black history month — Blog — INSPIRE FAMILY HISTORY

by Shenley Puterbaugh

In honor of Black History month, I would like to tell you about an incredible and inspiring African American who was powerfully strengthened by his family history as a child.

In February of 2019, I first saw Michael B. Moore, the former CEO of the International African American Museum, at RootsTech in Salt Lake City, Utah. In his keynote address, he shared his story of being influenced and inspired as a child to appreciate and love his family history. His story touched me deeply. A few months later I had the opportunity to interview him and learn more of his incredible story. One of the challenges that many African Americans face is not being able to connect with their ancestors because many events were not recorded or kept. Despite growing up in a difficult time and place in American history, Moore was still able to connect with his family and found incredible strength and resilience from learning stories of his ancestors.

“My grandmother would tell me lots of direct stories about her grandfather, Robert Smalls. As long as I can remember, I would hear stories about my great-great- grandfather,” Moore reflected. Robert Smalls was “an enslaved African who, in 1862, took command of a Confederate ship in the Charleston Harbor, sailed it past five Confederate forts in the Atlantic Ocean, and then turned it over to Union forces, winning his freedom and that of his family and crew. He then became a captain in the Union Army. After the Civil War, he was elected to both houses of the South Carolina Legislature and to the U.S. House of Representatives” (https://iaamuseum.org/about/staff/michael-b-moore/, Mar. 2019).

Moore said that knowing about his great-great-grandfather Robert Smalls gave him a stronger and more complete sense of self. “I grew up at a time and in a place where race relations were not great and on a fairly regular basis I was made to feel uncomfortable about my identity and my race. Knowing that I was connected to Robert Smalls and what he had accomplished against such enormous odds and obstacles helped to give me a sense of self-esteem, to make me feel, ‘If he could do it and I have some of his blood coursing through my veins, maybe I could charge ahead and do things.” Knowing these stories and the resulting feelings has always had a very powerful influence on him and has powerfully affected his identity and sense-of-self, giving him a profound feeling of purpose.

Michael Moore now has four children of his own and passes Robert Small’s legacy to them through the same stories he heard from his grandmother. He believes that “waiting until someone is an adult before giving them a sense of who they are and where they came from is a mistake. Children are curious about the world generally and that curiosity, if focused appropriately, can certainly apply around family search and particularly to their ancestry.” He suggests figuring out “interactive and cool ways” to introduce family history to young people “by engaging them with things and ideas that are already interesting to them.” (For suggestions on how to choose an idea that will engage a specific young person, click here. For specific ideas to choose from, click here.)

The International African American Museum will be opening in 2022. It is located where almost half of all African captives arrived in the U.S. The IAAM will share untold stories of the African American journey as well as “experiences and accomplishments of Americans of African descent.” At the museum their will be a Center for Family History. It will be an incredible resource “for the study and advancement of African American genealogy, with connections to Africa and the African diaspora.” This will be an incredible resource for American’s of African descent. Through the resources available at the Center for Family History, the IAAM is hoping to help, not only adults, but also kids and youth to discover and connect with the stories of their ancestors. (https://iaamuseum.org)

The learn more about the International African American Museum visit https://iaamuseum.org.