William & Mary Crim Dell Association

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[PAST EVENT] Recognizing and Sharing Family Treasures Workshop with Bessida Cauthorne White

July 14, 2022
6pm
Location
Zoom
Access & Features
  • Open to the public
  • Registration/RSVP
event flyer

Join the Lemon Project's Geneaology Research Initiative for a workshop with Bessida Cauthorne White on July 14 at 6 pm.

Bessida Cauthorne White will talk about the importance of “Recognizing and Sharing Family Treasures.” Family treasures are highly valued possessions that may have been passed down from generation to generation or they may be newly acquired. They hold special meaning and tell stories about family experiences. They can be almost anything, including jewelry, furniture, housewares, clothing and textiles, photographs, books and documents, photographs, tools, musical instruments, artwork, medals, and awards, etc.

While will talk about determining what is a family treasure or heirloom, as well as documenting the history and significance of family treasures. She will discuss using family treasures to explore and communicate family history and to shed light on the broader African-American story.  She will share a myriad of treasures from her own family history journey and talk about how she uses them to engage others in the pursuit of family history. A handout for the session will include resources for identifying and preserving family treasures.

Bessida Cauthorne White (B.S., J.D.), has been a genealogist for more than forty years. She is family historian for nine families and manages DNA results for more than forty persons. An independent community historian, she is co-founder and president of Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society and a founder of Greater Richmond-AAHGS. White has presented at numerous state, regional, and national workshops and conferences, and teaches genealogy courses at Rappahannock Community College. Recently she has managed several descendant projects, including the identification of the enslaved at Menokin (an 18th-century property in Richmond County, Virginia) and their present-day descendants. White has directed the research and application process for multiple state historical highway markers that reference African Americans in Eastern Virginia, and presently has three markers at different stages of the application process. She is editor/co-editor of A Reunion of Recipes: The White Family Cookbook (1990), Help Yourself! There’s a God’s Mighty Plenty: A Treasury of Recipes from the Cauthorne & Brooks Families (First Edition 2000, Second Edition 2017), and Gather at the Welcome Table: The Angel Visit Baptist Church Sesquicentennial Cookbook (2016).

Check out this Richmond Free Press feature for more information about Bessida Cauthorne White.

Contact

Jajuan Johnson, [[jsjohnson02]]