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Cherokee Female Seminary

Acculturation and Assimilation via Education
Last month I attended Kansas City Mo Public Library exhibit of Our People, Our Land, Our Images. It was there that I saw the plaque on the wall referencing the Cherokee Female Seminary graduating class of 1902. An accompanying photo was provided by Jennie Ross Cobb (Cherokee). As family researchers we are always looking for early Native American Ancestors, especially women, and I found the history of the Cherokee Female Seminary to be helpful for a recent project. Of course female seminaries were as popular as boarding schools by the 19th century and many have preserved genealogy-filled records.

Seminary History
On 7 May 1851 the Cherokee Nation opened the female Seminary in Park Hill Mission (OK), making it “among the first educational systems built west of the Mississippi-Indian or non-Indian. In fact, for a period of time during the mid-nineteenth century, the Cherokee population was more literate than the neighboring non-Indian population” according to Wilma Mankiller, the first female Cherokee Nation chief. From 1851 to the close of the American Civil War the school was in operation. During the Civil war the seminary was used as a warehouse, hospital, etc and it took until 1870 to ready the seminary once again to accept students.  Then after Oklahoma statehood, the land and building was purchased for forty thousand dollars to be converted to the Northeastern Normal School.

The seminary was modeled after the Mount Holyoke Seminary in Worcester MA and was established by the Cherokee Nation, not the Federal Government or Missionaries.  Not only was the Mt. Holyoke Seminary curriculum adopted, many of the teachers were graduates from Mt. Holyoke Seminary; others were from Yale and Newton Theological Seminary. Free tours of Seminary Hall are offered by the Cherokee Nation , but keep in mind this is not the original structure of Park Hill Mission, as it was destroyed by fire in 1887.

Cherokee Male Seminary
Please note there was also a Male Seminary. It too was burnt down in 1910, but was never reconstructed. However, through biographies and obituaries, you may find more information on  your Cherokee ancestor.  The Cherokee Nation site even mentions a few who attended like Dr. C. M. Ross. Hew was the Medical Superintendent, was born in Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, December 17, 1868. He is the grandson of the chief, John Ross. He was educated at the Cherokee Male Seminary from which institution he was graduated in 1887.

Did My Ancestor Attend?
It is said that students, elementary from high school, were “acculturated Cherokees, many of them already familiar with “White ways,” the majority being mixed blood Cherokees. According to the Mt. Holyoke records, full and mixed blood Cherokees were eligible to attend, but the school did not offer courses in Cherokee language, history, or culture. Acculturation and assimilation into the “white” society was ideal. Out of the 3000 girls who attended the Seminary only 212 graduated; the last graduating class being 1910.

How to Research
The best place to being this research is at the Oklahoma Historical Society website. Here the researcher can locate school records from 1874-1909, photos as early as 1860 and original manuscripts. .

For More Information

Books/Manuscripts 

Elzie Ronald Caywood, "The History of Northeastern State College" M.A. thesis, University of Oklahoma, 1950.

Brad Agnew, "Legacy of Education: The History of the Cherokee Seminaries," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 63 (Summer 1985).

Cherokee National Female Seminary, An Illustrated Souvenir Catalog of the Cherokee National Female Seminary, Tahlequah, Indian Territory, 1850-1906 (Chilocco, Okla.: Indian Print Shop, [abt 1906]

Ellen Goodale, Ellen Rebecca (Whitmore), Journal of Ellen Whitmore, ed. Lola Garrett Bowers and Kathleen Garrett (Tahlequah, Okla., Northeastern State College, 1953). 

Online Resources

• Photographing Native Americans in Oklahoma-Indian Territory
• Mount Holyoke Historical Atlas - The Cherokee Female Seminary 
• Cultivating the Rosebuds: The Education of Women at the Cherokee Female Seminary, 1851-1909 

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy@gmail.com

Accurate, accessible answers

Saving Libraries, One Genealogist at a Time

Book Quilt, University City Library, St. Louis, MO

The New(er) Library Patron
White Paper Brief of Presentation

Libraries across the nation are defining family researchers as “new patrons.” They have different needs and libraries are accommodating and finding more people walking through their doors daily. With genealogy and family research being the second most popular hobby (rumor has it Golf is number one), the ancestral search begins at the local library. We all aspire to go to the top 10 genealogy libraries, but beginning family research begins at the local library. Libraries are not obsolete, they are essential for family research.

