Caribbean Genealogy Library Inc. will present a lecture entitled “The Journey on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: The Oral and Written History – How Do You Discern the Truth?” at 3 p.m., on Sunday, July 26, at the University of the Virgin Islands Administration and Conference Center.
Maurice A. Donovan Jr., a genealogist and native of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, will discuss his twenty-year research to find his African ancestors in the former Danish West Indies, British Virgin Islands and West Africa. His ancestors were brought to the West Indies through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The search required him to use the oral history account of elders, family members and written accounts found in archives and records. He will also discuss the use of DNA testing as a 21st century tool used in family research that provided him with the identification of various West African ethnic groups from which his family clans originated.
The lecture is free to the public and should be of particular interest to those interested in learning more about their Caribbean and African heritage and how to access the information. The event is funded in part by the V.I. Cultural Heritage Institute of the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
To learn more about the Caribbean Genealogy Library, call 714-2136 or visit the Web site: rootsweb.com/~vicgl
