Daughter Dialogues

Stephani talks about how her Revolutionary War patriot James Due was not Scottish but instead a black man living with a white woman; and proving that her ancestor Vilmont Schexnayder was born to Norbert, a white man who had a child with a slave, which Norbert’s descendants denied. She discusses growing up in San Jose, California; working as a pediatric home care nurse in Sacramento, CA; opening a group adult residential home with her mother and family; running a Supported Living Coaches, Personal Supports, and Life Skills business; taking family trips with her mother, father, stepmother, and brother together; her interest in genealogy beginning with mother's stories about her third great grandfather Vilmont Schexnayder and a woman of German descent stating the name must mean Schex’s-"n-word"; how Vilmont was born a slave and was a US Colored Troops (USCT) soldier in Patterson, Louisiana; searching for Vilmont’s father; taking a tour of Laura Plantation that led to a chance encounter with guide Jay Schexnaydre who pointed her to Vilmont's father Norbert and later learning that Jay was a cousin through DNA testing; a white descendant of Norbert Schexnayder denying that he is the father of Vilmont; later taking a DNA test that revealed the descendent as her closest match; Vilmont's USCT widow's pension request explaining that she was partnered with Henry Alexander in Lafayette, Louisiana to produce children as a slave but married Vilmont in Patterson, Louisiana when she was freed; assuming her Revolutionary War patriot James Due, of Caroline County, Maryland, was white with a black or Native American partner since she only knew of white descendants of Enoch, James’s son, who were always told that James was Scottish; Enoch’s battle between identifying as mulatto or white, finally living as white and his sister Serena living as mulatto; Enoch's descendants having African DNA; being proud to know that her ancestors were here from the birth from United States; joining the DAR so that James Due could no longer be forgotten; no one knowing that James Due owned property in Maryland and is buried there in Tuckahoe State Park with no grave marker; feelings while having her DAR new member welcome ceremony in a country club which had previously excluded blacks and in 1920 hung July Perry in Ocoee, FL massacres, outside of the gates, because he wanted to vote; embracing the DAR sisterhood. Read Stephani’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Shelley tells about her journey from surviving as a high school drop-out, victim of domestic abuse, and a young single mother to earning her doctorate and becoming a University of Virginia researcher, investigating president Thomas Jefferson’s beloved university and the enslaved laborers who built it. She talks about growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan; her fervent love of the military and dropping out of high school out of anger since she was not allowed to graduate early to join the Army; living on her own since the age of 16; completing her bachelor's degree after 28 years; earning a master's and doctorate while working full time; her children’s father being killed by his nephew over a drug deal; leaving a violent relationship; the stressors that living with a mother-in-law afflicted with Alzheimer’s had on her later marriage; being forced to identify as either black or white when living in the South after not having color lines in Michigan and Hawai’i; the shock of learning about her slave ancestry and mixed race heritage; realizing her family makeup reflects American history; the emotional impact of researching Thomas Jefferson's enslaved laborers; her Ancestor Calvin Davis, a radio gunner passing for white, who was killed in a WWII plane crash during a 1941 bombing run in Meresburg, Germany; her black ancestor who owned slaves- James Roper, the son of a slave and Nicholas Roper who left everything to his mulatto son including slaves; half of James's kids deciding to pass for white and their descendants’ reaction when they learn of their black ancestry; mission to find great grandfather William Michael Murphy; Revolutionary War patriot John Boyer and meeting white descendants; ten years ago, thinking DAR was a whites only organization and not knowing about black patriots and members; working on getting seven additional patriots approved by DAR; joining the DAR and serving as chair membership chapter; “my folks helped lay the foundation of this country”, “we’ve served”, “we have to tell these stories”. Read Shelley’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Author of the biography that inspired Self Made, the Netflix series about her great-great-grandmother Madam C. J. Walker, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist and hair care industry pioneer, A’Lelia Bundles talks about her direct lineal descent from two Revolutionary War patriots through her biological grandmother Fairy Mae Bryant who was adopted by A’Lelia (nee McWilliams) Walker, the only daughter of Sarah Breedlove (Madam C. J. Walker), and became known as Mae Walker. A’Lelia shares stories about how her ancestors, who descended from American Revolution soldier Ishmael Roberts, were pioneers that migrated from North Carolina to Indiana and created free people of color settlements in the early 1800s; and her connection to Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Archer. She discusses her family’s multi-generational use of the name "A'Lelia"; her great grandmother A'Lelia Walker; growing up in a new black suburb of Indianapolis and attending predominantly white schools; her mother (A’Lelia Mae Perry Bundles) attending Howard University and taking the position of vice president of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, continuing the legacy of producing cosmetics and hair care products for black women; her father’s success as the president of Summit Laboratories hair care company; the family’s expectation for her to have her own identity and accomplishments; her experience as a student attending Radcliffe College and graduating from Harvard; losing her mother while studying journalism as a graduate student at Columbia University; the journey to writing about Madam C.J. Walker; experience working as a black woman in the newsroom in the 1970s and highlights from her career at NBC covering the Atlanta child murders and Jesse Jackson, working at ABC on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and then as deputy bureau chief in Washington, DC; her