What the Family Researcher Needs?

I challenge libraries to open their doors to the needs of the family researcher; to think out of the box, if you will. Here are a few ways to help the family researcher:

1. Local history books: Wars, military and local history. Reference books are good but some of us like reading stories and watching history unfold. I recently checked out the 6 DVD copy of Shelby Foote’s series on the Civil War and on my reading desk is a library copy of This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War.
2. Old Area Newspapers: If your area’s old newspapers have not been microfilmed or put in electronic form (OCR perhaps), know that genealogists around the world are wishing they were accessible. This does not have to be a big expense, just and effort. I like to say a movement!  I ask for interlibrary loans of microfilm newspapers monthly. My latest was for Zanesville, OH., 1849. Patrons are willing to pay the shipping fee (usually about $5.00)
3. Indexed family files and holdings:  Indexed family files (call on your volunteers) will make you a favorite. The Napa City-County library has a great names index that takes the researcher to the right microfilm reel and date. My 3 hour scheduled visit ended up being a full day love affair with Napa’s historical papers. So little time, so many surnames! The Bonner Springs City Library in Kansas has wonderful local research room with notebooks of its citizens. 
4. Genealogy databases: Yes some are subscription based but if cost prohibited, know there’s the popular Familysearch.org website that is completely free to the researcher. Oh, there’s HeritageQuest for libraries, Ancestry.com and Fold3.com , but the goal is not to have the most databases, but to offer a starting point for your family researcher. Encourage them to come to library to research.
5. Classes/Workshops: Speaking of databases and research… what is most needed is training. By offering training courses, the library becomes a place for the community. Next logical steps are students setting up meeting times at the library to “unearth” some of those ancestors. Remember some basic research classes are needed too. Everything from making a research plan, to analyzing data, and citing sources.
6. Community Liaison: Family researchers rely on libraries and genealogy societies to be the community reference desk. Where might I find cemetery records? Are there any experts on the early Acadians? These are the questions I posed to the St. Martinville Branch Library in Louisiana. Of course the reference librarian gave me the names of the leading books for researching that area and finding ancestors (yes it was successful), and she led me to a knowledgeable “Special Interest Group (SIG)” Popular libraries host SIG meetings, suggested as infrequent as once a quarter or on a once a month schedule or whatever your community needs. SIG’s can be on Native American research, ethnic research (Irish? German? Swedish?), or social media.
7. Social Media: Of course this topic is essential to the family researchers. Many find cousins and ancestors on the internet through blogs, tweets, Google+ and Facebook. Oh, and let’s not forget the popular Pinterest. Besides offering classes the library can build its fan lists by using social media to keep patrons informed. Did you know there will be a Roots Tech Conference in Salt Lake City March 2013 . This annual conference is the best of both worlds: technology (to include a lot of social media) and genealogy in one! What about the newest exhibit at the library. The Kansas City Public Library just featured Americans by Choice: The Story of Immigration and Citizenship in Kansas. We spent over 2 hours clicking photos and reading every panel and book. Not just a learning experience, it helped the “inner researcher” to think out of the box when researching my family history.
8. Repository for Yearbooks and Old City Directories: Public school memory books (yearbooks) started to become popular in the late 1890’s. And these books may offer the only photo of our ancestors, or at least a mention. But where can one find these yearbooks? For the Rockford memory books, try visiting the Rockford Public library. They have collected yearbooks back to 1892. Rarely do we find comprehensive collections of yearbooks as we do in the local libraries. This library also has the Rockfordiana, indexed local newspaper clippings. .
9. Advocate for Local History: Libraries reaching out to family research patrons are noted as being local history advocates. If there’s a need in a community why not host the local genealogy society. If space allows, perhaps even housing and accessing the local history information for patrons and society members. Harper County (KS) Genealogical Society is headquartered at the Harper Public Library. The idea is to become a community focus, and let researchers know you are serious about it. 
10. Local History Room. Space is often an issue for the small library, but hopefully there is a specified section for local history. While researching for the Reba McIntire episode of Who Do You Think You Are, I was able to uncover data from the Butler, MO library. The small space for local history held a few microfilm readers and pertinent local history and reference books in one area.

