when one of us noticed flames leaping into the sky as we looked to the south from the sixth floor of the Interior building. Tom stood up for a better view.

“That’s the Pentagon that’s on fire!” he said. I came to the window and could see that he was right. Having worked in the building and being familiar with its construction, I wondered aloud what on earth could have caused such an enormous fire. Only a major explosion could . . . .

I was pondering the perplexing possibilities and rejecting each one out of hand, when Tom said, “Let’s go turn on CNN.” We went two offices down the hall toward the Deputy Secretary’s office and found an empty room with a television in it.

CNN wasn’t yet reporting the fire at the Pentagon. There was apparently a bigger story:

An airplane had struck the World Trade Center in New York City. Tom and I found this as implausible as the fire at the Pentagon. The CNN anchors were speculating about a “navigation error.” But Tom and I both had sufficient knowledge of aviation to know that a “navigation error” was the least likeliest cause. Somebody had deliberately flown that airplane into the building . . . but why and how. . . and who? We had not yet connected the dots with the Pentagon fire.

As we watched, a second plane came into view and struck the other tower! We just stood there, horrified.

At that moment, someone came running down the hall, saying, “Prepare to evacuate the building! There’s a car bomb at the State Department [which turned out not to be true].”

Evacuate the building? And go where? Because of the reservations glitch. I didn’t have anywhere to stay in the Washington area. I was still a civilian as far as the federal government was concerned. What should I do?

I first contacted my family in California and let them know I was okay for the moment, but that I had no idea where I would be for the rest of the day. As I continued to ponder my next step, the Deputy Secretary stuck his head into the room and said, “You’re coming with us!”

We got down to Interior’s basement parking garage into a car owned by Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason. Heading out of the building and onto 19th Street, we could see chaos ruling the city. The streets were clogged with thousands s of people, most walking or running, heading toward Virginia.

The traffic moved very slowly. I had no idea where we were headed. The two official guys kept referring to a site by a code name. We listened to Washington’s all-news station WTOP, and heard that the White House staff and the First Lady had been evacuated and heard a repeat of the report of a suspected car bomb at the State Department.

After a long ride through nearly impossible traffic we arrived at the site where the Interior Department executive staff had relocated; all but the Secretary were present. There were computers set up all around thins place monitoring the events that continued to unfold. Conflicting reports about the hijacking of a number of planes continued to come in. Another plane was said to be “missing.”

When we had been there for about half an hour, the Secretary arrived with her security detail. She had been taken away from Main Interior before the general evacuation was ordered. A few minutes after she arrived, her security people received a message. She was to leave the present site immediately. And she did.

Shortly after the Secretary’s departure, the Deputy Secretary announced that the rest of us would be heading to yet another site, identified publicly only by a code name. We left in the car immediately.

What I can say about this second site is that it was in a state some distance from Washington (not Maryland or Virginia), and that when we arrived, it appeared that the whole Interior Department headquarters had been replicated there. I was quite impressed with the diligence that must have gone into the effort. But still it was surreal . . . like a Tom Clancy novel come to life.

Because I had all my luggage with me, I was among the best prepared to stay there for awhile. Few others had changes of clothes and toothbrushes with them!

By now, we knew that the United States had been attacked by foreign terrorists and had a pretty good idea of who they were.

These events transpired so quickly that I had little time to think about them. On another day that week, we returned to Washington; the Pentagon was still burning. Needless to say, my confirmation hearings were postponed indefinitely. I had to hang round Washington for some period of time because nobody knew what was going to happen next and there were no planes flying to California.

I got restless after a few days and opted to take Amtrak back to California. The train was overloaded and it took four long days to get to Sacramento. During the trip, the train ran out of food and the toilets overflowed. I was glad to be home.

[Epilogue: Less than twelve hours after I arrived home, I was summoned back to Washington. I returned on a nearly empty United Airlines flight nonstop from Sacramento. And so began one of the most unusual decades of my life and in our Nation's history.]
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Welcome The Catholic Gene

September 3, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

This morning, I awakened to things usual and brand-new! The usual thing was that my mother-in-law, aged 90, was up and watching Mother Angelica on EWTN [Eternal Word Television Network; Comcast channel 233 in the Greater Sacramento area]. (My mother-in-law’s family has been Catholic since at least 1722; which I believe is about when  Mother Angelica commenced her television ministry!) The unusual thing was that a new blog appeared in my reader!

The Catholic Gene has gone live on wordpress.com! The brainchild of the well-grounded Donna Pointkouski, it’s a blog  “dedicated to the faith of our fathers and mothers…and their ancestors.  This blog will feature articles by a diverse group of authors who share a strong Catholic identity and a love for genealogy. Join us as we share about genealogy, the Catholic faith, and anything in which those two worlds intersect.”

