- Hello, and thank you for joining us on Inspire.

You might know your parents and grandparents, but what about the generations before them?

On today's Inspire, we're going to show you how to uncover the stories that built your family legacy.

Coming up on Inspire, - Inspire is sponsored by the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation.

And by the estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith Music - Welcome to another edition of Inspire.

I'm always delighted to be here with my beautiful inspire sister Leslie Fleuranges.

And thank you that you are here with us and that you're joining us today.

Have you ever stumbled across an old photo and wondered, who's that?

Today we're gonna try to help you solve those Mysteries together.

We're diving into the art of genealogy, Where to start, how to organize your search, and the joy that comes from discovering your roots with expert genealogist, Cindy Cruz and Barbara LaClair from the Topeka Genealogy Society.

Welcome ladies.

Thank Thank you.

- We are thrilled to have you here.

And as I mentioned, I just got back from doing a family reunion on the Fleuranges side of the family, so this, this episode is just right for me.

I'm so excited.

But tell us, what is genealogy?

What exactly does that mean, Cindy?

- Well, I think genealogy is studying your ancestry and lineage of your family, starting with your generation and going backwards and of course going forwards to your descendants as well.

And usually genealogy is recorded with a family tree or some other kind of a chart to help you keep track of all the people in your family.

Fabulous.

- Yeah, I think, you know, Cindy's definition, I definitely agree with, I would expand it a little bit.

Sometimes we talk about family history versus genealogy and in my opinion, genealogy is collecting those names and dates and filling in the tree.

Family history's more about collecting the stories and the context and really understanding the lives of the people that came before us.

- Is that something that's become really popular?

I mean, here on PBS, we have “Finding Your Roots”, and I know a lot of people really get into watching that show.

Are more and more people getting into genealogy and family history.

And I'll have you start right - Now, Barbara.

Yeah.

You know, according to some sources, and I don't know that they're how official they are.

Genealogy's probably the second most popular hobby I really among adults in, in the United States.

It's very popular.

What about you Cindy?

- Oh, I think so too.

I believe since online resources are available, people really are able to research anywhere.

They can research at home in their pajamas in their favorite chair.

It used to be you had to go to a library or go to a courthouse.

So things have really changed and made it possible for anyone to study their family history.

- So what is it that the, the Topeka Genealogy Society offers as opposed to these sort of online services today?

Is there some difference or is it better worse?

How, how, how would we go about using what's going on here in, in your organization?

- Well, we offer online services or or online classes and events as well as in-person events.

And then we have a really robust website that has over 367,000 records on it.

- Wow.

- That you can access from home.

And there also is a lot of training on how to use other kinds of online resources.

But we also have a lot of social events and opportunities to network with other people that are interested in genealogy.

And I think that's one of the really great purposes that we have in our society.

Yeah, well, go ahead.

- I, I would, I would add to that, that although we see advertisements and genealogy has certainly gotten easier with the internet, there is more to it than just clicking on the hints, the shaky leaf.

And it does help to understand something about the records we're looking at and, and the basic methods how to do the research.

And so we're here to provide some of that as well.

- And I would second and third what you both said, because I have clicked on the shaky leaf and done my own research and literally got nowhere with it.

And it took me being on an ID show here for KTWU to have Cindy do research for me as a part of the show.

I had only gotten three like family generations back.

She got me back to seven on both sides.

Oh - Wow.

- Amazing.

So for those who have no clue, and I'll be the first one to say, I did what I thought I knew to do, where should we get started?

What's the best thing to do?

Because again, you've got the paid sites like here, just do this.

It doesn't necessarily work like that.

Walk us through some of the processes.

- Well, I think at first that's how people get hooked.

They look at the, all of the hints and everything, but those databases and those organizations that are owned by companies want you to keep looking on their site.

So they, they kind of pull you in with the, the shaky leaves and everything.

But to really do work, you have to look at your own family, your own resources, start at home, see what you do know, and then build on that in a logical process.

