The challenges of searching for

African-American ancestors

African-Americans have a much harder time doing their family tree. They can face Insurmountable brick walls because slaves in the census were not named, only counted by tally marks.

The Oklahoma Home and Community Education Genealogy Group will meet on April 19th, and Ms. Cynthia Johnson will present “This is My Story, This is My Song,” detailing the search for her African-American family history. Ms. Johnson began researching her family’s history over eight years ago but ran into many barriers and roadblocks. Reluctance to talk about the past, long kept secrets and lack of documentation meant turning to DNA. That DNA enabled her to continue her research.

Ms. Johnson was born and raised in Oklahoma and currently resides in Ardmore. She is a Navy veteran and retired from Michelin North America. She now works as a Mediator in the South-Central district of Oklahoma for the State of Oklahoma

The OHCE Genealogy Group meets at 10 a.m. at the Oklahoma County Extension office, 2500 NE 63rd St and this presentation is open to the public. For more information you can go to our website: ohcegenealogy.com or our Facebook page: OHCEGenealogy.