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Shelley Murphy B.S., M.A., D.M.An avid genealogist for over 30 years, Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy, aka "familytreegirl," was born and raised in Michigan and now lives in central Virginia. She conducts genealogy workshops at local, state, and national conferences. Murphy is known for her inspiring & interactive "SO WHAT" with genealogical research, along with interesting problem-solving methodology lectures, such as the use of Timelines.
Murphy serves on the Boards of the Library of Virginia and the Albemarle, Charlottesville, and Fluvanna Historical Societies. She is a Coordinator and Instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI). She develops staff and public genealogy educational programs for the Center for Family History at the International African American Museum (IAAM). Serves as the Genealogist General for the Society of the First African Families of English America and Trustee for the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History. She holds membership in AAHGS, NGS, DAR, and local genealogy groups. Currently working for the University of Virginia as the Descendant Project Researcher, seeking descendants of the enslaved laborers who helped build the university. Host of “Freedmen’s Bureau Fridays. An Adjunct Professor at Averett University since 2009. Dr. Murphy’s personal research focuses on Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia/West Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the UK. |
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Angela Walton-Raji, B.A., M.Ed.Angela Walton-Raji is a nationally known speaker, author, and blogger who has been conducting family history since the 1990s. She has authored four books devoted to the Freedmen from Oklahoma, once enslaved in the Five Civilized Tribes. Her most recent book was published this year by History Press, “Oklahoma Freedmen of the Five Tribes.”
She has broken new ground with her work on showcasing women who served as civilian employees for the Union Army during the Civil War, and presented at national conferences on the topic of the forgotten black women who were among the first women to work outside of the home as paid workers. At the National Genealogy Society annual conference of 2023, she was awarded the Malcom H. Stern Lifetime Achievement Award in Richmond, Virginia. After many years in higher education administration, she has retired from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she served for many years as the Director of Graduate School Recruitment. Ms. Walton-Raji lives in Maryland, where she continues to research and write. |
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Bernice A. Bennett, B.S., MPHBernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-host of the podcast - Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program. She is also the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcasting stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. She also received the Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Genealogy Award in 2019 for original research in support of African American Genealogy. Bennett is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society, co-founder and faculty member of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, and a Volunteer with the Homestead National Historical Park Service.
Bennett, a New Orleans native and current resident in Maryland, enjoyed a 35-year career in domestic and international public health. She received an undergraduate degree from Grambling College (Grambling State University) and a graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan. Her genealogical research centers on Southeast Louisiana and Edgefield and Greenwood Counties, South Carolina. Her South Carolina journey is chronicled in Our Ancestors, Our Stories, which won the 2018 International AAHGS Book award for Non-Fiction Short Stories. Her second book, Tracing Their Steps - A Memoir, received the Phillis Wheatley Literary Award from the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage in 2019; the International AAHGS Book Award in 2020 for Non-Fiction Short Story, and the Next Generations Indie Award in 2021 for the African American Non-Fiction book category. Bennett’s 3rd book, Black Homesteaders of the South, is published by The History Press. |
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Lisa A. Fanning, B.A., M.A.Lisa Fanning, an Indiana native, is a genealogist, genetic genealogist, and family historian, channeling a lifelong passion into unraveling the rich tapestry of her family's American history in the South and Midwest for the past 28 years. Her research encompasses the study of enslavement and migration in middle Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, as well as exploring Tri-Racial Isolate communities in North Carolina, free African American settlements in southern Indiana, and tracing the extraordinary journey of the Anderson family, emancipated in 1712 in Norfolk, VA. Notably, Lisa is the 8th great-granddaughter of Kate Anderson, the matriarch of the Anderson family, who was born in 1670.