And we have several different sig or special interest groups in our society that do training on how to do genealogy.

And we will do one-on-one work with people if they would like some help.

But I think you build, you build a toolkit to know where to go from one clue to another clue and that's how you work your way back and really be successful.

Yeah.

- So I was mentioning that my grandfather on my mother's side is from Barbados and we know nothing other than his name and maybe what little, you know, church area he came from, so not from Topeka.

Is that something that you could help me with since you know he's not a Topeka?

- That's a really great question.

I think a lot of people think because we are here in Topeka, we only have Shawnee County resources and while we do have a lot of information about people who lived in Shawnee County, the methods and the research approach is pretty much the same no matter where you're researching.

And there are plenty of records online where we could definitely help and guide you through that process.

- Oh well that's - Exciting.

It is.

What about DNA kits?

How helpful are they in this particular - Journey?

I think DNA can be a very useful tool if you do not know your origins or maybe go back a few generations, maybe as as many as five generations.

It can give you some help on linking up family trees and doing research.

If it gets much farther back than that.

The DNA is diluted enough that it doesn't really help a lot, but with combination of the DNA results and matches with other people as well as a tree that's on paper or online, you can make a lot of progress in finding your ancestry.

- And so, you know, when I think about what's happened in this country in terms of immigrants and migration and all of that, how does that impact your being able to help someone who is not, wasn't born in this country and you know, but they've come here to live and now they would like to find out more about their family.

Is that an easy enough thing to do?

- Well, I don't know if it's easy.

I think the first thing you really have to do is find every record in the United States that you can, that might give you a hint as to where they came from.

So you might look at church records or baptism records, census records, perhaps even immigration records, and try to find where that person came from.

Then if you can locate their home village or city, you are able to look for records in that area much more successfully.

If you just have Germany, you're out of luck.

If you know it's “???

?” Germany you might be able to find your people pretty easily.

- I think the other thing is record sets vary from location to location.

So we know records in the US pretty well because we work there a lot.

If it's a location we haven't worked in.

And the first thing we're gonna do is try to learn something about what records are available and how they're organized in that area.

And there are resources online that are very helpful for doing that.

- How did you two get involved in genealogy?

Were you looking at your own family history and said, Hey, let me check out and do this for other people?

Let's start with you, Barb.

- Well I, I think from the, from the time I was pretty young, I was always interested in the family stories.

And I had an an older great aunt who I spent a lot of time with and I listened to everything she told me about her family.

My grandmother would talk about her family and I always paid attention, but I was in middle school when somebody did compiled a family history on my dad's family line and gave us a copy and I was hooked from there on.

Yeah.

- What about you Cindy?

- Well, I'm a really late bloomer.

I inherited a bunch of family photos from deceased members of our family and I thought I needed to preserve those.

So I was placing them in archival albums and kind of like a scrapbooker.

I was trying to figure out who they were and put dates and names and I thought, I don't even know who these people are.

I knew they were my second grade grandfather or something, but I didn't know anything about them.

So I started finding dates and names and I got to know Barb.

Ah, and she, she did a talk for a, a group that I was in, in an organization I was in.

And I went to a family history conference put on by the Topeka Genealogical Society and they told me I could get a 14 day free trial with ancestry.com.

So I went for that and the rest is history and I feel like I need to give back to TGS because that's where I got my start.

And how I really been trained to be a pretty successful genealogist.

- When you did that, how far back did you go?

Where did you land?

- Well, in the last couple of years I've been able to chase trace a lot of my ancestry back to Germany and the records go back to the mid 15 hundreds.

Oh my goodness.

- Wow.

- So I've been able to find, especially in one village, a lot of my ancestors that came to Pennsylvania were from one place and the church records go back and I found some amazing information about the family that way.

- If we want to get in contact with the both of you in Topeka Geneal Genealogical Society, how can we do that?

Is there like a website we can go to?

