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Welcome to Ancestors Footprints with host Bernice Alexander Bennett. The
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podcast where the past comes alive. Whether you're a curious beginner,
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an avid genealogist, or someone who believes that uncovering family
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history is a lifelong journey, this show is for you.
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With each episode, we'll bring you incredible stories, expert insights,
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and practical tips to help you trace your roots and
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and connect with your heritage. I've lined up passionate experts
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who will not only share their knowledge and resources, but
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also answer your most pressing genealogy questions. Together we'll uncover
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the hidden gems in your family's history and inspire you
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to take the next step in your journey. So get
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ready to explore, discover, and honor the footprints your ancestors
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left behind.
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Your story starts here.
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Welcome to Ancestors Footprints, where we journey through history, family,
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and memory to uncover the stories that connect us to
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those who came before us. I am your host, Bernice
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Alexander Bennett. What if the most inspiring story in your
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family history is one you simply haven't discovered yet? And
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what might change about the way you see yourself if
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you truly understood the struggles, sacrifices, choices, and triumphs of
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the ancestors whose footsteps led to you? The topic for
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today is finding cornerstone stories, uncovering inspiration in your family's history.
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And I'm honored to welcome Andre Kearns. founder and CEO
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of Black Ancestries, a genealogy firm dedicated to uncovering, celebrating,
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and preserving the family histories of the African diaspora. Andre
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is also vice president of the National Genealogical Society and
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co-chair of the Hortz Collaborative Reunion Project. His book, and
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now I can say author, Finding Cornerstone Stories Uncovering Inspiration
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in Your Family's History brings together 12 powerful stories discovered
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over more than two decades of family history research. Through
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stories of enslavement, emancipation, military, entrepreneurship, education, civil rights, and leadership,
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Andre invites us to consider not only where we come from,
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but what the lives of our ancestors can teach us
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about who we are today. So I'd like to just
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give a warm welcome back to Ancestors Footprints, Andre Kearns. Welcome, Andre.
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Bernice, thank you so much for having me. I'm absolutely
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delighted to be in conversation with you. You are a
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genealogical mentor for me, and I really admire how you
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have spent so many years helping people to find the
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footprints their ancestors left behind. And it's really been inspiring
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to see you help so many people and inspire so
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many people. I saw you publishing your books, and that...
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help me get the confidence that perhaps that's something that
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I could do as well. And now we're sitting here
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on your podcast talking about my new book. So I
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appreciate that. And, you know, the book really grows out
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of the same conviction that you have around ancestors, footprints
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that our ancestors lives still have something to show us,
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to teach us. And we have the opportunity to uncover
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their lives, uh, celebrate them, learn from them and preserve
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those stories.
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Yes, we do. So let's start at your beginning. So
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what began your family history journey and how did it
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ultimately inspire you to write Binding Cornerstone stories and also
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establish Black Ancestries?
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So let me answer that question by sharing three things. One,
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I want to share how I got started researching my
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family history. And then I want to talk about how
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I started then storytelling about the family history I uncovered.
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And then also what sits at the heart of my storytelling.
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So in terms of how I started researching, I would
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say the earliest seed of that was planted for me
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when I watched Alex Haley's Roots miniseries as a child
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on TV. And that back then really allowed me to
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imagine that someday I might be able to trace my
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own family history through many generations, through enslavement, possibly even
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to a named African ancestor. So I remember that as
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a child, being inspired by that. And then My research journey,
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I'd say, formally started in 2006 when my father, the
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Reverend Curtis Kearns, asked me to create a Kearns family
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tree for a reunion that we had in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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And so the journey really has been 20 years from
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that moment. And so since then, I've had these amazing experiences.
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I've traced one branch of my family tree to some
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of the earliest Africans to arrive in colonial Virginia. So
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I was able to realize that dream that I imagined
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when I was a child watching Roots. I've been able
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to document an ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War.
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And as a result, I'm a member of the DC
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chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. And then
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I've been able to trace many ancestors through enslavement, and
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in particular, one ancestor to a plantation in Huntersville, North Carolina,
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where she lived and she labored. Her name was Charlotte.
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And I was invited to that plantation house through the
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preservation organization, the Hearts Collaborative, that now maintains the house
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and the property. to give a lecture about my family's
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history and to speak the name Charlotte Kearns, my ancestor,
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and talk about her life. So these are all just
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examples of the journey that I've been on in research.
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And so eventually I realized that I wanted to help
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other families experience the same sense of discovery and connection
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that I have been able to experience as a researcher
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in my own family history. And that really led to
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the establishment of Black Ancestries. So we, as a company,
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help people of African descent to uncover, to celebrate, and
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preserve their family histories, not just as names and dates,
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but as we uncover meaningful stories that can be preserved
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and passed down to other generations. So that's a little
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bit about my research journey and how I started Black Ancestries.
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And now on to cornerstone stories. Here's how I started storytelling, really. And,
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you know, I would say my advice for anyone who
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thinks that they might want to write a book is
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start where you are. So if I had to write
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a book, start staring at a blank sheet of paper,
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page one, that would have absolutely paralyzed me. But luckily,
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I found a way to start with some things that
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I'd already created. And so for many years, as you know,
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I've been sharing short stories and posts on social media.
