BPL Hosting Programs on Discovering Former Enslaved African Americans and Family History in Recipes

 

BPL Hosting Programs on Discovering Former Enslaved African Americans and Family History in Recipes 

Written by Roy L. Williams, PR Specialist, Birmingham Public Library

2026 Family History Month continues at the Birmingham Public Library’s Southern History Department.  

What if the next clue to your family history is hidden in an old newspaper advertisement, a letter… or even a family cookbook?

During Family History Month, the Birmingham Public Library invites you to explore three programs that show how people have searched for lost relatives, preserved family stories and used everyday records to uncover connections across generations.

For African Americans researching ancestors who were enslaved, the search for family can be especially challenging. Enslaved people were often separated from parents, children, siblings and spouses, and records that identify those family relationships can be difficult to find.

Two programs on Saturday, October 10, explore the remarkable efforts of formerly enslaved people to reconnect with their families. A third program on Monday, October 12, takes a different approach, showing how something as familiar as a cookbook can become a valuable genealogy resource.

Searching for Family After Slavery

“Last Seen”: The Enduring Search for Lost Family

Saturday, October 10 | 10 a.m.
Central Library – 1st Floor

Imagine what it was like for African American slaves who had been separated from parents, brothers, sisters or children, then years later after being freed had to figure out how to search for them?

This Saturday, October 10, at the downtown Birmingham Public Library, Historian Dr. Judy Giesberg will present “Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families.”

Drawing from an archive of nearly 5,000 letters and newspaper advertisements, Giesberg tells the powerful story of formerly enslaved people who spent years trying to locate family members separated from them during slavery.

These advertisements provide more than names. They offer glimpses into family relationships, places people once lived, communities they remembered and the determination of people who refused to let forced separation erase their family connections.

For African Americans researching enslaved ancestors, the program offers an important look at the kinds of records and stories that can help bring family histories into focus.

One Woman's Search for Her Family

“Diana: Five Generations of Separation”

Saturday, October 10 | 11:30 a.m.
Central Library – 1st Floor

The search becomes personal in “Diana: Five Generations of Separation with Bettina Byrd-Giles.”

Byrd-Giles will share the story of her ancestor, Diana Johnson, and her journey from enslavement to freedom.

Diana placed newspaper advertisements across the country searching for her parents and siblings. Her story demonstrates both the pain of family separation and the extraordinary effort formerly enslaved people made to reconnect with those they had lost.

The program will also include a short student film, “Letters,” which compares Diana's newspaper advertisements with some of the speeches of Frederick Douglass.

Byrd-Giles will discuss how a website and a book eventually helped uncover more of Diana's story—offering a powerful reminder that genealogy is often a process of following one clue to another until a larger family story begins to emerge.

Your Family's Story May Be in a Cookbook

“Cookbooks: A Recipe for Genealogy and Local History”

Monday, October 12 | 11 a.m.
Central Library – 4th Floor Computer Lab and online via Teams

Not every family-history clue is found in a census, birth certificate or newspaper.

Sometimes, it's in the kitchen.

BPL's “Cookbooks: A Recipe for Genealogy and Local History” program explores how cookbooks can reveal much more than recipes.

Community and church cookbooks can contain names, photographs, advertisements and other information that provides clues about an ancestor's life. They may reveal membership in a church, civic organization or social club, or identify where someone worked and the community connections they maintained.

And, of course, they can preserve something just as meaningful: what people cooked, shared and enjoyed together.

For anyone who has ever wondered where a grandmother's favorite recipe came from—or who contributed recipes to an old church cookbook—these collections can offer a delicious path into family and community history.