Do you have a free standing building that we could just walk into with regular hours?

How does that work?

- There is a website and the address is tgs topeka.org.

And so feel free to go there and look around.

There's a contact us email there, so if you want to email and we do have a telephone.

We do not keep regular office hours at this point, so leave your message and someone will get back to you.

If you wanna talk to us personally, we do have a building, but we are phasing out the library, that collection that we have had there.

So we're not keeping regular hours at this point.

- Okay.

Well, you two have been such a blessing to us today, and I hope more people will be inspired to go and try to learn more about their family history and the genealogy that goes with it.

So thank you both for being on Inspire and we're going to take a short break, but when we return, we're going to hear from a woman whose love for genealogy has become a full-time career.

So please stay with us Music Music - Census records are really very important because in every census record it tells you something different.

Every census record has another piece of information that tells you about your family member, for instance, a woman, how many children she had, how many were living, whether they owned or rented their property, what their address was, who, where their parents were born, what their birthdate was, or how old they were, what jobs they did.

There are all kinds of things.

And the other thing about census records is that you can really get a snapshot of a neighborhood by looking at the people that live next door.

So census records are really important.

And obituaries, of course, all vital records, which marriage, birth, death, all of those cemetery records, all of those are really important.

Those are the things that I start with.

And after I get the basic information on people, then I go in to look for additional records.

- Well, the first thing I think a person needs to be aware of is that you need to try to be as concise and as inclusive as you possibly can be.

And a good way to know if you're getting all the records is to go to the Family Search Research Wiki.

And if you put in the locality of the area that you're researching, it will give you a list of all the available resources and where you can find them.

So I start there and then try to just do a reasonably exhaustive search using all different types of records.

- Researching the family history of African Americans can be particularly challenging.

The names of enslaved ancestors were not included on census records until 1870.

- Well, actually they appeared clear back from I think 1830 on, but they were only numbers like a tick mark, their gender, their age, and their race on those.

So it was very difficult and a lot of those ages were were estimated.

So it's very difficult to match them up.

- We are honored and thrilled to have Kenyatta Berry with us today.

She's a former host of Genealogy Roadshow right here on KTWU and PBS.

She's a noted author genealogist, and we are thrilled.

Welcome.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm excited to be here.

- Oh, it is so fun.

We wanna know about why you got interested and I know a little bit of it.

- Oh, you do.

And - It didn't even start with your family.

You got interested in an ex-boyfriend's family.

- Wow.

Yes, please.

Yeah, tell us.

So I was in law school and I was dating this guy, and with the last name of Dwelly, I thought, oh, I'm so interested in that name.

And so I started to look in different resources, census records and books.

And I found information about his second great grandfather.

And so that got me started and interested in it.

And I said the best thing that came from that relationship was actually my love for genealogy.

- Wow.

So have you found anything that was mind blowing?

Like something that you're like, whoa, I didn't expect to see that.

- Yes, I found a lot of murders.

- Okay.

- I've also found people who have been passing for white.

- Okay.

- A lot.

And then other things that I find are people don't realize the ancestors went to jail.

- Wow.

What's the reaction when you share that with family members?

- I think the reaction can depend a little bit.

So sometimes they're excited about it, other times they're upset and then they don't wanna really talk about it.

So it's just very much like either sometimes tears or they don't believe it.

That's another one.

- Have you had anybody say, stop the tape.

Stop the tape.

We're not doing this anymore.

- No.

Okay.

Okay.

So when you're presenting to someone, are you presenting like you're a little nervous to present it?

Or are you thrilled?

- Oh - Yeah.

Oh, okay.

- Yeah.

I am always nervous, always because you just don't know how someone's going to react.

The person comes, you reveal the genealogy, the family history to you.

Right.

And so whatever I tell you that you didn't know will change your life.

So that gives me a lot of responsibility.

So I'm nervous about that.

'cause I know more about your family than you do.

- That's absolutely true.