Lisa is also a genetic genealogist who volunteers her skills for initiatives such as the DNA Doe Project, Tulsa Race Massacre DNA Identification Project, and DNA Search Squad. She has given multiple presentations on her family history and contributed as a genealogy consultant on " Before the Bulldozers: Historic Southwest D.C. Exposed." Lisa serves on the Board of Directors of the National Genealogical Society, holding positions as the Chair of the Membership Committee and a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Society of the First African Families of English America. Additionally, Lisa is the coordinator for the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute's (MAAGI) DNA track. Beyond her contributions to genealogy, Lisa is an award-winning artist with a remarkable professional journey spanning three decades. She has been instrumental in creating educational and career pathways for underrepresented groups and initiatives to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across international affairs, higher education, and healthcare. Lisa holds a B.A. in French and an M.A. in Intercultural Communication, specializing in French language and culture. |
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Vicki McGillVicki McGill, an accomplished photographer, graphic designer, social media strategist, and family historian, began her genealogical research with a high school project in the mid-1980s. The project focused on discovering your family’s history by gathering information from various sources, including interviews with family members, and presenting a report based on the findings. At that time, Ancestry, Family Search, or even the internet existed, which led her to take a trip to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., to see what U.S. Census and any other available records may reveal. Those microfilmed records provided basic information that she was able to verify with several family members and complete the project.
Fast forward to 2008, when Vicki was selected to chair her family's 2010 reunion, she decided to refocus her genealogical research with the goal of being able to share a more in-depth history of the family's roots in South Carolina and what led them there. During this effort, she began to use several online resources, including Family Search and Ancestry, took trips to her local Family History center, gathered oral histories and other documents to uncover a variety of records and details about many ancestors. She eventually reached the period of enslavement, which presented a new set of challenges. She was able to use her design skills to create a reunion booklet that is a family history keepsake that can be passed down to future generations and encourages others to continue the research. The booklet is filled with a variety of ancestral details, historical facts, and a family tree that family members still refer to and share to this day. In 2016, she began incorporating DNA into her research, connecting with other living descendants of her ancestors, some of whom are also doing this work whom she can collaborate with. A continuous learner, she has taken several genealogical research courses to improve her research skills, including Midwest African American Genealogical Institute (MAAGI) and others offered by various Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) chapters, and has also joined her local chapter in Washington, DC. Over the years, Vicki has collected a variety of oral histories, photographed documents, including funeral programs, photos, and other resources to assist in pulling her family's history together, and continues to dig through records. Her current work involves wills, succession records, enslavement transactions, emancipation, and records from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, also known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, for ancestors in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and other states where her ancestors lived and were enslaved. Recent discoveries have provided details on the lives of Benjamin White Sr. and Jr., along with several other ancestors, and steered her research trips to on-site resources, including libraries, historical societies, and courthouses. Honing her genealogical research skills for many decades has allowed Vicki to share her talents with many others, conducting research for podcasts, television ancestry reveals on the Today Show and CNN, and most recently tracing descendants of families and individuals who received services from the Freedmen’s Bureau. She is the co-founder and facilitator of the Kingstree–Williamsburg County Research Group and experienced in document transcription and genealogical tools, local research best practices course creation, and instruction. |
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Renate Yarborough SandersRenate Yarborough Sanders is a widely recognized genealogist, speaker, and educator who descends from formerly enslaved ancestors, enslavers, and free people of color.
She authors two blogs: “Into the LIGHT” and “Genea-Related,” and produces a “(Mostly) African American Funeral Programs” online database. Renate is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the North Carolina Genealogical Society (Publicity Director), the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society (member of National Editorial Board and the Scholarship Committee, and Vice-President and Newsletter Editor for the Hampton Roads Chapter), the Wake County Genealogical Society, and the Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society. She is a member and Deputy Registrar of the lineage society, “Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage.” Renate cohosts “Let’s Talk North Carolina Genealogy,” an online platform and YouTube show, presenting genealogy programming and virtual events for North Carolina researchers, and she has served as a panelist and guest on numerous web shows and podcasts. Renate provides genealogy education for conferences, societies, employee groups, and institutions of higher learning; her research has been featured on PBS Radio and in a National Geographic cover story and podcast. She is currently engaged in a research project for Wake Forest University, seeking to find descendants of enslaved persons who were sold for the benefit of that institution. Renate is an instructor for the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) and joined the faculty of the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) in Summer 2024. She provides coaching and consultation services for individuals seeking guidance with genealogical research, and she continues to engage in project work for various organizations and institutions. Renate lectures on a variety of genealogy topics but specializes in teaching beginning to intermediate research methodology and sharing specific techniques for researching ancestors of color, both pre- and post-Emancipation. She is a retired elementary school educator, mother of two daughters, and grandmother of four beautiful granddaughters (and a grand dog). |
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Ric MurphyRic Murphy is an educator, historian, author, documentarian, and lecturer. He currently serves as the President General of the Society of the First African Families of English America.
