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Welcome to Ancestor's Footprints—the podcast where the past comes alive! Whether you're a curious beginner, an avid genealogist, or someone who believes that uncovering family history is a lifelong journey,...
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Welcome to Ancestor's Footprints—the podcast where the past comes alive! Whether you're a curious beginner, an avid genealogist, or someone who believes that uncovering family history is a lifelong journey, this show is for you. With each episode, we'll bring you incredible stories, expert insights, and practical tips to help you trace your roots and connect with your heritage. I’ve lined up passionate experts who will not only share their knowledge and resources but also answer your most pressing genealogy questions. Together, we’ll uncover the hidden gems in your family’s history and inspire you to take the next step in your journey. So, get ready to explore, discover, and honor the footprints your ancestors left behind. Your story starts here.
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Ancestor's Footprints with Bernice Alexander Bennett
Ancestor's Footprints with Bernice Alexander Bennett
Bernice Alexander BennettSupport the Podcast
Episodes & Posts
Episodes
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Transcribed
15 APR 2026 · When Your Ancestors Choose You- Finding Binky
This episode will explore what it means to carry the memory of your ancestors, the challenges of researching enslaved families, the emotional weight of the records, and the moment when genealogy becomes more than research, when it becomes a calling.
Michael A. Willis is an award-winning author, speaker, consultant, blogger, and instructor with more than twenty-five years of experience as a genealogist. He specializes in Louisiana research, particularly in East Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana, Orleans, and Terrebonne Parishes. In October 2025, Michael received the International Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Book Award for Finding Binkey, a work that documents his search for his fifth great-grandmother through oral history, documentary evidence, and DNA, while also teaching valuable lessons for those researching African American families. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
Transcribed
1 APR 2026 · This episode Celia: Justice After Death, explores the life and legacy of Celia, an enslaved, pregnant teenager and mother in pre–Civil War Missouri who resisted sexual exploitation and was executed in 1855 after defending herself against her enslaver. Her case exposes the stark injustice embedded in Missouri’s antebellum legal system—a system that denied enslaved women legal protection from sexual violence while simultaneously holding them fully accountable under the law. Through the voices of Celia’s descendants, this conversation connects Celia’s lived experience to her 2024 gubernatorial pardon and to ongoing family-led efforts through the Celia Newsom Legacy Foundation to advance truth-telling, reconciliation, and awareness of modern human trafficking. Celia’s story is not only history—it is an enduring call to justice.
Adriene Holder is the third great-granddaughter of Celia and Robert Newsom and a Board Member of the Celia Newsom Legacy Foundation, where she co-chairs the Family Heritage Committee and helps lead descendant-driven efforts to preserve Celia’s legacy through genealogy, oral history, and historical documentation. Through her legal advocacy and descendant leadership, Adriene is committed to advancing justice, preserving historical truth, and ensuring that Celia’s legacy continues to inform efforts to confront inequity and uphold human dignity today.
Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge is the second great-granddaughter of Celia and Robert Newsom and the founding President of the Celia Newsom Legacy Foundation. She leads descendant-driven efforts to preserve Celia’s legacy and advance education, reconciliation, and justice. Pamela is deeply committed to connecting historical truth with present-day systems change, ensuring that stories like Celia’s inform a more just and equitable future. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
Transcribed
25 MAR 2026 · In today’s episode, titled DNA, Genealogy, and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, we will discuss how DNA and historical research are helping identify victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in American history. Through genealogy, genetic testing, and community participation, families and researchers are working together to restore names and identities to individuals whose stories were never fully told. This work reminds us that genealogy is not only about building family trees — it is also about justice, memory, and recognition.
Lisa Fanning, an Indiana native who is a genealogist, genetic genealogist, and family historian. For more than 30 years, she has traced her own family’s roots across the American South and Midwest, developing a deep passion for reconstructing complex family histories. Lisa has contributed to major projects such as the DNA Doe Project and the Tulsa Race Massacre DNA Identification Project. She serves on the Board of the National Genealogical Society and on the leadership team of MAAGI, the Midwestern African American Genealogy Institute. She has presented nationally and internationally, including for PBS and the United Nations. Today she joins us to talk about her work helping identify victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and how DNA is helping restore identities more than one hundred years later.