For more information visit

Importance of Libraries to Family Historians 

White Paper on Libraries to Family Historians  penned by Kathleen Brandt

National Library Week 2011 

Kathleen Brandt is a Keynote speaker/consultant for libraries and repositories wishing to support family researchers, genealogists and historians. She volunteers for the Midwest Genealogy Center, Mid-Continent Library, in Independence MO. 

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Accurate, accessible, answers. 

Am I Really Native American?

If you were told your great-grandpa or great-grandma were Native Americans raise your hand. 

Now prove it!

Elizabeth Warren Cherokee Connection?

In this political fury everyone is jumping in to prove or disprove the facts – commonly called Fact Checking.  But, where does family lore come in? Most people have not put effort into fact-checking the family stories. You just believe them; they are a part of who you are. That is until the genealogists come along!  I recently penned this Preface for my own family book that uncovers the fact that 2^nd Great Grandpa Tobe was not Native American after all:

For as long as I can remember, I would boast, to any victim who would listen,…[about] the Indian blood I possessed…  To me, these stories were a necessary reality of unproven truths that defined the “me” of me.  I willingly accepted the twisted family stories, spinned them and massaged them into epoch size fairy tales that defied logic.  Perhaps under microscopic review, one could find 20% reality but the other 80% was clearly muddied by the storyteller’s liberty.                                                             

I continued to explain that “In less than two months of research, I came to some “mouth-dropped-open realities.  Tobe wasn’t Tobe,[and] we had no Indian blood…”

So when Elizabeth Warren made the mistake of sharing what she thought was her Native American bragging rights only to find that it was a family myth, I have to admit, I was a bit sympathetic.  I can’t say that the research is all in, but the preliminary documents and arguments have nullified her Native American heritage. At best, it appears that family line might (maybe) yield a 1/64 Native American blood line.

So before any others suffer from the embarrassment of a genealogical morass, know that there are a few key points to remember when searching your Cherokee Connection: 

1. Just because your ancestor lived in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) does not make them an “Indian”
2. Facial features and hair texture are not valid arguments for Native American heritage.
3. Not all Cherokee ancestors were properly listed on the Dawes Rolls, but if they aren’t, they are not considered members of the Cherokee Nation, and you aren’t either
4. As many Freedmen Indians already know: just because you aren’t officially a member of the Cherokee Nation, doesn’t speak of your bloodline. We’ve proven a few DNA connections to Native American bloodline, but more data is needed to claim tribal status.  
5. And finally, don’t confuse family lore with fact, especially while the whole country is watching!For 

More Information on the Elizabeth Warren Story visit the following:

• Elizabeth Warren’s Genealogical Challenge  
• Genealogical Society: No proof of Warren’s Cherokee Heritage Found 

 Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy@gmail.com

Accurate, accessible, answers

Passports Applications for Genealogy

For self and wife. Wife's birthplace given. 

Resource for Women, African American and Alien Research?

Of course by now you know passport application can be a genealogical treasure. They give us place of origin, parent’s names, date of birth, photos, and so much to fill in holes and to karate chop a brick wall to its knees. But, sometimes we need to delve a bit more into the law and practices of this document.  Like all collections, passport applications have evolved over the years. 

History of  Passport Applications?

