COLONY, Ala. – Councilwoman Ethel Alexander at Tuesday’s Colony Town Council meeting reported that the town will be visited this Friday by members of the Birmingham African American Genealogy Group (BAAGG). From 9:30-noon, the organization will be at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville to meet genealogy/history instructor Bob Davis and be introduced to the college library’s genealogy collection. Alexander, who is the 2019 BAAGG president, arranged a special side trip for the group to visit Colony, meet town officials and tour the community to learn more about its history. BAAGG will arrive at the Colony Educational Complex at approximately 1 p.m.
Said Alexander, “They’re just very excited to come, and they’re very professional. We’ll have the (Bicentennial project) murals up, so if anyone wants to come see them on Friday, they can. If you’re interested, come on and show up, because we do have a lot of work as far as in genealogy here.”
Alexander talked about the challenges of African-American genealogy and helping people discover their lineage:
“It’s kind of easy to get to 1870, then you hit a wall. Then they need to know how to get around that. There’s several ways that we do that. I have traced my family back to the 1700s. And then I’ve taken my DNA, which has taken me to Ghana and the Ivory Coast, and Europe- Scotland. You know, your DNA shows you a lot about you, too, but you still need to do that paperwork and the research.”
Alexander said she hopes to see a genealogy group organized in the Colony area.
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