His award-winning book, The Arrival of the First Africans in Virginia, was turned into a documentary with the same name and has won over twenty international film awards, including being selected as Best Director. His family lineage dates to the earliest colonial periods of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and of Jamestown, Virginia. Mr. Murphy’s lineage has been evaluated and accepted by several heredity societies, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Society of the Sons of Colonial New England, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the Sons and Daughters of the U. S. Middle Passage. Mr. Murphy was a Resident Fellow at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, and he has a Master’s in Urban Affairs from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Massachusetts. |
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Janice Lovelace, Ph.D.Janice Lovelace, Ph.D., is a genealogical researcher, author, and lecturer with over thirty years of experience.
Dr. Lovelace is a frequent speaker at national and regional genealogy conferences on health and genetics, ethnic minority genealogy, and research methodology. She authored the National Genealogical Society’s continuing education course, African American Roots: A Historical Perspective, and is an instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogical Institute (MAAGI). She has served as a national board member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (2019-2020) and her local society’s board. She belongs to the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and several local societies. |
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Nicka Sewell-SmithNicka Smith is a host, consultant, and documentarian with more than 20 years of experience as a genealogist. She has extensive experience in researching the enslaved and their communities and is a valued expert in genealogy research along the Mississippi Delta.
Nicka has diverse and varied experience in media with a background in audio, video, and written communications. She's appeared on TODAY, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, and an Emmy-winning episode of the series Who Do You Think You Are, was featured in the groundbreaking short film, A Dream Delivered: The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson, and has been interviewed by National Geographic, TIME, USA Today, and the New York Times. She is the host of BlackProGen LIVE, an innovative web show with more than 130 episodes focused on people of color genealogy and family history. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, a member of two lineage societies (Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage (SDUSMP) and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and a past board member of the California Genealogical Society (CGS) and the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC). Nicka served as the chair of the Outreach and Education Committee for AAGSNC and is the former project manager for the Alameda County, CA Youth Ancestral Project, where more than 325 youth were taught the value of family history. Additionally, Nicka is the family historian and lead researcher for the Atlas family of Lake Providence, East Carroll, Louisiana, and guides and coaches an active group of family historians at the Who is Nicka Smith Patreon community. |
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Emmaline MacBeathEmmaline MacBeath is a genetic genealogist and a children’s author under the pen name Emmaline Rose. She specializes in African-American genealogy in all US states and the use of DNA to identify unknown family. She has over thirty years of genealogy experience, seven of those years specific to genetic genealogy and project management.
Emmaline is a Project Leader at the family tree website, WikiTree. She leads the US Black Heritage, African Ancestry, and Adoption Angels projects, where connecting people to their family stories and to each other is what lights up her days. She is dedicated to reconnecting all enslaved American ancestors to their families and lifting up the descendant community by connecting them to their family story. Her dream to create the largest free, public, online database of connected African-American family trees in existence became a reality after starting the US Black Heritage Project in 2020. It is now a thriving project with almost half a million family profiles and counting. She encourages everyone to build their trees at WikiTree to take advantage of its power of collaborative genealogy and connection. |
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Terry J. LigonTerry Ligon is a Genealogist, Historian, and Research Specialist in the area of Freedmen of Indian Territory. As a specialist on Indian Territory Freedmen history, Terry has also utilized his skills as a Writer and Video Storyteller. For the past thirty-five years, Terry has devoted this research and made it his life’s work as he works tirelessly on bringing attention and recognition to the history of his ancestors, who were enslaved by Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians.