The Catholic Gene features some of the most well-regarded writers in the geneablogosphere: Donna, of course, of What’s Past is Prologue;  Jasia, the multi-talented writer and photographer who publishes Creative Gene and is the Queen of the Carnival; Denise Levenick, the fabulous Family Curator and Shades The Magazine’s Penelope Dreadful; Lisa of the Smallest Leaf, our exemplary expositor of Eire (and more! ); the incomparable Steve Danko; the esteemable Lisa A. Alzo; prolific author Cecile Wendt Jensen, of the Wolverine State; the most Educated Genealogist I know (and the one who’ll keep us on the path to salvation [or not] with her Get Out of Hell Free cards), Sheri Fenley.

And somehow, this great group asked moi to join!  Thank you!

The first post is up now at The Catholic Gene; and tomorrow (Sunday, September 4, 2011) a special treat: The Carnival of Genealogy will be hosted at The Catholic Gene! The topic is “Ancestors’ Places of Worship.”

Update: One member of our group not mentioned above is the extraordinary footMaven, our favorite Lutheran and honorary Catholic [we'll forgive that stuff back in the 16th & 17th Centuries]. She and her family could use some good old fashion prayer right now, so please remember them.

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African-Native American Research: A Chat with Author Nita Ighner

August 21, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy, Oklahoma

A few years ago, I came across a blog entitled “Diggin’ Up Bones.” It was extremely well done, recording the research odyssey of its author, Nita Ighner. Her journey took her to the Carolinas where she learned some very interesting things about her family history. She did archival research as well oral history–all quite impressive. Ighner is a college professor teaching American Sign Language at a college in Southern California. She is the author of an ASL study guide. She’s also an accomplished artist in several media and holds a patent on a doll that she designed.

More recently, Nita has started off on another path in her family history – exploring her Native American roots. On this journey she has provided us once again the benefit of her learning two new books published this summer.

GeneaBlogie recently had the honor and privilege ask Nita some questions about her research and her books.

GeneaBlogie: Tell us a little bit about how your own search for your ancestors got started. What was the one thing, if there was one thing, that compelled you to look for them?

Nita Ighner: I didn’t wonder too much about my mother’s side of the family because she always told us family stories and I knew my grandparents and all of my mother’s siblings. However, my father was an only child who was raised by his grandparents and we knew only knew his father. He later introduced us (I have two brothers and two sisters) to his mother, who he never lived with. My father’s side of the family was a mystery to us for years. That’s the reason I started my search 20 years ago.

Nita IghnerAuthor Nita Ighner

G: You had a terrific blog called Diggin’ Up Bones, which chronicled your search for ancestors on your father’s side of the family. It revealed some interesting things. Can you tell us about some of the most interesting parts about searching for ancestors on your father‘s side?

Nita: Thank you! On the 1880 Census for Newberry, South Carolina I found the names John and Nancey Ighner. I wasn’t sure how or even if they were apart of my family, but I was hoping that they were since we knew nothing beyond my small family. On that census record were listed three young mulatto granddaughters living with John and Nancey named Carrie, Clara, and Sophina. There was no indication as to who their parents were. For some reason, those girls became my obsession. I had to find out who they were and what had happened with them. Well, years later when I did make contact with family members in Newberry, S.C., I was invited to my first family reunion. My two sisters and I attended the reunion in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Just the sight of the family name – Eigner – on the marquee made me extremely proud and extremely emotional. After our first family meeting I was approached by a cousin who handed me a video tape. She told me that her 97 year old mother – Erleen Eigner Paschal – had heard that I was going to be attending the reunion and wanted me to watch the tape. Erleen also sent me a message inviting me to visit her in North Carolina as soon as possible because she didn’t know how long she would be with us. A few days after having returned home from the reunion I decided to watch the tape. On that tape Erleen narrated the family’s story. I could not believe my ears. It turned out that my 97 year old cousin was the daughter of Clara, one of the three granddaughters on the 1880 Census! Needless to say, I flew to visit her immediately. What a darling woman she was. It is because of her that I know so much about my family today. She was able to give me many names and tell me many remarkable family stories. I found out that the reason the three girls’ mother was not listed on the census record was because she had died of Consumption. Their father was not listed because he was white. Erleen remembered her grandfather very clearly. My cousin’s father – Asa Eigner – was my great uncle. He was the brother of my great-grandfather John Ighner Jr., and John Jr., was the grandfather who raised my father. I’ll never forget what Erleen told me after my visit. She said, “I loved you from the first time I saw you.” I truly felt the same of her. Erleen died at the age of 107. In addition to all of that wonderfulness, I found and ordered copies of my ancestors’ slave owner’s Will. In there I found the names of my g-g-g-grandparents John Eigner l and his mother Adeline.