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You do as well. And that may be how we
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first connected. But I've been sharing these discoveries from my research.
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And so some of those discoveries that I shared on
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social media became more extensive blog posts and articles. Some
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became presentations. I know for a fact that, you know,
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you were there for my first ever genealogy presentation at
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the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference back in 2017.
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But so all of these presentations, these blogs, these social
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media posts, that's where I found my hack, what I
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call the hack. That the strongest stories that I've been
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telling on social and through these presentations became chapters. And
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then the collection of chapters became this book that I
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just published. And so I would say for all aspiring
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authors out there, don't underestimate the value of the work
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that you might have already created as a foundation. for
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publishing your first book. And then the last thing I
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would say is I want to share what kind of
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sits at the heart of my storytelling, what motivates me
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to tell these family stories. And I start My book
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with this story. Yeah, it was 2019 and I was
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a Corporate leader at Amazon at the time and I
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was attending a leadership retreat Which we were having at
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Mount Vernon, which is George Washington's Plantation and so we
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were touring the plantation I was touring with colleagues and
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a colleague as we were touring and the docent was
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talking about all the things that George Washington was achieving
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for the nation and also at Mount Vernon, turned to
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me and wondered aloud how George Washington was able to
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accomplish so much at the same time. And I thought
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about all the hundreds of enslaved people who labored at
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Mount Vernon and made those accomplishments possible, while at the
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same time, their lives remain largely invisible. And I realized
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that making those invisible lives visible again is what really
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animates so much of my research and storytelling. And so
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when I left Amazon in 2024, I felt called to
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write a book that would recover the humanity, the agency,
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the courage, the achievements of our ancestors, people who have
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historically been pushed to the margins, making what was invisible
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previously visible now for everyone who's able to hear it
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and read it and receive it. And so that's what
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drives me, and that's why I'm so excited about this book.
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Well, I am excited too, and I do understand what
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drives you. Being in your place or just exchanging places
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with you, I know what it's like. You started off
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talking about roots. So many people mentioned roots as kind
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of the impetus that got them started, not to mention
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the fact that you also were encouraged by your father
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to put together a family tree. So let's take it
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to another level now. So what makes African-American genealogy distinctive
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and how can researchers move from the 1870 census to
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identify formerly enslaved ancestors, especially since you have been able
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to do that.
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Sure. So I think that, you know, all genealogists who
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have families from all backgrounds face challenges of sorts that
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they have to figure out how to get past. But
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for African-Americans, there's significant challenge because At a certain point,
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many of our ancestors, if they were recorded in documents,
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were recorded as property. And so that creates some trickiness
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and some challenges to be able to research them and
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find them in those records and to recover their names.
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You know, you have to know where to look and
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what to look for and how to look. but it
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is possible. And so that 1870 brick wall can be broken.
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By the way, the significance of 1870 is that that
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is the first census in which formerly enslaved people appear
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as free citizens by name. And so a lot of
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people who are interested in researching the family history find
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that they can, if they're diligent enough, get back to 1870.
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But then beyond that, you know, the game changes a
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bit from a research perspective. But that doesn't mean that
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it's not possible to find your ancestors before 1870. It's
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just that you have to have the right strategies to
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do it. So I would say in terms of my approach,
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I really, what I share in the book, is a
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four-step research approach, which is first is to build a
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family tree, document a family tree, whether that's pen and
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paper or whether it is using online services like Ancestry
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or FamilySearch or buying family tree software. That's really important
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to start to document your tree. Step two is talk
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with family, family elders in particular, and gather as much information,
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as many clues as you can from them, add all
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that into your tree. And then third is to dive
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into documents research, right? Census records, other federal type records,
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vital records, and other state and local records, court records,
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family papers, there's just a full, newspapers, there's just a
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full range of documents that can help you to uncover
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the story in your family tree. And then the last
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step I would say is consider with DNA testing, where
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the documentation may be silent, you may be able to
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get an answer in your own genetic code, captured in
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your genetic code. So be open and willing to DNA test.
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And so You know, going back to the in-depth documents research,
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which is how I uncovered many of the stories in
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the book that I share, that can get tricky for
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African Americans because of that brick wall. But I would
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say here are some tips that I use to kind
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of help break through that. First is when you start
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your document research, start with a very specific research question.
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when I say specific, I mean like, you know, the
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name of the ancestor that you're researching, the timeframe they're
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living in, the place that they're living in. So for example,
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you know, my research goal is to identify the parents
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of my great-great-grandfather, James Augustus Kearns, born in 1861 in
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North Carolina, right? So get specific. So you're going to
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go down rabbit holes, but if you have your goal
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in front of you, two hours into your rabbit hole,
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you can look up and say, oh, I don't even
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remember what I was supposed to be looking for. And
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then that goal will refocus you on what you're looking for.
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So start with a specific research question. Another tip would
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be use every element of the records that you're researching.
