Studying the Law, A Panel Discussion and a Case Study

Samford Participants in Law Library Conference Room

Participating in the African American Track at Samford IGHR has been such an enriching experience! Today's sessions at Samford began with an introduction to the Law Library. This was a good introduction to the Black Codes that were passed throughout the south and what the penalties were for newly freed slaves. We were assigned various tasks to explore the legal codes in various states, so we utilized the records at the Law Library to explore what those laws entailed. This was good exposure to the weatlh of data that can be found in Law Libraries.

After a break and returning to our regular classroom, Shamele Jordon shared some of her organizational skills with our group, revealing methods of organizing data and materials.

Slide from Shamele Jordan's Organization Session

At lunchtime, it was decided to have a lunchtime, roundtable discussion. which was coordinated by Timothy Pinnick.  The panel consisted of Shamele Jordan, Deborah Abbot, Angela Walton-Raji, Michael Hait, and Sharon Batiste Gillins. Tim served as moderator and posed several questions to the panel and then opened the floor for questions.  It was received enthusiastically, and will proabably become a regular feature of the Samford Afr. American Track.

Lunchtime Round Table Discussion Underway

For those who have an interest in Slave Ship Manifests, Emma Hamilton of Atlanta share information that can be found in those manifests. In addition information was shared on captured slave ships. She also showed how to access them on Ancestry and how to read the transcriptions on AfriGeneas, by Dr. Dee Woodtor.

The participants were treated to a workshop by Reginald Washington of the National Archives who shared the story of how the marriage records of the Freedmen's Bureau were created.

Reginald Washington sharing images from the process

of microfilming Freedmen's Bureau Records

The day finally wrapped up with a presentation by Tim Pinnick on how to develop a case study from an historical incident.  He shared how a project had unfolded by coming upon a book on the Cholera Epidemic of 1873. He was able to glean some significant information about a national epidemic that occurred in 1873, and how it affected the African American population. The focus of his presentation included some insight on how to develop new projects.  Most historical events impacted and involved African Americans, whether enslaved, free or freed from bondage--major historical events did include people of color.  His emphasis was how to study these events and to tell the story from the African American perspective.

  

So hard to believe that three days have already passed by so quickly!   Tomorrow, more good sessions to follow.