G: You followed Diggin’ Up Bones with another terrific blog called Erma’s Roots or On the Other Side. As the name suggested, it was about the search for ancestors on your mother side of the family. What were some most interesting parts about searching for your mother’s ancestors?

Nita: Thank you again! I was amazed to find my great-grandfather Wesley Galloway and his brother Henry on the 1870 Grant, Arkansas Census. I also found my great-grandparents’ – Wesley and Josephine Galloway – wedding certificate application.

G: One of the things that I found interesting was that you seem to know a little more about your father’s African ancestry than his Native American ancestry, but on your mother’s side you know more about her Native American ancestry than you do her African ancestry. Can you tell us about about that?

Nita: There is a difference in my family search methods because even though I know that my g-g-grandmother Nancy Horsey Suber Eigner was half Native American and was brought to Newberry, SC on horseback by her father when she was age 5 then sold (tragic), no one knows which tribe she belonged. The only thing we have to hang onto is that Nancy remembered her father’s name, which was Horsey and that he would call out to his horse the word(s) “Gullapalucha”. Of course that’s phonetically spelled. I have been conducting my own study to try and find the tribe my father’s family is from by cross-referencing the word(s) with Native American vocabulary that might appear similar in its spelling. I’m still searching. Erleen was also able to tell me that my g-g-grandmother Harriet Darby Eigner was Ibo and Gullah.

As for my mother’s side of the family, it’s always been known that my grandfather’s line is part Choctaw. I’ve only gone up to 1870’s through my grandmother’s line. There’s still much to do.

G: Now, in the course of your initial research into your family’s history, you actually went to South Carolina and met people on the ground, so to speak. Did you meet any descendants of former slave owners, and if so, how did they treat you?

Nita: Yes. I did visit South Carolina many times for my research and to visit my newly found family. It has been FANTASTIC! They have been amazingly kind. However, I haven’t met any of the slave owner’s descendents in South Carolina. For several years, however, I did – at one time – keep up regular communications with one of the slave owner’s descendents by phone. She lives in Mississippi. She was very sweet and invited me to stay with her family for a vacation. I never did. She also sent me a photo of her ancestors.

G: I want to turn now to your two books which recently have been published. They’re available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble’s BN.com. We’ll talk more about the availability of your books in just a minute. The two books are first, “Choctaw Minor Freedman Enhanced,” which contains Choctaw tribal enrollment figures and a few other things we’ll talk about in a minute as well. And the second book is “The 1900 African-American census in the Seminole and Muscogee nations.” Let’s take the first book, the Choctaw enrollment numbers. There may be some who are not familiar as to what your title refers. What is meant by “Freedman” in this context?

Nita: The term Freedman – in reference to my books – refers to those of African heritage who were slaves owned by Native Americans such as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole Nations.

G: And what is meant by “Minor” Freedman?

Nita: “Minor Freedman” was the term given to a child or children born to those freed slaves. They were born between the years of 1899 and 1906.

G: The title of the second book also alludes to “slaveowners.” Is it true that the Choctaw owned slaves?

Nita: A quick answer for your question is ‘Yes indeed! Choctaw Indians owned slaves.’ I must say that the Choctaws weren’t the only indigenous people to own slaves. In fact, all five tribes of the Civilized Indian Nations owned slaves. And as if that weren’t enough, many slaves marched the Trail of Tears along side their owners. Your question is very important. For years, many African-American families – including mine – have passed down little snippets of stories or the memory of physical features that allude to the possibility of sharing Indian blood. Sometimes those stories take us only so far then leave us wondering as did the ancient world maps that hinted at monsters beyond a certain point without one bit of proof. Due to the assimilation of European cultural behaviors, many Indian tribes proudly owned slaves. It doesn’t matter if only 3% or 8% of them owned slaves, it didn’t make a slaves life any better. And it doesn’t matter how they purportedly treated their slaves well, a slave owner is a slave owner. It’s important for us to know that it was the institution of slavery that most likely made it possible for us to claim Indian heritage.

There are a few people out there working hard to keep us informed about this part of our history. Angela Y. Walton-Raji has done an astounding job for years on the subject. She manages the African-Native American Genealogy Forum on Afrigeneas web site as well as taking on many other duties. The information is there for all who need it. We just have to look for it.

G: In the second book, you present the 1900 African-American census in the Seminole and Muscogee nations. Why is this particular census is important?

Nita: I chose the 1900 Seminole and Muscogee for my second book for two reasons. One, I’m simply chipping away at the massive amount of information that’s out there and trying to make it more convenient for those who are in need of it. Two, I find that family names from the 1900 Census seem to be easily remembered by our older family members than the names prior to that time.

G: Is there some present significance or relevance to the Seminole and Muscogee nations’ relationship with African-Americans?

