Meet Me (again) in St. Louis

Missouri Museum of History

Last weekend on April 16, I had the opportunity to speak at the Missouri Museum of History in St.Louis, Missouri.  The members of the St. Louis African American Genealogy Society hosted the presentation, and I was very fortunate to have been their guest.

After a rather adventurous trip getting to St. Louis from Baltimore with flight delays and stormy weather, Saturday finally came and the day went extremely well. The people were more than wonderful, and the interest in my topic was very high.

Ms. Maldine Wallace was gracious enough to meet me at the hotel and later Mr. Charles Barker, President of the St. Louis African American History & Genealogy Society, hosted me for lunch with members of the group, and returned me to the hotel.

 

Maldine Wallace, Charles Brown Jr. and Angela Walton-Raji

The room filled quickly before the session.

I found the interest in the topic of finding Indian ancestry to be high, and the attention and questions from the audience was genuine.

Good questions were asked from the audience as well

 

Delivering my lecture at St. Louis

The group was a fairly large one, and I was impressed with their interest in the topic on researching "Blended Families, Blended Histories."

There was strong interest from those in attendance

Discussing the limitations

I did notice that many were particularly interested when I shared information on the 1910 Special Indian Census.

Sharing an image from the census 1910 Special Indian Census

I pointed out that the Special Census is found in multiple states, including Virginia.

 

Showing Virginia Blended Families from 1910

Some were surprised to see that Indian ancestry was also reflected in military records such as the World War I, Draft Cards.

WWI Draft Card of a Muscogee Creek Indian Draftee

After the session was over, I was able to join several of the members for a wonderful lunch at a delightful restaurant, "Sweetie Pies" in South St. Louis. While there, I was able to chat freely with members who had specific questions about their own research challenges.

Chatting with one of the St. Louis genealogy group members

I must mention that the lunch was more than delicious and the atmosphere at the Restaurant was warm and friendly, and it was a  perfect ending to a very good day. Let me say that again---the food was FANTASTIC!!!

Sweetie Pie's Restaurant, St. Louis, Missouri

The day was a wonderful one for me, and I must thank the wonderful people in St. Louis for the warm reception and their gracious hospitality.  I hope to meet many of them again in the future, and I do want to let other researchers know that there is a vibrant group of genealogists in St. Louis. 

I must admit that I truly enjoyed myself in St. Louis and look forward to going back there again.  In fact I hope that others will also "Meet Me" in St. Louis. They were truly great people, with great food, and I had a great time!!

Special thanks to Maldine Wallace for her arrangements, to Mr. Charles Brown Jr. for sharing his photographs, and Ms. Sarah Cato for assisting me after the presentation and taking me to the Restaurant to join the group for lunch.