So good or bad changes, good or bad, - It changes their lives.

It changes their - Lives.

Okay.

- Because I mentioned the person that had been, that I found out that was passing, or excuse me, the research we did, she was actually a guest on Genealogy Road show.

Her mom basically left Louisiana, moved to Ohio, passed for White, left the entire family behind.

And Gail comes on the show.

She thought just her mom's dad, she just thought that he was black.

She thought everybody else in her family was white.

And so what happened when Gail's mom left, she never went back to Louisiana.

She never talked about the family.

She married a white man, lived a life as a white woman.

Well, Gail's grandfather got married again.

So Gail's had, Gail mom had four siblings, I believe it was four that she had never met.

Oh.

So how did this change Gail's life?

She comes on genealogy road show, what do I do?

I break it down and show her all of these folks in Louisiana.

She never knew.

Her mother told her.

When Gail found out though, before she came on the show, she had she some information.

Right.

But when she came on the show, I gave her all of it.

But the information she had before her mother said to her, don't tell anyone until I die.

- Wow.

Oh man.

- So she came on like four months after her mother died.

Oh my goodness.

- Because that would've up - Uprooted up everything up.

Everything, everything.

Her entire life.

So what does Gail do?

She meets all of her cousins in Louisiana and writes a book called White Like Her about it.

Wow.

My gosh.

That's the biggest like impact.

That is amazing.

- Okay.

Now did, so how did the families, - So the, so - What was the reaction when the families got together?

- Okay, so she met the black side of her family.

They accepted her.

Gail was more concerned with how her friends would react.

- Ah.

- Right.

Because this is really all about the black side of her family, she didn't know anything about.

And it was one of the things, actually a catalyst for me to leave software sales because I actually sold software while I was filming Genealogy Roadshow.

So I had two jobs basically.

So it was a catalyst because that story was so life changing - That - I really thought I should be doing this.

- And to that end, you have authored a book - Yes.

Called the Family Tree Toolkit.

And so the Family Tree Toolkit is designed to help people kind of starting out doing genealogy.

And I wrote it as if it's something I would've wanted 20 years ago - When, when there was really not that information out or how to go about it, how to go - About it.

Right.

There was some stuff, but really for me it was, it was like, okay, I have a family story.

I've heard that I'm Native American.

Is it true or not?

Yes.

Right.

So how do I figure that out?

Where do I go next?

So it really walks people through that process and then gives them the resources as well.

- Wow.

And DNA plays such a huge part.

It - Does.

It does.

And so DNA, what's interesting about DNA is whoever you test with, right?

So if you test with Ancestry, you're gonna be, obviously compared to people in that database.

23 And Me in that database.

Or Family Tree DNA and DNA now has changed a lot because there are a lot more people that are actually testing.

- Okay.

- And a lot more African Americans that are testing in the beginning, your matches will be very far down third cousins and below.

And we really don't deal, we, I mean, genealogists don't deal with third and fourth and kinda like fifth cousins.

- Okay.

- We really want those first and second cousins.

- And so, so especially for a lot of people of color who we can't trace back back because we don't know the origin.

Should we still try to do some - Genealogy?

Yeah.

Okay.

I'm smiling because of course, yes, we should.

Okay.

And the reason why is because I think with African American genealogy, it's difficult.

It's an area I focus on.

We have to deal with slavery, right.

And free people of color.

So we have all of that trauma to deal with, but we should also have the experiencing excitement, the joy and the inspiration of knowing our family history.

Because if you and I are having a bad day and we know that some woman or man in our family, our ancestor was enslaved, then our bad day is nothing.

That's true.

- Wow.

That's very - True.

But if I don't know my history, how can I relate to that?

That's true.

And you may find some exciting stuff's.

There's great stuff as well.

And while it's difficult, I am working personally to try and make it easier.

That's really been my goal.

To make it easier for African Americans to find their ancestors.

- Is there anything for the, for the viewer out there that that to encourage them to look for my people?

