Speaker Profile-Janis Minor Forté, B.S., M.A.

Janis is an award winning researcher, writer and lecturer. In September 2014, she received the James Dent Walker Memorial Lecture Award for her lecture, “Researching the Digital Library on American Slavery.” She is profiled in Speak!, the newsletter of the Genealogical Speaker’s Guild (GSG).

Friday, 9:30 a.m., F418 – “Digital Library on American Slavery: Locating Pre-Emancipation Documents of Individual and Community Life (DLAS)”
This lecture will demonstrate how to access and copy court petitions and legislative actions which identify slaves by name, their owners, and the slave family.  Participants will receive and overview of the DLAS, and its digitized collection of legislative and court petitions. All audience levels.

Saturday, 11:00 a.m., S425 - "Slave Tags:  The Governmental System of Licensing, Labeling and Marketing of Humans Souls"
The Slave Tag was used throughout the south from 1767 to 1865.  The legislation mandated the public wearing of a slave tag while selling their owner’s goods in the open market. This lecture will provide an overview of the legislation which governed this system. All audience levels.

Saturday, 4:00 p.m., S455 - “They’re Not on the Census:  Using Non-Traditional Sources to Identify Slave Owners”
Traditional family history research utilizes federal/state censuses and vital records as tools of study.  These records present dilemmas for most African American researchers, as prior to 1870 their ancestors are generally not identified by name in these documents. This lecture will present examples of documentable sources to overcome the pre-emancipation identity barriers. All audience levels. 

Janis Minor Forté, B.S., M.A.
Fortejm@yahoo.com  

Speaker Profile-Janis Minor Forté, B.S., M.A.