- Check out information on the burials/surnames/and locations on the City of Tulsa’s webpage at www.cityoftulsa.org/1921Graves
- Tell us their family story about the Tulsa Race Massacre at www.tulsa1921DNA.org
If you have experience in African American genealogy research and are interested in volunteering some of your time to the project, please email us at idteam@tulsa1921dna.org Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
Transcribed
4 MAR 2026 · "Our Claiborne Parish: A Family History Research Project of Communal Kinship” traces the evolution of a family-led inquiry into a community-centered preservation model.Tracing six generations in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, her work has become a living portal of kinship—where paternal lines like Calloway, Bennett, Bugg(s) and Robinson converge with maternal families including Walston, Taylor, and Levingston. Across generations of forced displacement, this convergence reveals documented milestones that shaped American history. At its core, this work is a call to steward descendancy itself—affirming each generation’s responsibility to amplify ancestral voices and safeguard the integrity of their stories. Stewarded by Regina "Califa" Calloway Project Motto: "Steward Your History"
A visionary Woman of Faith, Ms. Regina “Califa” Calloway hails from Oakland, California, Louisiana reared and African rooted.Transcending three decades of leadership in Arts, Heritage, and Cultural Pedagogy, Ms. Calloway is the Founder and Creative Director of nzoCALIFA Presents LLC, Heritage-based Educational Consulting Agency grounded in kinship, cultural memory, and collective repair. nzoCALIFAncestry is the agency’s genealogical platform, expanding access to family history research while empowering communal stewardship, ushering ancestral memory to incite healing and transformation. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
1 MAR 2026 · Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade is the chronicle of a shared journey toward racial reconciliation. Informed by genealogy, it deals with race, social justice and healing from the traumatic wounds of slavery. Over a three year period, the authors traveled through 27 states, visiting ancestral towns, courthouses, cemeteries, plantations, antebellum mansions, and historic sites.
Bernice Alexander Bennett welcomes Sharon Leslie Morgan and Thomas Norman Dewolf to share this compelling journey with us. Sharon Morgan is a marketing communications consultant and a nationally recognized pioneer in multicultural marketing. An avid genealogist, she is the webmaster for OurBlackAncestry.com and is a founder of the Black Public Relations Society. Thomas Norman DeWolf, author of Inheriting the Trade, is featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary film Traces of the Trade, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and on the acclaimed PBS series POV. DeWolf speaks regularly about healing from the legacy of slavery and racism at conferences and colleges throughout the United States. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
AI-generated content
Transcribed
25 FEB 2026 · Building Justice Through Ancestry: Archives, DNA and the New Infrastructure for Liberation
This episode will focus on how genealogy and ancestry research can serve as tools for justice and liberation, particularly for Black and Brown communities across the diaspora. Christopher Smothers, a historian and genealogist, will share the importance of accessing public records and archives to reclaim names, land, and historical memory. He highlightes the role of DNA evidence in supporting claims for recognition, restitution, and reparative justice. In addition, he will emphasize the need to build infrastructure for genealogical research, including training archivists in culturally competent access and forming partnerships with government agencies. He also touched on the challenges of privacy concerns when accessing certain records. The conversation will also explore ways to integrate genealogical skills into educational settings and the potential for using ancestry research in public policy to address wealth distribution and systemic racism. Smothers expressed hope for the future of this work, emphasizing the need to make ancestry research more pragmatic and tangible for achieving justice. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
This episode includes AI-generated content.
Transcribed
11 FEB 2026 · Becoming a Good Relative shares remedies for the debilitating shame that can overtake white Americans when we face our peoples’ colonial past and our current complicity with systemic white supremacy. It offers a unique methodology, supported by African American and Indigenous Elders. To counteract cultural appropriation, the book includes stories of reclaiming European ancestral memory. The appendices contain historical notes, questions for reflection, practical skills and rituals, and recommendations for further reading. This memoir offers practical strategies for wealth redistribution as well as spiritual teachings on mutual liberation. In addition, it encourages Americans of modest income levels to engage in reparative actions and giving.
HILARY GIOVALE is a mother, writer, and community organizer. A ninth-generation American settler, she is descended from Celtic, Germanic, Nordic, and Indigenous peoples of Ancient Europe. As an active reparationist, her work is guided by intuition, love, and relationships.
https://www.goodrelative.com/book Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
Transcribed
28 JAN 2026 · Kathy Lynn Marshall, author of "Finding Grammie' Secrets," shares her journey to uncover the untold story of her great-grandmother, Ella Roy, known as Grammy Carter. Born in 1866 in Alexandria, Virginia, Grammie was remembered for her elegance and caring nature but remained silent about her past, leaving generations curious about her experiences and wealth. When Kathy's mother received a medical diagnosis, they embarked on a race against time to discover Grammy's secrets, leading to a deeper understanding of her life and legacy. Kathy emphasizes her role as a genealogical detective, bringing forgotten women and African Americans into the historical narrative through speculative non-fiction and empowering others to reclaim their heritage. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
Transcribed
14 JAN 2026 · America's Forgotten Patriots of the Northern Theater shines a light on the overlooked heroes who fought for independence in the shadows of the Revolutionary War’s northern campaigns. From the rugged battlefields of Saratoga to the icy marches through New England, this compelling narrative uncovers the lives of the diverse and courageous individuals—American men, women and children of African and Indigenous descent who served in the Continental Army and in local militias—whose sacrifices were critical to the American cause but were left out of traditional histories. Drawing on rare documents, firsthand accounts, and recent scholarship, this book restores these patriots to their rightful place in the story of America’s fight for liberty and freedom. Meticulously researched and powerfully told, it is a vital contribution to Revolutionary War literature that challenges what we think we know about the struggle for independence.