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So if you are looking at a census record in 1870,
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it's not enough to just look at your ancestor listed,
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their name, their age, their color, right? Look at their neighbors,
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look at their occupations. If you're looking at marriage records,
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look at the witnesses, right? Look for naming patterns. There's
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so much more that these documents that include our ancestors
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can tell us, but we have to use the entire
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record to gather those clues. Another tip would be if
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you are researching ancestors who are enslaved, realize that to
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do that effectively, you need to follow the paper trail
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that their enslavers left. So that means you need to
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know who enslaved your ancestors, gather those clues from your
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family or other techniques to identify your family's potential enslavers.
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And then you need to use that information to research
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them so that because our ancestors were treated as property
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and they're recorded that way in the enslaver's records. And
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so you need to be able to follow that paper trail.
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And because of that, the roadmap you need is the
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enslaver's family tree. So for African-American researchers, we have to
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build two trees if we want to go back far enough.
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We have to build the trees of the people who
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enslaved our family. And then we have to, hopefully that
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leads to helping us build a tree inclusive of our
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enslaved ancestors. Because those enslavers passed their enslaved people down
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to their heirs and to descendants and to family members.
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And so that's going to be your roadmap for finding
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your own ancestors. And then the last thing I would
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say is just don't assume that your ancestors kept their
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enslaver surname or that they kept the same surname throughout
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their life. What I found is that between 1870 and 1900,
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I found ancestors in my own family tree and for
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clients who have changed their last name multiple times, right?
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And so you just have to be aware of that.
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It's actually kind of cool to think that these are
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people who are emancipated, they're defining lives for themselves, and
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they're trying on the names that they want to be
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known by the rest of their lives. So that is
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energizing to know that that's what's going on. But obviously,
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as a researcher, It makes it harder and more complicated
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to figure out, but it is possible because there are
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other things about people that help you identify them, who
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they married, who their family are, their age, where they're living, right?
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That can help you realize that two people with different
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last names is actually the same person. So those are
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some tips to break through the 1870 brick wall. But yeah,
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I mean, these are the types of tips that I
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include in the book.
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Which is wonderful, because not only are they reading about
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your cornerstone stories, but you're also giving them ideas and
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resources as to how they can create a cornerstone story also.
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That's right.
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But I want to take you in another direction. Okay.
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How can, let's say, genealogists and family historians move beyond
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the names of and the dates to uncover an ancestor's character, choices, values,
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and impact?
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That's a good question. I mean, names and dates and relationships,
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that's the basis of genealogy, right? And that help you
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establish your family tree and identity. But the stories emerge
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when we place that person in historical context and we
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start asking better questions. And so I try to examine
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three layers. One is evidence. So what do the records establish?
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That's kind of the genealogy layer of the names, the dates,
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the relationships. But then I also move to context. What
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was happening in that place that your ancestor lived and
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in that timeframe where your ancestor lived? And then from
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the evidence and the context, then I moved to meaning.
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What do this person's documented choices reveal about their character,
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about their values, right? We have an opportunity to look
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beyond the context the basic evidence information and records within
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the census, maybe to looking at newspaper clippings, looking at
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military files, court cases, wills, deeds, church records, school records,
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the family heirlooms that are passed down in our family,
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the oral history that's passed down in our family. No
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single source will give us the complete picture, But we,
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through our research, can identify those sources and cobble them together.
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And hopefully the story of your ancestor and their life
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and their legacy and their footprints will emerge from that.
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Absolutely. So what do you hope readers will do differently
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after reading your book? And what responsibility do we have
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to preserve and share the stories we uncover.
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I want my readers to close the book believing in
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two things. One, every single family has a cornerstone story.
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And that's the title of the book. But just to
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make it plain, here's what I mean by cornerstone story.
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So if you're a builder, the cornerstone is the foundational
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stone upon which you build your structure. And so in
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the context of family history, cornerstone stories are those family
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stories that explain who we are, where we came from,
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and the values upon which our family is built. So
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every single family has a cornerstone story. So that's number one,
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I want readers to know. And then two is that
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my readers are very capable of finding and preserving their
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family's cornerstone stories. And so that's really what I want.
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So I built this book around 12 cornerstone stories that
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I've uncovered in my own family. And at the end
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of each chapter, I give the reader practical tip and
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research resources to go and find that story themselves. And
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so That's what I would say. And in terms of
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your question about responsibility, listen, we're in challenging times today.
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The political winds would have you believe that we need
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to take a more focused or narrow view of American history,
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for example. And I don't um, embrace that. I think that, um,
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you know, American history, the power of it, the, the
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accuracy of it comes when you see the whole picture, uh,
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and the whole picture includes the lives and contributions of
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people who have historically been marginalized in our history. Um, so, uh,
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you know, it is in this era, it is probably
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very easy for people to feel very frustrated about the
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way things are going. I mean, we're recording this today,
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but just yesterday, the news came out that Dr. Lonnie
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Bunch is retiring from the Smithsonian. And so while we're
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happy that he's retired, we celebrate his amazing legacy. We
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also know that the circumstances around his retirement, it's tense, right?
