LANSING, MI — The Lansing Area African American Genealogy Society (LAAAGS) takes pride in proclaiming that the organization achieved its goals for 2009. The local genealogical group which was established in 2002, had specific goals of engaging in new and exciting activities during 2009-2010.
LAAAGS was founded in 2002 by a group of mutual friends that included the late Wilbur Howard, Brenda Henderson, Carrie Baptiste Jackson, Jan Smith Lewis, and Mary Agnes Lipscomb. The group has thrived and currently enjoys the continued efforts of preserving and disseminating African American family history.
LAAAGS meets the second Saturday of every month except July and August at the State Library and Historical Center, Lansing, MI. Examples of the interesting and informative activities undertaken by the group is their June meeting which was a joint trip to Cass County, Michigan with the Fred Hart Williams Genealogy Society (FHWGS) from Detroit, Michigan. The combined groups traveled to Cass County and visited routes along the Underground Railroad that was prominent in that area of Michigan where escaping enslaved Africans made their way to freedom. The trip was well attended and very well planned by Maurice Sanders, member and Leslie Williams, president of FHWGS. The groups met in Battle Creek, MI, and traveled through several communities, including Schoolcraft, Vandalia, and Cassopolis. Some of the highlights of the trip were definitely the visits to local cemeteries. The groups did tours of three African American cemeteries that have been maintained since the early 1800’s.
The LAAAGS monthly meetings were spiced up in 2009 with several wonderful speakers. In October the program was presented by Mr. Morris Thomas, geography professor, MSU. The presentation was on Idlewild, MI. Mr. Thomas is a native of the region so the group was treated to a lot of inside interpretation of the history and the decline of the region. This area was once a summertime beach paradise for many African Americans who were not welcomed onto popular beach resorts in most parts of America during the 1920’s through the 1960’s.
The November program was presented by Ms. Linda Cowles, Capital City Repo Graphics, Old Town, MI. The presentation was on Photograph Restoration. This was an excellent presentation for genealogists. Ms. Cowles gave pointers on how to store, restore, and convert photographs into digital formats. Everyone left with renewed resolve to correctly store and preserve their photographs and documents. Ms. Cowles is an expert at restoration and storage of photographs and important documents. She recommends converting all important genealogy photos and documents to digital formats and storing them outside the home.
December brought a very interesting and informative program to LAAAGS. Ms. Veta Tucker, professor, Grand Valley State University, did a presentation on the Underground Railroad (UR). Ms Tucker’s talk centered on the development of the UR starting with the participation of the Quaker community moving from the South to the North and bringing emancipated Africans with them. Her talk gave background on Ramptown, an all Black community in Cass County, MI, that no longer exists. This was a wonderful presentation and should be widely shared with everyone interested in genealogy and American history.
LAAAGS will conduct a daylong seminar on Researching African American History in October 2010. Details for these events will be on the group’s website: www.laaags.org and in the newsletter as the programs are finalized.
Anyone interested in membership in LAAAGS may join the Society by printing out a membership application from its website and returning it to the address listed on the form. Persons interested could also attend any meeting on the second Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. at the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 West Kalamazoo Street, Lansing, Michigan 48909.