Ric Murphy is a historian, educator, author, and filmmaker. His most recent work is the Arrival of the First Africans in English America, which received the 2020 Phyllis Wheatley Award and became an award-winning documentary. He is the founder and President General of the https://nambco-my.sharepoint.com/personal/rmurphy_namgt_com/Documents/Documents/Ric/Ric%2520Murphy%2520Books/Wikipedia/sofafea.org, and is a scholar on the history and relationships of Americans of African, European, and Indigenous descent during America’s colonial and antebellum periods. Through his works he has contributed immensely to the research, documentation, and preservation of African American history and culture from the arrival of the first documented Africans in English America in 1619 through the colonial period to the American Revolutionary War, and beyond. Murphy’s work and commentary have been cited by journalists and historians in major national media outlets and used in broader discussions of African American genealogy, historical commemoration, and military service. He has written numerous books, and served as editor of the book series, the recently released https://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Patriots-Northern-RIC-MURPHY-ebook/dp/B0GFBPN5HY/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3JUYHXWA0BSZN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5MnbEadzQ3mHw_4ZDGoSTT_F4IiKozc8uI2faQOfit851igMdPqbzpWi-99wL2Fy9nACPK0hCazOlna64wialyws4sbCZxUo9NTczzKm6tA2L0GQpFcZPJerp6FshNgg8b5Q6m2WlZj6zzhKSQBKcXIN8yUG8o3hIow04-xoac6sgLNOUV4gaLu_FcbQMviSlrA9TE5VjXq4SSphlJsJGA.o4h6PP3Tu-R4fKs1SZcPFXSLn-havFtheCoL6ZVp6P8&dib_tag=se&keywords=ric+murphy&qid=1767975987&s=books&sprefix=ric+murphy,stripbooks,182&sr=1-3 Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
Transcribed
7 JAN 2026 · In Becoming Trustworthy White Allies, Melanie S. Morrison brings together essays, lectures, and real-life stories drawn from her decades of anti-racist work. With honesty and care, she names the challenges white people face on the path to allyship—and the practices that make genuine partnership possible: moving through shame and guilt, building accountable relationships with people of color, unearthing suppressed ancestral stories, stepping out of social segregation, taking action to dismantle systemic racism, and rooting the work in cross-racial collaboration. This is a guide not for quick fixes but for lifelong commitment—inviting white people to show up with humility, consistency, and courage as trustworthy partners in the work of racial justice.
Melanie S. Morrison is an author, speaker, and racial justice educator with thirty years of experience helping groups and communities navigate the deep work of transformation. She was the founder and executive director of Allies for Change, a national network of social justice educators, and lead facilitator of Doing Our Own Work, an intensive anti-racism program for white people. She is the author of six books, including Murder on Shades Mountain: The Legal Lynching of Willie Peterson and the Struggle for Justice in Jim Crow Birmingham. Her newest book, Becoming Trustworthy White Allies, was published in September by Duke University Press. For the past six years, she has been engaged in research and writing about her ancestors in Montevallo, Alabama, who accumulated wealth built on stolen land and enslaved labor, and she is working collaboratively with people in Montevallo seeking to forge truer, fuller narratives about the history of slavery in that region. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ancestor-s-footprints-with-bernice-alexander-bennett--6436157/support.
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Welcome to Ancestor's Footprints—the podcast where the past comes alive! Whether you're a curious beginner, an avid genealogist, or someone who believes that uncovering family history is a lifelong journey,...
show more
Welcome to Ancestor's Footprints—the podcast where the past comes alive! Whether you're a curious beginner, an avid genealogist, or someone who believes that uncovering family history is a lifelong journey, this show is for you. With each episode, we'll bring you incredible stories, expert insights, and practical tips to help you trace your roots and connect with your heritage. I’ve lined up passionate experts who will not only share their knowledge and resources but also answer your most pressing genealogy questions. Together, we’ll uncover the hidden gems in your family’s history and inspire you to take the next step in your journey. So, get ready to explore, discover, and honor the footprints your ancestors left behind. Your story starts here.
show less
Information
| Author | Bernice Alexander Bennett |
| Organization | Bernice Bennett |
| Categories | History , Personal Journals , How To |
| Website | www.spreaker.com |
| - |
Copyright 2026 - Spreaker Inc. an iHeartMedia Company