Nita: From what I’ve read, the Seminole and Muscogee Nations were more culturally interactive with slaves to the point that some became leaders and scouts.

G: On your website which is www.soreheadbear.com, you seem to draw some parallels between indigenous North American tribes and African tribes. What do you think those parallels are and how have they informed the modern cultures of Native Americans and African Americans?

Nita: The earth exudes soul. I’ve found with indigenous groups around the world and particularly those of the Americas and of Africa that the reception of that soul speaks out in very similar ways. How many times have we said to ourselves and maybe to others, “Those guys are just like us!” when we recognize a sameness in one another indigenous groups? Whether people like it, believe it, or can’t even think about it, there is something of ourselves that we can readily see in others.

G: There seems to be a rift of sorts between some of the Native American tribes and their African ancestored members. What do you know about that and how do you feel about?

Nita: Simply said, assimilation is a bitch. It was all orchestrated and, boy, did it play out the way in which it was intended to. Andrew Jackson purposed a dilution of Native American blood by strongly suggesting that as many Europeans as possible marry into the Indian tribes. Why? For one thing, those European marriages assured the future ownership of American land. No treaties would need to be drawn for what would already be possessed by the right people. Also, by discouraging the mixture of Africans and Indians, the reservations would not become a safe haven for those who were brought here strictly for the purpose of carrying out the duties of servitude. And so, the idea was pretty much bought.

G: You are an artist by nature and profession. How have your artistic sensibilities influenced your search for ancestors?

Nita: That’s an exciting question. Beyond merely knowing my background, my art seems to bring forth the rhythm of my heritance without any conflicts. I can see that there is no fight in me as to who I am. There is only a truthful harmony that pours forth from my ancestors. If I want to know them, all I have to do is pay attention to what comes out of me. That is how they speak to me.

G: Have you met any Native American cousins over the years since you began your research? Tell us about that.

Nita: No I haven’t met any Native American cousins. That would be interesting. However, I have met several people of the Choctaw Nation that have asked me if I was part Choctaw. Confirmation does have a way of feeding the soul.

G: If you haven’t met any Native American cousins, do you expect to and what will you say or do when you do meet them?

Nita: That would be exciting. I think I want to be surprised by it.

G: I want to talk for a minute about the books – the logistics of the books. They’re published by your own imprint, sorehead bear press, only in e-book format. So they’re available for Barnes & Noble’s NOOK and Amazon.com’s Kindle. Did you have any trepidation about publishing only in the e-book format?

Nita: My initial intent was to publish them in hardbound. It wasn’t until I had already put my information in book form that I realized how convenient it would be to go eBook with them. I have a NookColor and LOVE being able to read books that would otherwise be much too heavy to carry around. I can do my research wherever I go. And needless to say, I can regulate the price and make my work much more accessible to the readers. It’s a great tool. I’m able to search specific names, highlight, bookmark, etc. EBooks are absolutely wonderful!

G: I have always admired your work ethic. What kind of discipline did it take to sit down and create these books and how long did you think about them before you got down to the business of researching and writing?

Nita: I believe my ability to do this kind of detailed work is just a part of my quirky personality. I do the same with very detailed art. I get an idea and I immediately go for it. I usually come right in from work and get on the computer. Sometimes it can be everyday for a month or several months. I tear away at my purpose until it’s done. And I have to admit that sometimes in the midst of it I say to myself, “WHAT WAS I THINKING?”

G: What kind of reception have you gotten in the African-American and Native American communities about your project?

Nita: To be truthful, only a couple of people have encouraged me with their admiration for my work. I don’t let a lack of support influence my desire to compile and publish as much information as I can. I’m meeting my own goals and that’s what keeps me going.

G: It’s quite apparent from your work that family means a lot to you; for example, the website is dedicated to your grandfather, the Bishop Joseph Galloway. And you’ve made mention in several places of your brother, the renowned composer Benard Ighner. Have you gotten lots of support from your family on this project?

Nita: My Uncle Alfred who is the last of nine siblings in my mother’s family is very supportive and excited about my projects. My own siblings are extremely supportive and though they might get lost in my genealogical ramblings, they listen anyway. We’ve all been blessed with talent of some sort and we adore one another’s work. My mother – who passed away 9 years ago – raised us to be supportive. My oldest sister Jo writes and paints. Benard, my oldest brother continues to leave the imprint of his musical genius on the world. My sister Sandy was the first African-American woman to sing with Sergio Mendes and has since sang all over the world. And my youngest brother Keith is a phenomenal bassist and composer whose work was recorded by Freddie Hubbard when he was just 17. So, when you look at it, this is probably just me doing my thing. And they are supportive even still. My mother had a saying when we shared our projects with her. She’d say, “I’m so far in your corner that you can’t even get in there.” And that’s how my siblings and I are to one another.

G: When can we expect more publications from Nita Ighner?

