OAKLAND, Calif. — A family history research conference for beginning African-American genealogists was broadcast using the Church's satellite system to locations around northern California on April 30.

Photo by Richard Finch

Panelists, from left, Juliet Crutchfield, Annette Madden, Electra Price and Upperton Hurts, visit during Roots Simulcast 2005 conference in which they provided to the audience instruction on doing family history.

After almost a year of planning, the four-hour workshop, called Roots Simulcast 2005, originated in the Church's multi-stake center on Temple Hill in Oakland and was broadcast to meetinghouses in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno and to the Eastmont Town Center in East Oakland's largely black community.

"This all began in 2000 when we had a 'Roots' workshop in Oakland, chaired by then-Mission President C. Malcolm Warner and his wife, Helen," said Ron McClain, minority relations specialist for the San Francisco Bay Area Public Affairs Council. "The committee was comprised of Church members and representatives from the Oakland community. The Oakland model has since been replicated throughout the country."

Several other Roots workshops followed the launch in 2000 and Brother McClain began to envision a simulcast through which, by using the Church's satellite technology, a virtual family could be linked together in various communities.

"Roots Simulcast 2005 was the logical next step," commented Brother McClain, who worked for months with Jay Pimentel, director of public affairs in the San Francisco Bay Area, to make the dream become a reality. The Church joined with the Center for Urban Black Studies, Oakland Concerned Citizens for Urban Renewal (OCCUR), Paul Cobb of the Oakland Post, Allen Temple Baptist Church and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, to sponsor Roots Simulcast 2005.

At the conference, James Ison, director of the Family History Library in the Cincinnati center's museum, explained the history and purpose of the recently dedicated facility (www.freedomcenter.org). He said between 80 and 90 percent of the people doing research in the library are black.

Also speaking at the conference, Carolyn C. Rowe, president of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogy Society in Washington, D.C., told of the many resources available through that society (www.aahgs.org). She related some experiences she had while searching for her ancestors.

A panel of Bay Area genealogy experts from the African-American Genealogical Society of Northern California taught genealogy basics, followed by a question-and-answer session, with questions from workshop participants at the various locations. The panel emphasized that, for African-Americans in particular, researchers should think in terms of "clusters," rather than just researching direct lines. In clusters, it was explained, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles all may have information that will help in learning more about ancestors.

Jacqueline Hairston, cousin of Jester Hairston who once directed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in his renowned spiritual "Amen," gave a family history twist to the Negro Spiritual as an art form.

"The Church Public Affairs and Communications Departments worked tirelessly to help make this (conference) happen," said Brother Pimentel. "They were indispensable to the success of the project."

Roots Simulcast 2005 was the first time the genealogical workshop was broadcast live to multiple locations.

"This was but the first step in establishing a nationwide footprint for Roots Simulcasts," said Brother McClain. "We are very pleased we achieved our objective of proving that the Church can play a vital role in dramatically increasing the numbers of genealogists by using its leading-edge technology to focus family history instruction on specific communities and groups within those communities. We look forward to achieving our long-term goal of helping families become more stable because their members know about their family's history."

A Roots Simulcast Web page will be available soon, organizers said.