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Based on what the legacy that he's built and the
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tensions he's feeling trying to continue that. And so it
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is frustrating to see those dynamics and it could make
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people feel powerless. Like if I believe in telling the
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whole American story, but I see these political wins, I
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don't feel like there's much I can do. But there is,
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we're all empowered with this tool called genealogy to uncover
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the stories in our own families. And that's stories of agency,
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of strength, of perseverance, of facing challenge and building legacies
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in difficult circumstances that now extend to all of us.
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We are all empowered to do that. That is something
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within our control that no one can take away. And
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so I hope that this book encourages people to do
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just that and feel empowered to uncover their own cornerstone
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stories and find their own way to share them with
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the world.
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Yes, and I'm glad you mentioned, you know, Dr. Lonnie Bunch,
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because we have all, we've all been, I guess, benefactors
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of his vision. And we know that that vision was
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based on historical facts.
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It was truth.
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He's telling the truth. It's all about the truth. And
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we need to understand that that's what our history is
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to us, our troops.
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Absolutely.
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And it's based on facts.
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Yes.
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So let's look at a particular discovery during your research
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that changed the way you understood your own identity or
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your family's legacy. And what did that moment teach you
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about the power of genealogy?
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I have so many stories, uh, that I've uncovered in
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my research and that I share in the book. It's
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hard to pick one. Uh, but I would say, um, one,
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I'll share this one because, uh, my grandfather for whom
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my father and I are named after, uh, was born
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110 years ago. Um, And so he's just top of
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mind for me. He was born, uh, in 1916 in Charlotte,
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North Carolina. Uh, he worked, his name was, uh, Curtis
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Andre Kern Sr. Um, the Reverend Curtis Andre Kern Sr.
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He worked his way through college, uh, at Johnson C.
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Smith University in Charlotte, um, and through seminary. And he
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trained as a Presbyterian minister. And so, um, I've, through
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my research, learned more about his career as a pastor.
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And in one particular case, I discovered that he led
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a black church in Roanoke, Virginia, that was, upon his arrival,
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kind of divided over a Confederate stained glass window that
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was within this black church. Yes, you heard that right.
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Yeah okay yes and so when he arrived there's a
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lot of twists and turns in the story the church
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burned down but they were somehow able to save the
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stained glass window there was a question of whether they
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would put the stained glass window in the new church
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that they built ultimately decided to do that.
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My grandfather wasn't necessarily in support of that. He didn't
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feel good about the window, but he understood his larger
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purpose as well, which was as a leader, to find
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a solution that kept his church together. And so they
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ended up keeping the window in the new church, but
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during his time as a pastor, he covered the window
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tribute to Stonewall Jackson with an altar screen. And so
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that might seem like a simple thing, but his story
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as a leader really reveals to me how he was
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able to be a unifier and keep his congregation together
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and at the same time not compromise his convictions. And
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so that is a quality to me as a leader
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that's inspiring to me And honestly, in the times that
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we're living in currently that are so divided, it's a
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quality that we need in more of our leaders. And
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so this is my grandfather. And he didn't talk about
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those things with me.
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Right.
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But I was able to uncover his this aspect of
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his life and legacy through my research. And I was
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proud to be able to share it through the book.
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and to be influenced by it as I, you know,
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try my best as a leader in all the different
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areas of my life where I'm trying to have an impact.
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I love that story. And I'm glad you shared it
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with us. So, Andre, I want to thank you so
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much for joining us today and for sharing your journey,
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your research, and the stories behind Finding Cornerstone Stories. Your
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work reminds us that genealogy is about how far you
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can go with not only connecting names and dates, but
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it's about discovering the lives, honoring legacies, and discovering the
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cornerstone stories. And I love saying cornerstone stories that continue
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to shape us across generations to the listeners. I hope
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today's conversation encourages you to take another look at your
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own family history. Follow the clues, listen to the stories,
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and pay attention to the places your ancestors traveled and
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called home. You may discover connections that reach far beyond
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what you ever imagined. And remember, every family has a story.
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Every ancestor leaves footprints, and every generation has a responsibility
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to carry the story forward. I want to thank the
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listeners for joining us on Ancestors Footprints. If today's episode
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inspired you, please subscribe and share it with someone who
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loves history, genealogy, and storytelling. You can find Ancestors Footprints
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00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:31.549
on YouTube, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, and many
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00:33:31.730 --> 00:33:36.950
other podcast platforms. And be sure to subscribe so you
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00:33:36.990 --> 00:33:43.759
never miss an episode. Until next time, keep exploring, keep remembering,
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keep telling the stories, and keep walking in the footsteps
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of those who came before us. And remember, to pick
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up a copy of Finding Cornerstone Stories by Andre Kearns.
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This is your host, Bernice Alexander Bennett. And Andre, thank
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you so much for joining me today.
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Thank you, Bernice.
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Thank you.
