Special Black History Month Presentation - Friday, February 18, 2011

Friday, February 18, 2011,
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society and Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California 94612

In celebration of Black History Month, the California Genealogical Society presents a special program by one of our newest members, Anita Wills. Her two talks on African-American history and research are free and open to the public.


1:00 p.m. African Americans in California

Anita will discuss the history and background of African-American settlers in California prior to and after the Civil War.

2:30 p.m. Mining Gold: Finding My Ancestor in Gold Country

Anita presents the story of her ancestor, William Penn Martin – a soldier, gold miner, and inventor. Martin was born in Pennsylvania and may have remained there had it not been for the Civil War. He joined the United States Colored Troops shortly after the war broke out. His unit traveled to Texas, where he mustered out. Family lore has it that he joined the Texas Rangers and went to California to mine gold. Wills will share some of his fascinating adventures.

Writer, author and speaker Anita Willis has been a genealogy researcher for over thirty years, specializing in free persons of color in Colonial Pennsylvania and Virginia. She is the author of two books: Pieces of the Quilt: The Mosaic of An African American Family and Notes and Documents of Free Persons of Color. Anita is a new member of CGS and hosts Anita Talks Genealogy, on Blog Talk Radio. A member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Monacan Indian Nation in Amherst County, Virginia, she is currently working on her third book, Minqua: People of the Welsh Mountains.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library