Nita: I’m working on three things right now. Two of them are genealogical in nature, concerning the Chickasaw Nation and the slaves in South Carolina. And I’ve just started a book of fictional short stories that will also be published on eBooks. So, you’ll be seeing something else from me soon.

Nita: Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity to talk about my work. For someone whose work I have admired for such a long time, it is quite a compliment to be interviewed by you. Thank you again.

G: Thank you! It was a privilege.

Read Nita’s books

1900 African-American Census in the Seminole and Muscogee Nations

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

Choctwa minor FreedmenChoctaw Minor Freedmen Enhanced

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble

 

 

 

Learn more about the black members of tribes in America:

Black Indian & Intertribal Native American Association

Cherokee by Blood

Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes

Afrigeneas African-Native American Genealogy Forum

 

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A Couple of Exciting Genealogy Events: Save These Dates!

August 17, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

Here are a couple of exciting upcoming events:

State Acrhives bldg

California State Archives, 1020 O Street, Sacramento

Saturday, October 15, 2011: Family History Day at the California State Archives in Sacramento. This will be the 13th annual Family History Day at the State Archives located at 1020 O St. in Sacramento.  In addition to the Archives staff, there will be a number of local societies represented and several vendors. The California Genealogical Society & Library will have a booth there as well.  [I'm on the CGSL Board of Directors and I'll be manning our booth for part of the day. So please stop by and say hello!].

Saturday, November 5, 2011: Ancestry Day San Francisco. Ancestry.com and the California Genealogical Society are pleased to bring you Ancestry Day in San Francisco 2011, a day to discover and celebrate your family history. This exciting event can help you start or hone your genealogical skills with informative classes, expert consultations and more. The venue is the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, located on the Embarcadero waterfront. This is the event of the year in Northern California.  You’ll have an opportunity to consult with expert genealogists about your research issues. [I'm pleased to be one of the presenters as well as one of the consultants!].  Don’t miss this great chance with Ancestry.com and the California Genealogical Society!

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“All History is Personal:” August 1961

July 24, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy
US Tank at Ckpt Charlie

The year 1961 was eventful for several reasons.  It marked the centennial of the Civil War, the first manned space flights, the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, and the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, among other events.

In August, 1961, my father, then a captain in the United States Army, was sent on temporary duty from his post in Karlsruhe, Germany, to Berlin. The purpose of his travel remains unknown to me and likely was secret at the time (he was, among other things, a trusted agent who took classified information between NATO capitals). To comprehend the personal and global significance of being in Berlin in August, 1961, one must understand the events between the end of World War II and the spring and summer of 1961.

The so-called Cold War commenced almost immediately upon the end of World War II in Europe in April, 1945.  The army of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had captured Berlin, then the capital of Germany.  The Western allies, led by the United States of America, soon completed their sweep through western Germany and met up with Soviet forces at the Elbe river.

The Allied Powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the USSR) each took control of separate sectors of Germany; the largest sector being the Soviet-controlled sector.  Berlin, the once and future capital of Germany, was deep in the Soviet sector.  Nonetheless, all four Allies controlled Berlin, which was also divided into sectors.  The US, UK and French sectors comprised West Berlin and the Soviet sector was East Berlin.

In the spring of 1948, the Soviets imposed a blockade on land transportation routes into West Berlin.  The Soviets later cut off land-based utilities and communications to West Berlin. The Western powers responded with a ’round-the-clock airlift of supplies to the city via Tempelhof Airport which was located in the US sector.  The successful eleven-month airlift, known as “Operation Vittles,” became one of the most historic events in military aviation.

In 1949, the Western powers created the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) from the three western sectors of the country, but not including the sectors of Berlin.  The Soviets likewise proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Germany (Deutschen Demokratischen Republik or DDR) in East Germany.  East Berlin was made the capital of the DDR; a rather small city, Bonn, in the British sector near Cologne (Koln) was made the “provisional” capital of the Bundesrepublik.

Not surprisingly, relations between East and West were tense in Berlin. From 1949 to 1961, millions of people living in the DDR escaped to the West via Berlin.  The Soviets and their puppet governors in East Germany made dire threats to the Western powers about supporting and encouraging such “unlawful” emigration.

My father had arrived in Berlin on Sunday, August 13, 1961. On Monday morning, August 14, 1961, my mother and I woke up to the following on page 1 of the Stars & Stripes, the US military newspaper in Europe from which we got most of our news:

Reds Block East Germans from Entering West Berlin

Allies, West Germans Can Cross

BERLIN (AP)–The Communist regime Sunday barred East Germans from entering West Berlin in a bid to dam the flow of refugees to the West.

Hundreds of armed police and steel-helmeted troops closed the border between East and West Berlin completely for about two hours.