An interesting fact is that not all passports were issued by the Department of State. Prior to 1856 other government entities were allowed to issue passports, and the issuance of passports were governed by fluctuating laws.  But, the Department of State began issuing passports in 1789. At that time ninety five percent (95%) of early passport applicants were men, but not 95% of the travelers.

Women, Children and Servants?

Self, servant, and two minors. 

If the man was being accompanied by his wife, children or servant, the group, customarily were named and traveled on one passport. The group travel scenario makes for a genealogical bonus. Women and children also traveled overseas, sometimes alone or accompanied by a woman’s maid, child nurse or family servant.  In these cases passports can be used to verify a family unit. By 1923, 40% of the passports applicants were women.

African American Research

Self, wife (birthdate/place), and 2 colored servants: name and birthdate/place given

It is rare that researchers think of passports as a resource for African American research for ex-slaves. But recently, Beth Foulk of Genealogy Decoded provided the example above of Eugene Herbert Coapman. She came across this passport application, that clearly defines two colored servants, when researching her husband's line. As in this example, early passports may provide genealogical glimpses of servants, ex-slaves, or free coloreds, offering birthplace and dates of birth. Passports may also specify trade/occupation.

Aliens Had US Passports?

Of course aliens were not “generally” issued passports, but this should not deter the researcher from reviewing the passport collections. You may find your alien ancestor was one of the few issued a passport without being naturalized between March 1863 and May 1866.   During this timeframe it was lawful to issue a passport to alien applicants if they had completed their Declaration of Intent to become a naturalized citizen. (Reference: Act of Congress of March 3, 1863 (12 Stat. 754; and Act 30 May 1866 - 14 Stat 54).

It was once again lawful to issue passports to aliens between 1907 and 1920, if the applicant had declared his intent to become a naturalized citizen. (Reference: Act 2 March 1907 - 34 Stat.1228; and June 4, 1920 - 41 Stat 751).  

Were Passports Needed?

The NARA website best defines why residents often traveled overseas without a US passport. But it must be noted that passport requirements paralleled the various war / peace state of the USA. The Civil War, WWI, and WWII each influenced the need (or recommendation) for US passports:

Civil War Era: Passports were required from August 19, 1861, to March 17, 1862

WWI Era: President Woodrow Wilson's Executive Order 2285 of December 15, 1915 recommended passports: But they were not required until May 22, 1918 (40 Stat. 559). This was enforced until the 1921 treaties.

WWII Era: The Act of June 21, 1941 (55 Stat. 252) once again imposed passport requirements. On the 27 Jun 1952 the Immigration and Nationality Act made it illegal to leave the USA without a valid passport.

Locating Passport Applications

Passport applications have been digitized by ancestry.com. They can also be obtained thy mail (or in person) at the NARA in Washington DC. Researchers can even request passports applications online: inquire@nara.gov. Visit the NARA website for ordering instructions: 

Kathleen Brandt

a3Genealogy@gmail.com

accurate accessible answers

Tracing Southwest Louisiana Ancestors

http://www.layers-of-learning.com/louisiana-state-study/

Notes Taken From SW Louisiana Records, Father Hèbert

Call it America if you wish, but put away preconceived colonial and US customs and traditions when you are researching your Acadian ancestors; those from Southwest (SW) Louisiana and originating from the French and Spanish colonies of the Louisiana Territory. As with any ethnic research, we must be open with Anglicizing names, following cultural naming conventions and phonetic spellings as we dig through church records, civil records and cemetery inscriptions, but in the SW Louisiana culture so much more must be considered. So, when researching that SW Louisiana ancestor and their Acadian heritage throw out the norm and input “strong cultural influence” influenced by religion and enforced by law!

Religious Considerations

It would benefit any researcher of this region to read the Introductory Notes of Father Donald Hèbert’s SW Louisiana Records volumes for a cursory religious and Civil Code understanding.  In this he explains that record keeping was important to many Bishops, and guidelines were set as early as 23 Oct 1796: “Bautismos, Matrimonios, y Entierros de Blancos, otro de bautismos y matrimonios de gente de color” (Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals of the Whites and also the baptisms and marriages of people of color; pg 13 Volume1A.)

