Senator Mary Landrieu has introduced the Servitude and Emancipation
Archival
Research Clearing House (SEARCH) Act. This legislation will help
trace
African American genealogy. It is so important that every human being
have knowledge of history in order to best move forward. Please see
the
press release below.
This important legislation requires your attention and action. Call,
email, and write your congressional representatives to support this
legislation. Request they increase the allotment because $5 million
will not scratch the surface of this solution. We must continue to
call, email, and write until we know we are successful.
If you do not know who how to contact your representatives in
congress,
please click
http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm
<http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm> .
Sisterly,
Soror Barbara A. McKinzie
Centennial National President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
01/12/2007
Landrieu Introduces SEARCH Act
Legislation will help trace African-American genealogy.
WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today
re-introduced legislation that will authorize the creation of a
ntional
database within the National Archives for African American
genealogical
research. The Servitude and Emancipation Archival Research Clearing
House (SEARCH) Act will establish a national database within the
National Archives and Records Administration that will house the
various
documents that would assist those in search of family history that,
because of slavery and segregation, is almost impossible to find in
common registers and census records.
"The SEARCH Act will help fill a gap in our country's genealogical
records," Sen. Landrieu said. "The legislation will help African
Americans trace their ancestry in a way that has always been
impossible.
Because of slavery and racial discrimination, many documents, such as
land deeds, wills and voter registration, are not available to help
trace genealogy. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day reminds us of the
importance of this legislation. While no bill can alleviate our
nation's
original sin of slavery, the SEARH Act will help make the impossible
possible by allowing our children to learn about their past to
prepare
for a stronger future."
The legislation would authorize $5 million for the National
Historical
Publications and Records Commission to establish and maintain a
national
database of servitude and emancipation records in the United States
and
an additional $5 million for states, colleges and universities to
preserve, catalogue and index records and to help local residents
research their own histories.
Senator Landrieu first introduced the SEARCH Act in 2004 after
receiving
a letter from New Orleans City Councilmember Oliver Thomas describing
the challenges he faced as an African American when researching his
own
family history. Though it passed the Senate with bipartisan support
at
that time, there was no vote in the House of Representatives.
Last year the legislation was endorsed by both New Orleans Mayor C.
Ray
Nagin and the Youth Genealogy Camp, sponsored by the African American
Genealogy Connection.
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