About 4 a.m. (Berlin time) traffic was resumed again, except that no East Berliner or East German was allowed to enter the West sectors.

. . .  . . .  . . .

The measure was directed against the flow of refugees. They have been fleeing Red rule at record speed.

We were able to ascertain that Dad was safe. But he was concerned for us, and rightly so. The whole family, Dad included, was supposed to leave Germany in a couple of weeks for his new assignment at Sandia Base, the semi-secret nuclear weapons base near Albuquerque, New Mexico. This matter in Berlin soon took on all the features of a major political and military crisis that had the potential to keep Dad in Germany, if not in Berlin, for another year.

By Wednesday, August 16, 1961, the Navy had announced that personnel scheduled to leave the service in the remainder of 1961 would be indefinitely “frozen.” President Kennedy had announced that the Air Force would increase its strength by 28,000 airmen.  This would be accomplished in part by calling to active duty some 18 Air National Guard squadrons.

On Sunday, August 20, 1961, the President ordered 1500 Army troops to augment the 11,000 man garrison in Berlin. The troops arrived on Monday, August 21, 1961, met by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, just a few yards away from the Soviet sector.

What would we do if Dad had to stay in Germany for another year? Many of our belongings were already packed. And school was about to start in Albuquerque. School, of course, was one of the main reasons that Dad had worked hard to get the assignment to Sandia Base.

Where would we go if the Soviet and American tanks facing off with each other in Berlin began shooting? (The U.S. Seventh Army, which was U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR)  had a plan called  “NEO,” to be executed in the event of a shooting crisis. The acronym stood for “noncombatant evacuation operations,” i.e., “Get the women and children out of here!”).

On August 25, 1961, the Stars & Stripes reported:

U.S. ARMOR LINES UP ALONG BERLIN BORDER
Patton Tanks Put on Alert

BERLIN (AP)–American Patton tanks drew up and faced Communist forces across the border with East Berlin Wednesday.

U.S. military authorities refused to say how many vehicles were lined up along the line that divides the American sector from the Soviet sector.  At least 25 tanks of Company F, 40th Armor, have been seen here on parade.

. . .     . . .    . . .

Meanwhile, the British sent a company of about 120 infantrymen  with mortars and anti-tank guns to the Barndenburg Gate. The French deployed light units in patrols along their border.

The East Germans trundled up several squadrons of armored cars with light artillery pieces. They were at the Bradenburg Gate and behind some buildings on the east side of Friedrichstrasse.

“]US Tank at Ckpt CharlieI pause to consider how different life would have been for the world and for me individually if we had had to leave Germany in a hurry because of a deepening of the crisis. Playing out the possibilities for the world is just about unbearable to contemplate. But if the crisis had gotten much more serious, then our family most likely would have gone to Kansas City, Missouri, where my mother grew up and where her mother and several siblings still lived.  And my life would have  been completely different. (Of course, every life on Earth would have been different, too, if the crisis went to its ultimate conclusion).

By that last week in August, the U.S. military was giving serious thought to implementing NEO immediately. But one woman had another idea, according to the Stars & Stripes:

Leghorn, Italy (UPI) — An American woman, wife of an Army engineer and mother of five, proposed that U.S. families in Europe “volunteer to be hostages for peace” during the Berlin crisis.

Mrs. Mary C. Wolz, wife of an Army civilian engineer stationed here, said U.S. and NATO families in Europe should stick it out rather  than be sent home or flee home.

“We should stay here to convince Europe that we will risk everything it does,” she said in an open letter to the English language Daily American in Rome.

“If the situation becomes so serious that we must be sent home–and it would be bad timing to order evacuation while pressing for a solution to the crisis–then home is no haven,” she said.

To be continued

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The Reliability of Oral Histories–The Forensic Approach to Evaluation

July 13, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

Part 2 of a three-part series.  Part 1 is here.

When last we met, we explored the issues associated with the reliability of “eyewitness testimony” in court and applied similar concepts to first-person accounts of historical and genealogical events. We discovered several issues that might make “eyewitness testimony” unreliable. Now we explore the 21st century approach to eyewitness testimony and apply a forensic approach to first-party reporting of genealogical events.

California juries are now told by judges to apply certain factors in the evaluation of eyewitness evidence. These factors focus on the ability of the witness to perceive the event; circumstances which might interfere with the witness’s ability to remember and recollect; and the empirical corroboration of the witness’s evidence. See California Criminal Jury Instruction No. 315. This jury instruction points the way to a forensic approach to evaluating the reliability of oral histories.