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Welcome to Ancestors Footprints with host Bernice Alexander Bennett. The
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00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:15.070
podcast where the past comes alive. Whether you're a curious beginner,
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00:00:15.710 --> 00:00:19.989
an avid genealogist, or someone who believes that uncovering family
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00:00:20.050 --> 00:00:24.410
history is a lifelong journey, this show is for you.
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00:00:25.469 --> 00:00:29.800
With each episode, we'll bring you incredible stories, expert insights,
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00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:32.820
and practical tips to help you trace your roots and
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00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:37.359
and connect with your heritage. I've lined up passionate experts
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who will not only share their knowledge and resources, but
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00:00:41.420 --> 00:00:47.109
also answer your most pressing genealogy questions. Together we'll uncover
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00:00:47.130 --> 00:00:50.530
the hidden gems in your family's history and inspire you
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to take the next step in your journey. So get
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ready to explore, discover, and honor the footprints your ancestors
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left behind.
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Your story starts here.
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Welcome to Ancestors Footprints, where we journey through history, family,
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and memory to uncover the stories that connect us to
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those who came before us. I am your host, Bernice
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Alexander Bennett. What if the most inspiring story in your
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family history is one you simply haven't discovered yet? And
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what might change about the way you see yourself if
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you truly understood the struggles, sacrifices, choices, and triumphs of
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the ancestors whose footsteps led to you? The topic for
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today is finding cornerstone stories, uncovering inspiration in your family's history.
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And I'm honored to welcome Andre Kearns. founder and CEO
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of Black Ancestries, a genealogy firm dedicated to uncovering, celebrating,
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and preserving the family histories of the African diaspora. Andre
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is also vice president of the National Genealogical Society and
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co-chair of the Hortz Collaborative Reunion Project. His book, and
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now I can say author, Finding Cornerstone Stories Uncovering Inspiration
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in Your Family's History brings together 12 powerful stories discovered
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over more than two decades of family history research. Through
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stories of enslavement, emancipation, military, entrepreneurship, education, civil rights, and leadership,
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Andre invites us to consider not only where we come from,
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but what the lives of our ancestors can teach us
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about who we are today. So I'd like to just
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give a warm welcome back to Ancestors Footprints, Andre Kearns. Welcome, Andre.
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Bernice, thank you so much for having me. I'm absolutely
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delighted to be in conversation with you. You are a
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genealogical mentor for me, and I really admire how you
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have spent so many years helping people to find the
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footprints their ancestors left behind. And it's really been inspiring
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to see you help so many people and inspire so
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many people. I saw you publishing your books, and that...
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help me get the confidence that perhaps that's something that
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I could do as well. And now we're sitting here
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on your podcast talking about my new book. So I
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appreciate that. And, you know, the book really grows out
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of the same conviction that you have around ancestors, footprints
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that our ancestors lives still have something to show us,
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to teach us. And we have the opportunity to uncover
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their lives, uh, celebrate them, learn from them and preserve
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those stories.
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Yes, we do. So let's start at your beginning. So
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what began your family history journey and how did it
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ultimately inspire you to write Binding Cornerstone stories and also
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establish Black Ancestries?
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So let me answer that question by sharing three things. One,
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I want to share how I got started researching my
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family history. And then I want to talk about how
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I started then storytelling about the family history I uncovered.
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And then also what sits at the heart of my storytelling.
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So in terms of how I started researching, I would
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say the earliest seed of that was planted for me
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when I watched Alex Haley's Roots miniseries as a child
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on TV. And that back then really allowed me to
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imagine that someday I might be able to trace my
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own family history through many generations, through enslavement, possibly even
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to a named African ancestor. So I remember that as
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a child, being inspired by that. And then My research journey,
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I'd say, formally started in 2006 when my father, the
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Reverend Curtis Kearns, asked me to create a Kearns family
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tree for a reunion that we had in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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And so the journey really has been 20 years from
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that moment. And so since then, I've had these amazing experiences.
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I've traced one branch of my family tree to some
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of the earliest Africans to arrive in colonial Virginia. So
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I was able to realize that dream that I imagined
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when I was a child watching Roots. I've been able
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to document an ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War.
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And as a result, I'm a member of the DC
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chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. And then
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I've been able to trace many ancestors through enslavement, and
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in particular, one ancestor to a plantation in Huntersville, North Carolina,
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where she lived and she labored. Her name was Charlotte.
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And I was invited to that plantation house through the
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preservation organization, the Hearts Collaborative, that now maintains the house
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and the property. to give a lecture about my family's
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history and to speak the name Charlotte Kearns, my ancestor,
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and talk about her life. So these are all just
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examples of the journey that I've been on in research.
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And so eventually I realized that I wanted to help
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other families experience the same sense of discovery and connection
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that I have been able to experience as a researcher
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in my own family history. And that really led to
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the establishment of Black Ancestries. So we, as a company,
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help people of African descent to uncover, to celebrate, and
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preserve their family histories, not just as names and dates,
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but as we uncover meaningful stories that can be preserved
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and passed down to other generations. So that's a little
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bit about my research journey and how I started Black Ancestries.
