The first time the Washington D.C.-based Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society held its annual conference west of the Mississippi River has turned out to be its largest and best attended.

Photo by John Hart

African-American family history researchers gather in Salt Palace for annual conference, the first one held west of Mississippi River. Their group was created following publication of book Roots, by Alex Haley.

Photo by John Hart

Carolyn Rowe, president of Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, traced lines to 18th century.

The society held its conference Oct. 26-29 in Salt Lake City's Salt Palace convention center near the Church's Family History Library, a main attraction for the well-educated 300 or so attendees from all over the United States. While they were in town, they also listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Sunday Music and the Spoken Word program, where soloist Pam Laws of Tallahassee, Fla., sang spirituals.

The society was originally founded to serve the special research needs of African-Americans, said Carolyn Rowe, president.

"Our ancestors didn't come on a boat with a name and a passport or anything like that," she explained. "There were name changes, they were scattered and separated familywise; nothing was passed down in terms of where we came from in Africa."

She and other researchers gave high marks to the Family History Library and thanked the sponsors, including the Church, who made it possible for them to hold the conference in Salt Lake City.

"I have been very successful (in my research), and a lot of my success is due to the family history (centers)," she said. "I did a lot of my research at the Family History Library."

She explained that to do her research, she researched slave-holder families as well, and found information in non-traditional ways. The use of DNA testing has extended the possibility of connecting to African ancestors, she said. Where such research was once considered impossible, it is now offering hope to researchers.

She said that despite the fact that many traditional sources aren't helpful in African-American research, "there are pieces of paper (with information) out there. It has brought tears to some peoples' eyes when they see a document with their grandparents' names of on it.

"That's what makes Salt Lake City revered; you have gathered these pieces of paper from all parts of the world, and almost anybody can come here and find something on his or her family. It's emotional, it's touching, it's exciting. It is fun. It is a wonderful avocation to have."

She said the society was founded a year after author Alex Haley's watershed book, Roots, a multi-generational saga of American slavery, galvanized interest in family history. This is the 30th anniversary of the book.

Now, more African-Americans than ever are searching their family histories, and more resources are available for that research, she said. In opening the conference, she quoted author Haley's thoughts on family history:

"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we have come from.

"Without this enriching knowledge there is a hollow yearning. No matter what our attainments in life there is still an emptiness and the most disquieting loneliness."

Tamela Tenpenny-Lewis, vice president for genealogy, who is from Arkansas, said the Family History Library resources "are the best anywhere. One thing I have found here is that everybody is so service-oriented. It seems to be genuine that they want to assist you, from the library, to the hotel, to the restaurants.

"It is a unique feeling coming to Salt Lake City, where you feel like they have your best interests at hand."

She explained her "passion for research" as an obligation and dedication to preserving African-American history, and she has a special interest in protecting and documenting African-American cemeteries.

"More and more African-Americans are becoming involved" in family research, said Reginald Washington, African-American genealogist at the National Archives. "There are more opportunities to look at records, and an increased interest in persons donating African-American research."

He also said that resources for African-American researchers are increasing. He announced the completion of microfilming of records of the Freedman's Bureau, a government bureau set up in 1865 to help former slaves adapt to freedom.

The conference's first presenter was Quintard Taylor Jr., professor of American History at the University of Washington, who gave an overview of people of African ancestry in the West. He said that in 1870, 12 percent, or 284,000 people, of the western population was of African ancestry.

"Families collectively create communities and it is communities that build history," he said. "Black western history intrudes itself into our sensibilities and forces a re-examination of what we call the 'magic West.' That history with its example of persistence, and conflict and cooperation between African-Americans and other Westerners can be celebrated or it can be critiqued, but it can no longer be ignored."

He said the nearly 5 million blacks in the West today arrived over five centuries, coming by rail, automobile, wagon train, but in previous centuries, mostly they walked. Their contributions range from 200,000 "hidden" Latin-Africans who helped found many principal western cities, to individual families who succeeded in surviving in the rugged land.

"The West was always multi-cultural, it was always multi-ethnic," he said. "It always represented a diversity of people from a variety of backgrounds from all over the world."

E-mail to: jhart@desnews.com