independence working as a speaker and author; making one her first speeches at her grandmother Mae’s alma mater, Spelman College, armed with personal advice from Roots author Alex Haley; assuming board positions with the National Archives Foundation, Columbia University, and Radcliffe College; receiving an Emmy and the Gold Baton award; being recognized by the NY Times for On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker; her decades long relationship with her significant other; losing her father and both brothers within twelve weeks of each other; changing her impression of the Daughters of the American Revolution after learning of the society’s black members; joining the DAR despite having a complicated sense of patriotism; her expectation for America to move toward a more perfect union; and defining "Real Americans" to include people of African descent. Read A’Lelia's biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Holly discusses raising three Uniquely Special children on the Autism Spectrum, each with accompanying health challenges, after leaving her position as a gubernatorial appointee working as the Deputy Director of Communications for BWI Airport and subsequently being selected to be the Director of Communications for the Maryland Transit Administration.  She tells her story of flying to Munich, Germany to search for her German grandmother at the age of 14 as her German-born father, who was legally adopted by his black birth father to come to the United States, had lost contact with his mother for 42 years; studying journalism at the University of North Florida; working as a flight attendant, beginning her career with landing gear failure; ending her airline career after a possible encounter with 9/11 terrorists; earning a M.S. in Transportation Management at Morgan State University; leaving the workforce to care and advocate for children with special needs who often end up incarcerated at higher rates; her third great grandfather Peter G. Morgan, who was born into slavery, was selected to write the new Virginia state constitution, was one of first blacks in the Virginia House of Delegates, and was a Presidential appointee working as a Postmaster in Richmond; solving the mystery of who is the father of family patriarch Preston Riley, descendant of Revolutionary War patriot Jacob Riley; learning that Preston’s father was T.J. Riley, a white man who had a relationship with a slave named Sally, petitioned the court to take care of their sons, and left land to her; feeling a deeper sense of patriotism and loyalty to her country because of her ancestors' fight for freedom for the United States; finding her place in history; deciding to follow Marian Anderson's lead of moving toward forgiveness by joining the Daughters of the American Revolution and representing women of color because "these are our ancestors too"; authoring the book Riley Road: Navigating the Path to Discover My 6th Great Grandfather, Jacob Riley, detailing her genealogy research methodology. Read Holly’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Adrienne talks about how she discovered that the black man listed as the father on her grandfather's birth certificate was a lie but instead was a white man named James Moffett from 1924 segregated Mississippi; working through generational shame, anger and pain about her slave owning white ancestry; her grandfather's connection to Revolutionary War patriots; the story of how the family of George Leighton, son of her Revolutionary War ancestor Samuel Leighton, in Massachusetts, wrote him off because he married into a slave owning family in Mississippi; connecting with white relatives who shared stories of her Revolutionary War lineage; informing the leader of the Connecticut State Society Daughters of the American Revolution that they share ancestry with Revolutionary War patriot James Collins and subsequently being invited to be the keynote speaker at the state conference during which Adrienne presented their mixed race family connection; using DNA to help point toward more record sets; the variations in DNA connections versus genetic heritage versus traditional paper research; Commander James Collins's Revolutionary War service and his letter scolding the British; joining the DAR by a white Moffett cousin providing an affidavit of family relation for her application in support of his Y-DNA test results; amending her grandfather's death certificate to name his true father; giving herself permission to explore her own history; potentially caring for the gravesites of the family of her ancestor's enslavers; her brother joining The Society of the Cincinnati; taking leadership roles within the Children of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution; assisting members with DNA lineage research. Read Adrienne’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Adrienne discusses the need for greater suicide prevention support for military personnel after she endured losing her father, who served in the U.S. armed forces, to unaddressed mental trauma; losing her hearing at 16 years old from a car accident; how her off the grid exploration in Tajikistan’s Wahkan Valley in the Pamir mountains led to her interest in DNA testing for genealogy and a search for her heritage after having learned that her dad was not her biological father at 10 years old; beginning her career after studying video production at the Art Institute of Los Angeles; interspersing volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Romania, Ethiopia, and Kenya among jobs in mobile marketing including her walking from New York to California for Steps Across America; leaving the workforce to raise her children; enjoying playing capoeira, fitness, botanical gardens and learning Farsi in her free time; discovering the realities of using DNA tests to research genetic ancestry; becoming a professional genealogist; her family not knowing or talking about their past; how family history was lost by fleeing Mississippi for California and never returning; descending from Revolutionary War patriot Christopher Guice; and discovering lies on her grandfather's birth certificate. In the next episode, Part 2, hear about Adrienne’s findings and what happened when she contacted the leader of the Connecticut State Society Daughters of the American Revolution and told her that they descend from the same patriot ancestor and therefore her family has mixed race heritage. Read Adrienne’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