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And now on to cornerstone stories. Here's how I started storytelling, really. And,
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you know, I would say my advice for anyone who
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thinks that they might want to write a book is
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start where you are. So if I had to write
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a book, start staring at a blank sheet of paper,
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page one, that would have absolutely paralyzed me. But luckily,
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I found a way to start with some things that
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I'd already created. And so for many years, as you know,
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I've been sharing short stories and posts on social media.
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You do as well. And that may be how we
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first connected. But I've been sharing these discoveries from my research.
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And so some of those discoveries that I shared on
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social media became more extensive blog posts and articles. Some
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became presentations. I know for a fact that, you know,
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you were there for my first ever genealogy presentation at
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the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference back in 2017.
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But so all of these presentations, these blogs, these social
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media posts, that's where I found my hack, what I
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call the hack. That the strongest stories that I've been
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telling on social and through these presentations became chapters. And
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then the collection of chapters became this book that I
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just published. And so I would say for all aspiring
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authors out there, don't underestimate the value of the work
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that you might have already created as a foundation. for
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publishing your first book. And then the last thing I
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would say is I want to share what kind of
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sits at the heart of my storytelling, what motivates me
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to tell these family stories. And I start My book
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with this story. Yeah, it was 2019 and I was
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a Corporate leader at Amazon at the time and I
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was attending a leadership retreat Which we were having at
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Mount Vernon, which is George Washington's Plantation and so we
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were touring the plantation I was touring with colleagues and
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a colleague as we were touring and the docent was
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talking about all the things that George Washington was achieving
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for the nation and also at Mount Vernon, turned to
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me and wondered aloud how George Washington was able to
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accomplish so much at the same time. And I thought
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about all the hundreds of enslaved people who labored at
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Mount Vernon and made those accomplishments possible, while at the
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same time, their lives remain largely invisible. And I realized
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that making those invisible lives visible again is what really
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animates so much of my research and storytelling. And so
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when I left Amazon in 2024, I felt called to
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write a book that would recover the humanity, the agency,
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the courage, the achievements of our ancestors, people who have
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historically been pushed to the margins, making what was invisible
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previously visible now for everyone who's able to hear it
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and read it and receive it. And so that's what
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drives me, and that's why I'm so excited about this book.
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Well, I am excited too, and I do understand what
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drives you. Being in your place or just exchanging places
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with you, I know what it's like. You started off
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talking about roots. So many people mentioned roots as kind
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of the impetus that got them started, not to mention
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the fact that you also were encouraged by your father
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to put together a family tree. So let's take it
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to another level now. So what makes African-American genealogy distinctive
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and how can researchers move from the 1870 census to
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identify formerly enslaved ancestors, especially since you have been able
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to do that.
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Sure. So I think that, you know, all genealogists who
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have families from all backgrounds face challenges of sorts that
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they have to figure out how to get past. But
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for African-Americans, there's significant challenge because At a certain point,
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many of our ancestors, if they were recorded in documents,
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were recorded as property. And so that creates some trickiness
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and some challenges to be able to research them and
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find them in those records and to recover their names.
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You know, you have to know where to look and
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what to look for and how to look. but it
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is possible. And so that 1870 brick wall can be broken.
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By the way, the significance of 1870 is that that
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is the first census in which formerly enslaved people appear
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as free citizens by name. And so a lot of
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people who are interested in researching the family history find
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that they can, if they're diligent enough, get back to 1870.
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But then beyond that, you know, the game changes a
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bit from a research perspective. But that doesn't mean that
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it's not possible to find your ancestors before 1870. It's
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just that you have to have the right strategies to
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do it. So I would say in terms of my approach,
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I really, what I share in the book, is a
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four-step research approach, which is first is to build a
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family tree, document a family tree, whether that's pen and
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paper or whether it is using online services like Ancestry
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or FamilySearch or buying family tree software. That's really important
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to start to document your tree. Step two is talk
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with family, family elders in particular, and gather as much information,
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as many clues as you can from them, add all
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that into your tree. And then third is to dive
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into documents research, right? Census records, other federal type records,
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vital records, and other state and local records, court records,
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family papers, there's just a full, newspapers, there's just a
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full range of documents that can help you to uncover
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the story in your family tree. And then the last
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step I would say is consider with DNA testing, where
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the documentation may be silent, you may be able to
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get an answer in your own genetic code, captured in
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your genetic code. So be open and willing to DNA test.
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And so You know, going back to the in-depth documents research,
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which is how I uncovered many of the stories in
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the book that I share, that can get tricky for
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African Americans because of that brick wall. But I would
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say here are some tips that I use to kind
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of help break through that. First is when you start
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your document research, start with a very specific research question.
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when I say specific, I mean like, you know, the
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name of the ancestor that you're researching, the timeframe they're
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living in, the place that they're living in. So for example,
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you know, my research goal is to identify the parents
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of my great-great-grandfather, James Augustus Kearns, born in 1861 in
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North Carolina, right? So get specific. So you're going to
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go down rabbit holes, but if you have your goal
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in front of you, two hours into your rabbit hole,
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you can look up and say, oh, I don't even
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remember what I was supposed to be looking for. And
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then that goal will refocus you on what you're looking for.