Taking the forensic approach to oral history, the genealogist will want to consider the following:

  • How familiar was the reporter with any of the background circumstances or parties before the event?
  • How well could the reporter see, hear, and comprehend the event?
  • What were the circumstances affecting the reporter’s ability to observe, such as lighting, weather conditions, obstructions, distance, duration of observation, and any other relevant circumstances?
  • How well could the reporter see, hear, or otherwise perceive the event?
  • Was the reporter under any type of stress when he or she made the observation?
  • What was the interval of time between the reporter’s perception of the event and his or her report thereof?
  • What was the mode of interrogation of the reporter? (open-ended questions, suggestive questions, follow-up)
  • What was the demeanor of the interrogator? (hostile, aggressive, judgmental, or not?)
  • Is the reporter’s version substantially corroborated by credible independent evidence?
  • What is the level of the reporter’s cognitive development, that is, considering the person’s age, how well is he or she able to perceive, understand, remember, and communicate?
  • Did the reporter have a relationship with someone who, inadvertently or deliberately, could have influenced the reporter’s version of events?

Not every oral history will reveal all of these factors.  But as the evaluator, one is not expecting to find “proof  beyond a reasonable doubt” as would be the case in a courtroom.

As we have said here before, nothing can be “proven.” The evaluator must judge the credibility or believability of the oral history reporter. In deciding whether the oral evidence is true and accurate, evaluators should use common sense and experience.


Coming: Part III – Second or Third Party Reporting (“Hearsay”) in Oral Histories

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The Reliability of Oral Histories Considered

July 11, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

[Music; loud with fast, heavy beat]

[Baritone voice with emergency pace and tone]:“Eyewitness News! The [Valley's][Metroplex's][Tri-State Area's][Ark-La-Tex's][Bay Area's][Central Coast's][Middle Tennessee's] Most Reliable Newscast! With the entire Eyewitness News Team! This is Eyewitness News at Six [o'clock]!”

That voicer (or words and music to that effect) has been heard on television stations all over America at one time or another in the last fifty years. See here, here, and here, for example. Indeed, if broadcast journalism is the cinema verite B-roll of history [sorry, inside gag and obscure esoteric reference], what could be better than “Eyewitness News”?

Likely, the lead story on Eyewitness News At Six, wherever in the country it may be broadcast, is a crime story. The reporter doing the standup at the court house or police station will report eagerly (but enthusiastically) that “Channel 7 has learned that there are two eyewitnesses to the crime,” or will lament in grave tones that “Police tell Channel 4 that there were no eyewitnesses.”

The genealogical equivalent of “Eyewitness News” is the oral history. And since genealogy is history, what could be better than the oral rendition of an eyewitness?

But both broadcast journalists and genealogists should take heed of what sophomore psych majors and first-year law students learn about eyewitnesses: they are notoriously unreliable.

A demonstration that has become an hoary chestnut among law professors and their counterparts in the psych department involves a surprise intrusion into the classroom by an individual who “assaults” the prof or steals her purse and runs out in a matter of a minute, if not seconds. Students are then asked to identify the “perp” by physical description or clothing worn; or to relate the sequence of the event.

Of course, both of you who had the misfortune to see Wink Martindale’s game show Instant Recall more than once, and all of you smarter than a fifth grader (mutually exclusive categories), have guessed already that the students have wildly divergent and largely inaccurate accounts of the event.

Millions of trees have given their lives to printing of scientific studies that show eyewitness testimony to be unreliable. Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D, a pyschologist who is a professor in three research departments and the Law School at University of California, Irvine, has written extensively in this area. In her ground-breaking book, Eyewitness Testimony, first published in 1979, Loftus asserts that evidence from eyewitnesses has resulted in wrongful convictions and even wrongful executions in the criminal justice system. Her work and that of others had such a profound effect that, for a time, juries in many states were instructed to view eyewitness testimony “with caution.”  This was said to be necessary because of an odd paradox about eyewitness testimony: it was the most unreliable evidence in the abstract, yet at the same time, the most compelling for jurors.  Loftus demonstrated that factors such as the time between the event and the rendition by the witness, the mode of interrogation, reinforcement by other witnesses, and assimilation of another’s account, bear heavily on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Given this scientific and legal skepticism, what implications are raised by first-person accounts of historical and genealogical events?

First of all, let’s agree that there are differences between an eyewitness who attempts to identify a criminal suspect, and a first-person reporter of an historical event. The crime witness is often questioned under unfavorable circumstances by hostile interrogators who may have their own theories of the case. There are deadlines to be met. The witness may be under the emotional stress of the event. The stakes are high and the pressure to “get it right” may lead some eyewitnesses to get it wrong. There may be a dozen times a hundred other unique factors at play concerning the reliability of eyewitness testimony in a criminal case or even a civil lawsuit.

But now let’s examine the similarities between the crime witness and the first-person historical reporter. The evidence given by both frequently relies on previously unrecorded and non-contemporaneous human memory. Some of the same factors which may affect “eyewitness” crime reporting may also affect oral history. These include the demeanor and behavior of the interrogator and the states of mind of the witness both at the time of the event and the time of reporting. The interval between event and report, stress, and overly suggestive questions may also affect both types of rendition.

