An African American family history
Earl and Rebecca Scott draw from their book Forging a Path to Wellbeing: The Journey of an African American Family. The book starts with establishing their family ancestry. The challenges are quite different for families whose history involves de facto and later de jure segregation and where official records are often unavailable due to slavery and loss, e.g., fire. They go on to discuss their commitment to education and family wellbeing.
An African American family history
Wed, Nov 6, 2024, 10am
You are invited to the meeting of UMRA’s Family History Interest Group on Wednesday, November 6, for a presentation by UMRA members Earl and Rebecca Scott. The Scotts will draw from their family ancestry and travels in America and Africa. Their book, Forging a Path to Wellbeing: The Journey of an African American Family, was published in 2023, the year the couple marked their 66th wedding anniversary.
The book starts with establishing the Scotts’ family ancestry. The challenges are quite different for families whose history involves de facto and de jure segregation, and when official records are often unavailable due to slavery and loss through fire.
The family photo on the cover of their book was taken in Katsina, northern Nigeria, in 1969. It represents a major steppingstone on the Scotts’ path to wellbeing. After visiting Nigeria, they returned to Africa many times for personal and scholarly growth as career educators. The Scotts joined UMRA in 2007 when Earl retired from the U of M geography faculty.
An email with the link to join the Zoom meeting will be emailed to all UMRA members one week before the meeting. We hope you can join us.
—Lynn C. Anderson and Craig Swan, FHIG co-chairs
Lynn Anderson and Craig Swan invite you to the scheduled Zoom meeting.
Upcoming Events
Meeting to plan books for next year.
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The theme for January is great MN views.
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Developing a sense of identity is a central psychological task of the lifespan. Memories and stories from our personal past, as well as cultural memories and stories in society play key roles in how we develop our identities. This presentation will discuss psychological theory and research on how memories and stories make us who we are.
When you are of Icelandic descent you can trace your ancestors back to around 1200 and sometimes further.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens.
Here’s another great opportunity to buy discounted tickets and join your UMRA friends to cheer for the Gophers when the Women’s Basketball team hosts the Purdue Boilermakers at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on February 1.
Join fellow UMRA members for a morning hike in Theodore Wirth Park to celebrate Groundhog Day on Monday, February 2.
UMRA’s special event for this winter will again be a celebration of brighter days and the approaching end of winter. We’ll have food, fellowship, and music provided by Urban Sound, one of the University’s premier student a cappella ensembles.
Family history with Jim Kurle. A tale of Swedish emigration to Dunn County, North Dakota, including my grandfather whose unusual relationship to several churches and religion in general was one of the reasons for his emigrating.
UMRA’s Cabinets of Curiosity tour on Thursday, February 12, will offer an inside look into the rich resources of the University Libraries Borchert Map Library. Map Librarian Ryan Mattke will showcase the treasures and innovations of one of the largest map libraries in the U.S.
Growing Up by Russell Baker.