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So start with a specific research question. Another tip would
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be use every element of the records that you're researching.
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So if you are looking at a census record in 1870,
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it's not enough to just look at your ancestor listed,
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their name, their age, their color, right? Look at their neighbors,
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look at their occupations. If you're looking at marriage records,
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look at the witnesses, right? Look for naming patterns. There's
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so much more that these documents that include our ancestors
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can tell us, but we have to use the entire
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record to gather those clues. Another tip would be if
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you are researching ancestors who are enslaved, realize that to
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do that effectively, you need to follow the paper trail
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that their enslavers left. So that means you need to
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know who enslaved your ancestors, gather those clues from your
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family or other techniques to identify your family's potential enslavers.
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And then you need to use that information to research
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them so that because our ancestors were treated as property
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and they're recorded that way in the enslaver's records. And
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so you need to be able to follow that paper trail.
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And because of that, the roadmap you need is the
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enslaver's family tree. So for African-American researchers, we have to
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build two trees if we want to go back far enough.
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We have to build the trees of the people who
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enslaved our family. And then we have to, hopefully that
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leads to helping us build a tree inclusive of our
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enslaved ancestors. Because those enslavers passed their enslaved people down
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to their heirs and to descendants and to family members.
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And so that's going to be your roadmap for finding
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your own ancestors. And then the last thing I would
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say is just don't assume that your ancestors kept their
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enslaver surname or that they kept the same surname throughout
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their life. What I found is that between 1870 and 1900,
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I found ancestors in my own family tree and for
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clients who have changed their last name multiple times, right?
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And so you just have to be aware of that.
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It's actually kind of cool to think that these are
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people who are emancipated, they're defining lives for themselves, and
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they're trying on the names that they want to be
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known by the rest of their lives. So that is
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energizing to know that that's what's going on. But obviously,
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as a researcher, It makes it harder and more complicated
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to figure out, but it is possible because there are
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other things about people that help you identify them, who
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they married, who their family are, their age, where they're living, right?
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That can help you realize that two people with different
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last names is actually the same person. So those are
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some tips to break through the 1870 brick wall. But yeah,
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I mean, these are the types of tips that I
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include in the book.
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Which is wonderful, because not only are they reading about
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your cornerstone stories, but you're also giving them ideas and
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resources as to how they can create a cornerstone story also.
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That's right.
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But I want to take you in another direction. Okay.
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How can, let's say, genealogists and family historians move beyond
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the names of and the dates to uncover an ancestor's character, choices, values,
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and impact?
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That's a good question. I mean, names and dates and relationships,
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that's the basis of genealogy, right? And that help you
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establish your family tree and identity. But the stories emerge
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when we place that person in historical context and we
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start asking better questions. And so I try to examine
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three layers. One is evidence. So what do the records establish?
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That's kind of the genealogy layer of the names, the dates,
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the relationships. But then I also move to context. What
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was happening in that place that your ancestor lived and
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in that timeframe where your ancestor lived? And then from
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the evidence and the context, then I moved to meaning.
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What do this person's documented choices reveal about their character,
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about their values, right? We have an opportunity to look
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beyond the context the basic evidence information and records within
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the census, maybe to looking at newspaper clippings, looking at
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military files, court cases, wills, deeds, church records, school records,
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the family heirlooms that are passed down in our family,
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the oral history that's passed down in our family. No
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single source will give us the complete picture, But we,
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through our research, can identify those sources and cobble them together.
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And hopefully the story of your ancestor and their life
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and their legacy and their footprints will emerge from that.
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Absolutely. So what do you hope readers will do differently
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after reading your book? And what responsibility do we have
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to preserve and share the stories we uncover.
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I want my readers to close the book believing in
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two things. One, every single family has a cornerstone story.
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And that's the title of the book. But just to
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make it plain, here's what I mean by cornerstone story.
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So if you're a builder, the cornerstone is the foundational
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stone upon which you build your structure. And so in
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the context of family history, cornerstone stories are those family
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stories that explain who we are, where we came from,
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and the values upon which our family is built. So
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every single family has a cornerstone story. So that's number one,
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I want readers to know. And then two is that
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my readers are very capable of finding and preserving their
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family's cornerstone stories. And so that's really what I want.
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So I built this book around 12 cornerstone stories that
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I've uncovered in my own family. And at the end
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of each chapter, I give the reader practical tip and
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research resources to go and find that story themselves. And
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so That's what I would say. And in terms of
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your question about responsibility, listen, we're in challenging times today.
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The political winds would have you believe that we need
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to take a more focused or narrow view of American history,
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for example. And I don't um, embrace that. I think that, um,
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you know, American history, the power of it, the, the
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accuracy of it comes when you see the whole picture, uh,
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and the whole picture includes the lives and contributions of
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people who have historically been marginalized in our history. Um, so, uh,
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you know, it is in this era, it is probably
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very easy for people to feel very frustrated about the
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way things are going. I mean, we're recording this today,
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but just yesterday, the news came out that Dr. Lonnie
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Bunch is retiring from the Smithsonian. And so while we're
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happy that he's retired, we celebrate his amazing legacy. We
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also know that the circumstances around his retirement, it's tense, right?