Every experienced genealogist knows, and every beginning genealogist will soon know, of first-person renditions that are simply wrong. This doesn’t happen maliciously, usually; often it is the result of fading memories or time-embellished memories or of the mind supplying its own details to make sense of a complicated situation.

I’ve heard stories from people who would swear they are telling it like it was, only later to discover that the person was not even alive at the time of the reported event. I myself for years gave a first hand version of having observed a tornado that touched down in Missouri in 1955 or 1956, while my mother was hanging laundry on the clotheslines in our backyard. Oh, I was there alright and have a vivid “memory” of the event–the sky turning black and green, the winds suddenly swirling about, the frightening sounds as the funnel cloud approached. But I eventually came to question whether I had a “true” memory of that storm. Under more dispassionate analysis, I have concluded that my “recollection” of the event has been substantially influenced by my mother’s account of it, which, at some point in my childhood, I adopted as my own. [Among the factors which led me to question my own memory of this occurrence were that I cannot, of independent memory, account for the whereabouts of my younger brother; I do not recall at all how we got out of harm's way; beyond remembering--if that's what you want to call it--that I was sitting on a step at the back door, I cannot describe the house, important because we lived in two different counties in Missouri during 1955-56; and I have had a difficult time finding contemporaneous reports of the event during the time frame that I "recall" that it occurred].

How does the genealogist or historian evaluate oral history then? We can avoid the traps of the path the law first took: i.e., subjecting all eyewitness evidence to scrutiny so strict that it was more often fatal in fact. 

Next in Part II: The Forensic Approach to Evaluating Oral History

 

 

 

 

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Fathers Day 2011

June 18, 2011 Craig Family History, Genealogy

Craig is taking the day off to spend time with his father. This reprise from 2009 will never be stale.

At this morning’s Mass in my parish, a petition during the Prayers of the Faithful was “for all fathers and all others who keep us safe and secure.”   The second half seemed to constitute a de facto definition of “father.”  This made sense to me as I thought about it.  It echoed precisely words that I had heard not very long ago from my mother.  She said to me one afternoon when I was visiting, but Dad was out, “Your father is a great, great man.”  Now I’ve heard my parents praise each other all of my life, but somehow something was different about the way she said this.

“Your father is a great man,” she went on, “because he’s kept us safe and secure all of these years .  .  . through all the moves, all the travel, even he didn’t always know what we might face.”  Although she was speaking of things on many levels, I knew she was referring, in part,  to the uncertainty and insecurity of a black family, even one headed by a United States Army officer, traveling around the country in the 1950s and 1960s.  It took a lot of careful planning to maneuver from Kansas City to Houston, through Shreveport and Little Rock, as we did in 1958 for one e xample, not knowing what sort of accommodations would be available to feed and shelter a young family.  They didn’t teach the skills to deal with that in ROTC.

In 1961, while stationed in Germany, my father, by then a captain, received orders for Fort Lee, Virginia.  Much of that part of Virginia was embroiled in legal battles over school desegregation arising from the Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, a scant seven years earlier. In some parts of the state, local authorities had decided to close their schools rather than comply with court orders to cease discrimination. My father was firmly attached to the notion that his children’s education was a first priority and that he could not go to any place where it might be in jeopardy. He used his knowledge of personnel rules and a little help from empathetic officers and NCOs to have his assignment changed, without a big fuss, to a base in New Mexico.  Four years later, my brothers and sister and I watched the television news in amazement to see kids, both black and white, going to school for the first time at age ten when certain Virginia counties re-opened their schools after their final courtroom  loss.

Now what kind of fathers were those who would rather close education to all children than to see children of different races sit side-by-side in the classroom?

My mother went on that afternoon to describe how, in her view, Dad had made various decisions throughout their lives to keep his family safe from divers maladies, social, physical, spiritual. (She didn’t mention her considerable role, but then, this was a discussion about him). Some of these things were fraught with risk and I’m sure that at times, he must have felt like he’d made a wrong turn.  But as things turned out, we survived and more than that, we thrived.

None of this came easy for him.  He had no natural models to follow.  He was a child of divorced parents who lived literally a thousand miles away from each other.  In many ways, then, he is quite extraordinary and I will always think that.

On the other hand, every day, millions of men wake up in tough situations and, taking life one day at a time, manage to steer their children through troubled waters.  A good father is one who’s doing the best he can with what he has–such a man will succeed more often than not.  What such man has is called unselfishness.  It cannot be purchased with money, but only by authentic sacrifice and a view that to keep one’s family safe and secure is a duty of the first magnitude.

Today we celebrate these fathers and father-figures for the basic gifts of security and safety.

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