In continuation from Part 1, Michelle shares the story of her ancestor’s acknowledged white city and black rural dual-family arrangement in Macon, Georgia. She talks about how she presented her lineage research findings of the prominent John Hart, grandson of Revolutionary War patriot Robert Hart, providing for her black ancestor Hettie Valentine and their children on his land in the countryside while also maintaining a white family in the city, at an impromptu gathering of 100 family members, which she coordinated; gathering the white and black Hart families together to formally present their lineage back to William the Conqueror; visiting the white and black Hart cemeteries together with the granddaughter of John Hart's second white wife; having her grandmother Beulah join the Daughters of the American Revolution at 99 years old during the COVID-19 pandemic after surviving the virus, a brain tumor from her earlier years and being shot in the head by white men during a racist attack; and her sons being members of the Children of the American Revolution. Read Michelle’s and her grandmother Beulah’s biographies at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Michelle provides a blueprint for how women can advance to the executive level in corporate America and survive a college engineering program by sharing the story of her rise to leadership in the telecommunications industry which has included addressing the United Nations on communications solutions during global catastrophes. Michelle talks about growing up in Detroit, Michigan and how her upbringing molded her for earning a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering and a master’s in Project Management, then subsequently creating some of the first cellular devices, leading a team to deploy the first broadband technologies to keep first responders safe, and meeting with the NYPD chief of police on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 to discuss lessons learned and how to improve future telecommunications during a disaster response effort. She begins her story of how she became the family historian and traveled to Macon, Georgia to research her lineage. In the next episode, Part 2, hear about Michelle’s findings and her experience as a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution including her grandmother joining the organization at 99 years old. Read Michelle’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Joyce was first to adopt as a single-parent in Philadelphia, she complied a cohesive record of her complex family history tracing back to the 1600's and joined the Daughters of the American Revolution despite passing the grave of Marian Anderson when visiting family members, who played with Marian, buried in the same cemetery. She talks about being on the Board of Directors of the National Adoption Center; membership in the Colonial Daughters and Founding Families of PA, NY, NJ; her Revolutionary War patriot, formerly enslaved Quaker, Cyrus Bustill, who baked bread for troops at Valley Forge; Cyrus bringing his enslaved mother to live with him and handwritten letters to his brother-in-law who still owned her at the time of her death; Cyrus helping the Underground Railroad, raising money for churches started by Absylom Jones and Richard Allen, founding the Free African Society, and starting a school; her family being free people of color in the 1700's; historical figures in her family: Aaron Burr's great granddaughter, Paul Robeson, and Humphrey Morrey- the first mayor of Philadelphia and his son Richard who owned and freed "wife" Cremona, one of the richest women in Pennsylvania; writing a children's book; meeting white relatives unaware of their black DNA due to ancestors passing for white; her family documentation at Howard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges, and at William and Mary; and building a database of 90,000+ African Americans interred at Eden Cemetery, including 90 family members. Joyce was featured in a PBS episode of "Movers and Makers" and her family history was also the subject of the PBS Documentary "The Montiers: An American Story".  Read Joyce's biography at  www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g

Dymond discusses portraying Marian Anderson at 8 years old in a black history production and then reconciling DAR's history of exclusion to join the DAR as a millennial; being Miss Black Rhode Island USA 2016; connecting with her roots through gardening by planting crops for ancestors and how her cousin Dr. Booker T. Whatley invented the "U Pick Your Own" farming concept; her 5th great uncle Elisha L. Anthony Jr., a free person of color, who served in Louisiana as a Union Army private in the Civil War and his death bed letter; investigating a family rumor of the lynching of 2nd great grandfather John Nelson; serving her community and supporting her alma mater, historically black Hampton University, as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; her mixed race Spanish, Native American and black, Revolutionary War patriot Michael Anthony who served in the first integrated regiment; researching lineage from Revolutionary War ancestor Mingo Pollock; how her ancestry reaffirms her place in America; connecting to ancestors through tombstones and the 1st Rhode Island Regiment monument listing Michael Anthony's service; how as a young black member, Gilmore Girls fans think it is cool and older white women seeing diversity become more open to joining DAR; giving back to the black community as a DAR member of color; serving as the regent (leader) of DAR chapter and meeting members of different races while paging.  Read Dymond's biography at  www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters

Subscribe to the newsletter at www.daughterdialogues.com

Follow us @DaughterDialogs on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Listen to more Daughter Dialogues episodes and subscribe to the newsletter at DaughterDialogues.com. 

Follow and share Daughter Dialogues at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaughterDialogs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daughterdialogs/

X: https://x.com/DaughterDialogs

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgUqgtIRJmnLbd5FrMqwp9g