Terry is a founding member of the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California, AAGSNC. Mr. Ligon is a founding member of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen Association-CCFA, which has as its mandate to educate, empower, engage, and embrace the history of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen and their descendants. A native of California, Mr. Ligon earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Art College and the University of San Francisco concurrently. Terry has given presentations at numerous conferences throughout the country and became a teaching member at the Midwest African-American Genealogical Institute in 2019, in its inaugural Freedmen of the Five Tribes Track. Terry has been blogging since 2010 on the subject of the history of blacks living among the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians, specifically those who sought to be transferred from the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen Roll to the “by Blood” roll. Terry’s research focuses on the:
Terry is currently working on a book temporarily titled “We Came West with the Indians.” This work attempts to bring attention to the men, women, and children who were among the first settlers of Indian Territory when the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee/Creek, and Seminole nations “emigrated” west of the Mississippi River. |
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Judy G. RussellJudy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist®, is a genealogist with a law degree. She writes, teaches, and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical topics, providing expert guidance through the murky territory where law and family history intersect. A Colorado native with roots deep in the American South on her mother’s side and entirely in Germany on her father’s side, she holds a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark.
Before she retired, she worked as a newspaper reporter, trade association writer, legal investigator, defense attorney, federal prosecutor, law editor, and, for more than 20 years, as an adjunct member of the faculty at Rutgers Law School. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, and numerous state and regional genealogical societies. A recipient of the Silver Tray Award from the Utah Genealogical Association and the 2017 Award of Excellence from the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, she now serves as a member of the NGSQ editorial board. An internationally known lecturer, course coordinator, and faculty member at numerous genealogical institutes, she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer℠ from the Board for Certification of Genealogists®. Her award-winning blog appears at The Legal Genealogist® website (https://www.legalgenealogist.com). |
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Mark ThompsonMark Thompson is a professional genealogist and educator specializing in helping family historians use technology to uncover their roots. Combining extensive leadership experience in technology with his passion for genealogy, Mark makes complex technologies accessible and practical for genealogists of all skill levels.
Mark frequently leads workshops teaching genealogists practical skills in Artificial Intelligence, Genetic Genealogy, Excel, and Family Archiving. He currently serves as President of the Victoria Genealogical Society and chairs their DNA Special Interest Group. Mark also co-hosts the Family History AI Show podcast with Steve Little. Contact: [email protected] | www.makingfamilyhistory.com |
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Tammy OzierTammy Ozier is a genealogist and genetic genealogy practitioner with a focus on African American lineage research. As the founder of Ancestral Pathways LLC, Tammy Ozier works on projects that combine DNA analysis with detailed record investigation, aiming to restore family histories and encourage ethical research practices. This work has contributed to resolving family mysteries and reconstructing missing ancestral lines.