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Based on what the legacy that he's built and the
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tensions he's feeling trying to continue that. And so it
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is frustrating to see those dynamics and it could make
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people feel powerless. Like if I believe in telling the
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whole American story, but I see these political wins, I
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don't feel like there's much I can do. But there is,
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we're all empowered with this tool called genealogy to uncover
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the stories in our own families. And that's stories of agency,
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of strength, of perseverance, of facing challenge and building legacies
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in difficult circumstances that now extend to all of us.
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We are all empowered to do that. That is something
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within our control that no one can take away. And
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so I hope that this book encourages people to do
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just that and feel empowered to uncover their own cornerstone
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stories and find their own way to share them with
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the world.
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Yes, and I'm glad you mentioned, you know, Dr. Lonnie Bunch,
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because we have all, we've all been, I guess, benefactors
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of his vision. And we know that that vision was
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based on historical facts.
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It was truth.
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He's telling the truth. It's all about the truth. And
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we need to understand that that's what our history is
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to us, our troops.
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Absolutely.
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And it's based on facts.
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Yes.
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So let's look at a particular discovery during your research
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that changed the way you understood your own identity or
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your family's legacy. And what did that moment teach you
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about the power of genealogy?
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I have so many stories, uh, that I've uncovered in
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my research and that I share in the book. It's
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hard to pick one. Uh, but I would say, um, one,
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I'll share this one because, uh, my grandfather for whom
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my father and I are named after, uh, was born
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110 years ago. Um, And so he's just top of
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mind for me. He was born, uh, in 1916 in Charlotte,
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North Carolina. Uh, he worked, his name was, uh, Curtis
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Andre Kern Sr. Um, the Reverend Curtis Andre Kern Sr.
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He worked his way through college, uh, at Johnson C.
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Smith University in Charlotte, um, and through seminary. And he
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trained as a Presbyterian minister. And so, um, I've, through
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my research, learned more about his career as a pastor.
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And in one particular case, I discovered that he led
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a black church in Roanoke, Virginia, that was, upon his arrival,
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kind of divided over a Confederate stained glass window that
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was within this black church. Yes, you heard that right.
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Yeah okay yes and so when he arrived there's a
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lot of twists and turns in the story the church
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burned down but they were somehow able to save the
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stained glass window there was a question of whether they
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would put the stained glass window in the new church
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that they built ultimately decided to do that.
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My grandfather wasn't necessarily in support of that. He didn't
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feel good about the window, but he understood his larger
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purpose as well, which was as a leader, to find
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a solution that kept his church together. And so they
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ended up keeping the window in the new church, but
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during his time as a pastor, he covered the window
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tribute to Stonewall Jackson with an altar screen. And so
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that might seem like a simple thing, but his story
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as a leader really reveals to me how he was
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able to be a unifier and keep his congregation together
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and at the same time not compromise his convictions. And
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so that is a quality to me as a leader
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that's inspiring to me And honestly, in the times that
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we're living in currently that are so divided, it's a
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quality that we need in more of our leaders. And
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so this is my grandfather. And he didn't talk about
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those things with me.
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Right.
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But I was able to uncover his this aspect of
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his life and legacy through my research. And I was
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proud to be able to share it through the book.
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and to be influenced by it as I, you know,
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try my best as a leader in all the different
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areas of my life where I'm trying to have an impact.
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I love that story. And I'm glad you shared it
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with us. So, Andre, I want to thank you so
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much for joining us today and for sharing your journey,
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your research, and the stories behind Finding Cornerstone Stories. Your
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work reminds us that genealogy is about how far you
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can go with not only connecting names and dates, but
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it's about discovering the lives, honoring legacies, and discovering the
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cornerstone stories. And I love saying cornerstone stories that continue
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to shape us across generations to the listeners. I hope
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today's conversation encourages you to take another look at your
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own family history. Follow the clues, listen to the stories,
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and pay attention to the places your ancestors traveled and
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called home. You may discover connections that reach far beyond
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what you ever imagined. And remember, every family has a story.
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Every ancestor leaves footprints, and every generation has a responsibility
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to carry the story forward. I want to thank the
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listeners for joining us on Ancestors Footprints. If today's episode
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inspired you, please subscribe and share it with someone who
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loves history, genealogy, and storytelling. You can find Ancestors Footprints
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on YouTube, Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, and many
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00:33:31.730 --> 00:33:36.950
other podcast platforms. And be sure to subscribe so you
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00:33:36.990 --> 00:33:43.759
never miss an episode. Until next time, keep exploring, keep remembering,
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keep telling the stories, and keep walking in the footsteps
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of those who came before us. And remember, to pick
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up a copy of Finding Cornerstone Stories by Andre Kearns.
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This is your host, Bernice Alexander Bennett. And Andre, thank
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you so much for joining me today.
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Thank you, Bernice.
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Thank you.
