Brickwalls in African American genealogy can be caused by lack of records or improper research habits. Learning to research effectively can help to avoid these brickwalls. This presentation includes a case study on Alexina (Newman) Scott to demonstrate proper techniques for researching an African American family in Maryland, from evaluating known information to identifying parents to locating the final owner of an enslaved person.  Part one of a series of genealogy workshops in March.

Speakers Bio: Michael Hait is a professional genealogical researcher, writer, and lecturer, specializing in Maryland research, African-American genealogy, and Civil War records. Michael is currently serving as the Vice-President of the National Capital Area chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. He is the creator of The Family History Research Toolkit CD-ROM (Genealogical Publishing Co., 2008), and the author of two genealogy columns for Examiner.com: "African-American Genealogy Examiner" and "Baltimore Genealogy & History Examiner." Michael is also the author/instructor for the "African-American Ancestors" course for the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. Michael self-published four books in 2010, and recently published his first e-book Online State Resources for Genealogy. His homepage is at http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com.