In addition to research, Tammy Ozier supports other genealogists by highlighting the importance of careful record-keeping, attention to name variations, and resolving discrepancies between documents and genetic data. The goal is to help ensure research is accurate and transparent. With more than 25 years of experience, Tammy Ozier applies methods informed by a degree in Black Studies from San Francisco State University, her over 30 years’ experience as a corporate finance executive, and advanced training from institutes such as MAAGI, IGHR, SLIG, and TIGR. Recognition includes the IGHR Frazine Taylor African American Research Scholarship and the MDAH Family Genealogy Fellowship. Tammy Ozier regularly presents at events, sharing practical strategies and case studies. As a lifetime member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), Tammy Ozier has served in leadership roles and currently volunteers with the DNA Doe Project. Memberships in organizations like the Sons & Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage reflect a commitment to documenting and preserving African American family histories. |
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Jerome V. Spears, B.A., M.A.Jerome Spears, author of the award-winning family history narrative/manuscript, “I’VE GOT YOUR BACK”, was a featured panelist (2023) at the inaugural stakeholders Descendants of Slavery
Empowerment Conference at the National Museum of African American History & Culture, in Washington, D.C., & is also featured in three (award-winning) short-film documentaries. He has extensively used DNA (including “Genetic Visual Phasing”) & other advanced methods to find & then successfully contact distant relatives in Africa & other places around the world. His previous national-level presentation appearances include: the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society (AAHGS), RootsTech Connect, the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, & the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference. In addition to being an AAHGS member, Spears also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Descendants of Jesuit Enslavement Historical & Genealogical Society, & is an honorably discharged retired 30-year U.S. Army veteran. Holding B.A. and M.A. academic degrees in Geography (Cartography and Remote Sensing) has uniquely positioned Jerome as he applies all available methods, means, and resources toward searching, discovering, & placing his past & present, close & distant relatives within the context of space & time. |
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Melvin J. CollierMelvin J. Collier, a Mississippi native, is an award-winning genealogy researcher, blogger, speaker, and author with more than 30 years of experience uncovering family histories. Specializing in research on enslaved ancestors in the South, he brings both scholarly rigor and personal passion to his work. Collier has also been incorporating DNA analysis into his research since the advent of autosomal testing in 2007. He has successfully reconstructed numerous family branches that were broken during slavery using genetic genealogy.
After an early career in civil engineering, Collier earned a Master of Arts degree in African American Studies from Clark Atlanta University, where he also worked in the university’s Archives Center for seven years before joining the federal government in Washington, D.C. His expertise has been featured nationally, including an appearance as a genealogist on NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? (Spike Lee episode). He has delivered presentations and webinars across the country on genealogy, enslaved ancestry, and genetic genealogy. In 2017, he was a featured speaker alongside actor LeVar Burton at RootsTech’s African Heritage Day, highlighting the power of DNA technology to trace African roots. Through his popular blog, Roots Revealed (www.rootsrevealed.com), Collier shares compelling case studies in genealogy and genetic genealogy. He is an active member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), which has recognized his contributions with several awards. Collier is also the author of four acclaimed works: Mississippi to Africa: A Journey of Discovery (2008), 150 Years Later: Broken Ties Mended (2011), Ealy Family Heritage: Documenting Our Legacy (2016), and From Fragments to Foundation: Uncovering a Buried History of Tragedy and Triumph (2025). His latest publication addresses the complexities and effectiveness of genetic genealogy. |
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Shannon Combs-Bennett QG, MSc, FSAScotShannon Combs-Bennett QG, MSc, FSAScot, is an award-winning author who resides in Northern Virginia. From there, she writes and presents various topics across the US and internationally, from genetic genealogy to methodology techniques.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in biology with an emphasis in genetics from Indiana University and her Master of Science in Genealogic, Heraldic, and Paleographic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Shannon is a doctoral candidate in History and Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde, researching the correlations between genealogy and lineage societies in the United States. |
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Orice JenkinsOrice Jenkins is a recording artist, genealogist, educator, and author, born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. He began researching his family history upon discovering that Whitney Houston’s grandparents were from his grandmother’s hometown of Blakely, Georgia. Since then, he has traced his ancestry back to 1745 in Central Virginia, uncovering the stories of several formerly enslaved Americans.
Orice is a member of the Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. He has presented his findings at The College of William & Mary, Yale University, FamilySearch’s RootsTech Conference, and the International African American Museum’s Center for Family History. His research has been featured in The Washington Post, National Parks Magazine, PBS’ Finding Your Roots, and on the Homestead National Historical Park Service website. Orice is the author of The Early County Massacre: Goolsby vs. The State of Georgia, a book chronicling the family of Grandison Goolsby, a prominent farmer who was extrajudicially lynched in Early County, Georgia, in 1915. Orice also publishes a blog called Chesta’s Children and serves as the Executive Director of a youth music program in Greenfield, Massachusetts. |
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Toni CarrierBio coming soon.
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