Numbers and Names

Besides the common use of nicknames (dit which literally means called) and direct translations Canero to Mouton, it is important to understand that number 8 was used for the sound of huit (French number 8) in official records. An example is Marie Cag8ires. I suggest researchers use wildcards (? or *) when possible to open search options for sounds like “huit.”

My research study was on the surname Broussard.  Any quick Google search will lead you to the many references of the forever happy Acadian leader Joseph Broussard “dit” Beausoleil. This nickname was carried for generations.

It was also a practice to name children after Godparents, so by tracing nicknames and Godparents, you may uncover additional generations on your ancestral tree. 

Following Records via Race Designation

I probably don’t have to mention that there were enough interracial relationships to substantiate the need to describe persons by race: mulatto, tierceron (or octaroon), quaterrone, etc. By 1810 this becomes even more prevalent in the Louisiana church records due to the Haitian refugees (mostly New Orleans). The idea was to identify the amount of mixed blood in people of African descent for typically 4 generations: Tierceron was most often used as an offspring of a white father and quaterrone mother. Of course there was even the quinterone that described light skinned person usually with blue or green eyes and hair; perhaps 1/16 African blood. This knowledge will assist the researcher in locating church records and tracing back additional generations. A good book to have on hand is A Creole Lexicon, but note that some words on your ancestor’s vital records will not translate.  

The most important note in records that you may find is “passe-à-blanc,” or “passeablanc” (has black bood but could pass for white).  You may find that your otherwise recent ancestral family was white, but in earlier records were identified as one of the mixed races.  A recent discovery of a Louisiana family is the true story of One Drop: My Father’s Hidden Life .

Finding Records Based on Degree of Legitimacy

A few notes to keep in mind: Using Father Hèbert’s book, we learn not to look for the deaths of people of color in the Opelousas Church. Yet, we are given hope that grandparent’s names may be found in the records. Oh, and keep in mind that Protestant marriages were kept separately as were most records of color. There are many other hints to assist in your research, but besides these noted exclusions of records, legitimacy of a child may keep you from uncovering desired the church or civil records. This could be due to the Civil Codes of the time. Not all children could be recorded with the church, so we must first understand the terms:

• Illegitimate child: off-springs of a single man and woman (eligible to be married) but not yet married. These children were usually white, and could inherit property from their father if no legal child existed.  Be sure to research probate/will records. They could also ask for alimony  or attempt to prove parentage.  Be sure to look at court records along with wills.
  To complicate this issue of legitimacy, a white child “could attempt to prove paternity to a white father, black children could not” under the Civil Code of 1825, since it specifies “free illegitimate children of color may be allowed to prove descent from a father of color only (see SWLR, Volume 1A, pg. 25).  

• Natural Child: usually referred to a white father who acknowledged his children born by a slave or free color. This was a way to record a relationship in spite of the laws that against miscegenation (mixed marriages) were not allowed.  No law prohibited a white man from acknowledging his “colored” offspring.
  A white child may also be recorded in some records as “natural child” if the father acknowledged his illegitimate white child.
  As natural children were acknowledged by their father, they were able to request support from the heirs of the father. If there were no legal/legitimate children, a natural child was able to inherit from their father.  So be sure to look at deeds, probates and wills.

• Bastard Child: usually referred to a white child that the father did not acknowledge, so there is no formal record of the father with church birth record. Although bastards could not ask for inheritance, could ask for alimony. So be sure to reference court records.
  Children resulting from incest or adultery (black or white) could not be acknowledged. You may find alimony payment records for these children but they could not be acknowledged legally. I have been successful in finding notes in deed records, but have not located any as of yet in church records.

