March 2023 General Membership Meeting
The Emotional Side of DNA with Special Guest Speaker - Bernice Bennett
Tuesday, March 14th @ 6:30 PM
Social Hour @ 6 PM
Testing your DNA can provide unexpected revelations about you and your family.
“Secrets, scandals and lies” do exist, and some individuals will take those to their graves. However, DNA results may enrich as well as rewrite the story of who you thought you were, and how you got here. In addition, while waiting for your DNA results to arrive, you should determine how you would respond prior to receiving them. Should you publicly share your results with others? Suppose you find out that your father is not your biological father?” “Or your sister is your half-sister?” Are you an adoptee searching for your biological parents? What is the right thing to do when you feel the need to disclose information that maybe emotionally harmful?
This presentation will encourage the audience to explore how they will respond to discovering new relatives, ancestry results, and other unanticipated findings.
About Bernice Bennett
Bernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-host of the podcast - Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program. She is also the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcasting stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. In addition, she received the Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Genealogy Award in 2019 for original research to support African American Genealogy. Bennett is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society, co-founder and faculty member of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, a Volunteer with the Homestead National Historical Park Service, and former Citizen’s Archivist with the Civil War Digitization Project of the National Archives and Records Administration. Bennett, a New Orleans native and descendant of Homesteader Peter Clark of Livingston Parish is committed to encouraging other descendants to write and share their family stories.