- There are a couple of things.

I find that genealogy it, when you know the story of your family, it inspires you.

And everyone has a story.

Right?

When I started, I thought, oh, my family, they're just farmers.

So they don't really have any type of story, just, they're just farmers.

That's not true.

They have a very rich story.

Wow.

So I think it's important to, to understand that.

And it's important for people to share that information with other generations.

And so look at, you know, there's a variety of genealogy shows and I think that's one of the goals that we had.

And the goal that I have, you know, personally, is to inspire people who aren't interested in genealogy to get interested.

And that's where I wrote my book.

So - Did the ex-boyfriend like fact that you did his family and appreciate you?

- No.

Oh dog.

God, he did not care at all.

Well, we appreciate you and you will appreciate Kenyatta Berry Thank you so much for being here with us.

Oh, well thank you for having me.

Music - What a great show.

This has been Leslie, you know, I had the privilege of being on ID Quest on KTWU several years ago with Dr.

Berry, and it was a life changing experience.

What are some of the takeaways that you've gotten and how did this inspire you to want to go digging in your family roots?

- I'm digging.

I just talked to one of my cousins last night and you know, it's so sad that we don't know anything about my grandfather Right.

On my mother's side.

And so having this show today, I'm gonna be calling Cindy, I'm gonna be calling Barb, and we are going to dig into it.

I am totally inspired having just come back from a family reunion on the Fleuranges side.

We have to now do the Blenman side of the family.

And I wanna know everything.

And I wanna be able to share it with my cousins who are still with us because my aunts and uncles and grandparents, they're gone.

So our generation and their children and their children, they wanna know.

And we just have done a really poor job.

So, and, and you know what else was exciting?

And to find out that their information is not just Kansas based, that they can help me to go deeper and to actually find out something about folks in Barbados.

So I'm, I'm turned on.

- Well, and like I mentioned to Cindy, the fact that I'd only been able to go back three generations and she took me back seven generations on both sides, was stories that I had no clue, no clue I'd all this time, if you're a Lawrence native or know anything about KU basketball, there's a Lafayette Norwood who was the first African American assistant coach for KU men's basketball.

All these years, people are like, are you in any relation to Lafayette?

No, no, no.

I don't know who Lafayette is.

Never heard of him.

- Oh, wow.

- Well, and then I'd heard of him, but it's like, yeah, I don't know.

Lafayette turned out, he is, my cousin had no idea until talking to Cindy.

And she literally poured hour upon hour in terms of like weeks almost studying my family tree for the show.

And she, I've got over 400 pages of - History - As a result of that.

So I would encourage you to do it.

I'm excited to see what's going on with the Fleuranges family and everything that she ends up finding out for you.

Because you actually have relatives who are really curious about your - Family.

Exactly.

Exactly.

We, at the reunion that we just had in Charleston a couple weeks ago, we found out that Fleuranges is the 3,933,333 most popular name in the world.

Really?

- Really?

You are the only fleuranges - I know.

I'm the only fleuranges you know.

Right.

And what And doesn't it mean flower?

It means flower angel.

Ooh.

Ooh.

I love that.

I know, me too.

I love that and it suits you too.

Me.

Thank you my friend.

You're such a beautiful person.

I love you.

Listen, that's all the time we have.

Ah, I can't stand it.

I know it's over.

We're done.

Oh.

But thanks again to our genealogists, Cindy Cruz and Bob LeClair and to Kenyatta Berry for sharing their knowledge and helping us in our own journey for family history.

As always, you can catch this program again at watch.ktwu.org - And if you're so inspired to learn more about our guests and you wanna see what's coming up on future episodes, you can visit our website at ktwu.org/inspire - Inspiring women, inspiring you to find your roots, inspiring you on KTWU .

Thank you for watching.

Music - Inspire is sponsored by the Raymond C and Marguerite Gibson Foundation and by the estate of Ray and Ann Goldsmith.