 Kathleen Brandt

Accurate, accessible answers

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Researching Blacks in German Concentration Camps

Jean Voste: black inmate at Dachau,n.d.
Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies

Nazi Germany and Black Prisoners

If you’ve visited the US Holocaust Museum, you probably already know this: Blacks were incarcerated in the German concentration camps along with Jewish prisoners.  We are all familiar with the Jewish treatment - it was systematic resulting in worldwide knowledge. But, five million non-Jewish prisoners died in Nazi concentration camps to include black people who were also persecuted, sterilized and murdered. The irony is your ancestor may have been one that suffered, but then again, your veteran ancestor may have been significant in the liberation of the concentration camp prisoners.

Good News - Liberators

Thirty five US Army divisions are recognized by the US Holocaust museum for their assistance in liberating concentration camp war prisoners.  Ten units were noted for liberating major camps, but the remaining troops assisted in the liberation of prisoners held at the sub-camps. For example, Mauthausen in Austria was a major camp, but Gunskirchen was a subcamp of Mauthausen.  The 761st Tank Battalion (an African American tank unit), under the command of General George Patton, participated in the liberation of Gunskirchen, May 1945. We know that many black soldiers were witnesses to the concentration camp atrocities, but few people know much about the Africans and African Americans who were incarcerated and actual records are hard to find. So we must rely on the recounts of the stories by the victims or witnesses.

History of Black Germany

The importance of the purity of the German race was expressed before WWI. The German parliament (Reichstag) had placed a law barring mixed marriages in the German African Colonies early. Many are not aware that Germany established colonies in Africa: present day Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania and Namibia in the 1800’s as did the other western European nations..

By the time Hitler was in power, there were between 20 - 25 thousand black people living in Germany. Many Africans worked for the imperial colonial government and came to Germany or attended school or worked as entertainers having made Germany their home. Some were even French African soldiers who married, had families,  and remained in Germany after serving in the Rhineland area or American soldiers.

To maintain the “purity of the German race” the Gestapo captured about 400 Afro-German children and teenagers for sterilization. These mulatto children of black soldiers and German women, referred to as Rhineland Bastards,  were outcasts of the community targeted to prevent further  “polluting of the German pure race.”

We do find documents where restitution was given to some families, as was the case with the African-German born Lari (Hilarius) Gilges a tap dancer and  organizer of the Northwest Rann -- an organization of entertainers that fought the Nazis in his home town of Dusseldorf. Gilges was killed in 1933 by the SS at the age of 24.

Was Your Ancestor Imprisoned or Murdered? 

Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger
Story of  Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi 

Black soldiers of American, French and British armies were captured and often sent to Gestapo prisons like Butzbach. Others were prisoners in German’s occupied Belgium’s Beverloo transit camp. It is said that “some Allied prisoners of war, including black French colonial soldiers and African Americans, were interned in Stalag-III-A at Luckenwalde near Berlin. In the summer of 1940 about 4,000 black POWs were sent to Luckenwalde. In 1941 300 of them were forced to act as extras in the German film Germanin (1943).”

• Lionel Romney, a sailor in the U.S. Merchant Marine, was imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp.
• Valaida Snow, a female jazz singer, was imprisoned in Axis internment camp.
• Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi, the retired managing editor of Ebony magazine, was born in Hamburg to a Liberian father and a German mother in 1926. His book and movie Neger, Neger, Schornsteinfeger (Negro, Negro, Chimneysweep) was aired in 2006.
• Gert Schramm was 15 years old when he was deported to the Nazi’s Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. During his time he was buried alive but rescued by fellow prisoners. His American father, Jack Brankson, was sent to Auschwitz.

Finding Records

Just as with any of the Holocaust victims, records of blacks imprisoned in the concentration camps are in forms of manuscripts, diaries, and family stories. Few may be found in the confiscated German records held at the National Archives. You may wish to begin with the RG238, Collection of WWII War Crimes Records, 1933-1949.

By searching the National Archives website  you may uncover finding aides like the publication National Archives Publishes New Guide to Records of Mauthausen Concentration Camp - Includes WWI and PostWar Records. 

Also be sure to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website. It is here that I found the Blacks During the Holocaust article.

Kathleen Brandt

a3genealogy@gmail.com

Accurate, accessible answers