2023 sdusmp
Award Winners
ANNOUNCED
CERTIFICATE OF SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Aminah Toler, Chair
Kimberly Latortue, President, & Frank Godlewski, of Friends of Howe House
Skip Richardson & Gigi Best-Richardson,
Curators and Owners of Best Richardson African Diaspora Literature and Culture Museum
Kathryn Puckett, Executive Director of Cleveland Hope
Frank Godlewski of Friends of Howe House
William Wells Brown Leadership Award
Guy Weston, Managing Director of the Timbuctoo Historical Society, Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University and Editor of Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Journal.
SUSIE KING TAYLOR Leadership Award
Hermina Glass-Hill, Executive Director of The Susie King Taylor Women’s Institute and Ecology Center
Ida B. Wells Leadership Award
Janice Cross Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano
Hosts of Speak On It! History and Genealogy Conversations with Janice Gilyard and Cherekana Feliciano
Crispus Attucks Leadership Award
Adrienne G Whaley, Director of Education and Community Engagement Museum of the American Revolution
Mary Jane Richards Leadership Award
Dr. Dawn Chitty, Director of Education, African-American Civil War Museum
Frederick Douglass Leadership AWARD
Stephen Hammond, Descendant Families of Arlington House Plantation
BIOGRAPHIES
AMINAH TOLER
Aminah Toler is one of the founding members of Montclair Mutual Aid, an organization started during the height of the pandemic to help serve neighbors in the Community. She is also a member of the Montclair Branch Chapter of the NAACP and also serves as the Vice-Chair for the Township’s Landlord Tenant Advisory Committee. She is also a board member of the Montclair Early Music Program, an organization dedicated to bringing history to life through music, and a member of Mocha Moms Inc.
Most recently, Aminah serves as the Board Chair for the Friends of the James Howe House. An organization formed that secured the first “Freed Slave House,” in Montclair. The James Howe House represents the importance and vibrancy of the Montclair’s African American community both historically and in the present. It is one of the oldest structures in Montclair, dating back to the Revolutionary era. This house helps tell the story of freedom and slavery, the development of a black community and also the founding of Montclair as a town.
Aminah is currently employed by the East Orange Public School District and works as an Administrative Assistant. and enjoys her part-time job as the Admin for the Montclair Local Newspaper.
KIMBERLY LATORTUE
Kimberly Latortue is a long time Montclair resident and local realtor who takes pride in supporting her community. As a mom of 3 she has served on various PTA’s and organizations including NAACP, Montclair Mutual Aid, Montclair Early Music, and Friends of the Howe House where she is the current board President. Kimberly has developed a passion for social justice and providing opportunities to underserved populations. Through her work she continues to advocate and provide awareness around voices of those less heard.
SKIP RICHARDSON AND GIGI BEST-RICHARDSON
Skip Richardson is a retired, disabled Army veteran with twenty-two years of service. He is the Co-Owner of Best Richardson African Diaspora Literature and Culture Museum in Tampa, Florida. The Richardson’s have been bookstore owners since 1987; Skip manages the bookstore and is the Chief Financial Officer. They are members of the Association of African American Museums, Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association, Sons and Daughters of the United Middle Passage, and Afro American Historical and Genealogical Association. Gigi and Skip have both lived and worked in Turkey, Korea, and Germany.
Gigi is a Historian (Phi Alpha Theta), Genealogist, Speaker, and a Virginia Humanities Scholar. She is an award-winning author. Her book, “Thomas the Melungeon: His Locust Family of Free Persons of Color Civil and Revolutionary War Patriots” – Vol 1 was published in 2015 and has been recently revised. She attended Morgan State University’s Graduate Program 1992-1996.
She is a member of many national hereditary societies, i.e., The Order of First Families of North Carolina; Daughters of the American Revolution; Vice President of SDUSMP, and Historian General of the Society of the First African Families of English America. She consults with many other genealogists and speaks professionally to large and small groups.
Gigi is the Vice President of Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society, where she utilizes research skills and records primary documentation. She is the Docent of the nonprofit museum and teaches clients genealogy in proving their pedigree through several generations. She has verified her progenitors in colonial America, including her 9th great-grandmother. The latter arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619.
KATHRYN PUCKETT
Kathryn Puckett JD-MM, Northwestern University School of Law and Kellogg School of Management, is Board Chair of non-profit Restore Cleveland Hope, Inc. (www.restoreclevelandhope.com). Restore Cleveland Hope operates the historic Cozad-Bates House Underground Railroad Center in Cleveland, OH. Open to the public without charge, this pre-Civil War structure built by anti-slavery sympathizers offers exhibits and presentations to enrich understanding of America’s seminal freedom movement. Guided by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s vision of the “Beloved Community”, RCH conducts for audiences of all ages programs that explore the struggle for freedom in the United States of America.
Frank Gerard Godlewski
Frank Gerard Godlewski is an Architectural Historian and Historic Preservation Commissioner who holds a degree from the Cooper Union School of Architecture in New York and worked on a Doctorate of Research at the Architectural Institute in Venice Italy. While he lived and worked in Italy for more than 20, Frank always maintained a deep interest in the history of his hometown of Montclair NJ and more specifically Black History and the story of the Underground Railroad in that area. This interest was sparked early in life through dear family friends, the late Dr. Evelyn B. Darrell, clinical psychologist, scholar and black historian and her late daughter Michele who mentored Frank and inspired his passion for Black History, to whom he dedicates his work and gratitude for this important knowledge.
GUY WESTON
Guy Weston has been engaged in genealogy research for over 25 years, with a substantial focus on his maternal ancestors in Timbuctoo, NJ, where his fourth great-grandfather bought his family’s plot in 1829 for $30. His introduction to genealogy came when he had to research other potential heirs to secure the title on his family’s property. More recently, his work has encompassed research and public history initiatives to raise the profile of Timbuctoo and antebellum-free African Americans in New Jersey history. These have included interpretive signage in Timbuctoo, coordination of a curriculum development project in collaboration with local teachers, and preservation efforts for the Timbuctoo cemetery, where the oldest gravestone is dated 1847. Since Timbuctoo was a stop on the Underground Railroad, many Timbuctoo residents escaped from enslavement in the South. Timbuctoo played an important role in their self-emancipation and resettlement. Guy also researches his paternal ancestors in South Carolina, where he descends from Solomon Weston, enslaved in Richland County.
Guy currently serves as Managing Director of the Timbuctoo Historical Society, is a Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University, and is the editor of Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society Journal. He has contributed articles about his research to AAHGS Journal, AAHGS News, National Genealogical Society Magazine, and New Jersey Studies. He maintains a website at www.timbuctoonj.com. Guy has a master’s degree in Bicultural Studies from LaSalle University and hopes to submit his portfolio for genealogy credentialing later this year.
HERMINA GLASS-HILL
Hermina Glass-Hill grew up in inner-city Atlanta. Family trips to the Sea Islands of coastal Georgia and South Carolina awakened her love for the ocean and nature. Later travels to Africa and the Caribbean Islands expanded her imagination and broadened her worldview about nature, history, people, and culture.
Prior to joining Oceana, Hermina served as the research historian for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights where she learned the value of hard-won struggles for racial equality and ocean justice during the Civil Rights Movement.
In 2016, Hermina founded the Susie King Taylor Women’s Institute and Ecology Center to honor this Gullah Geechee freedom seeker and to provide educational programming on the influence of coastal ecology in the lives of enslaved and free women. In 2019, she received the Georgia Governor’s Award for Arts and Humanities for her service in preserving African American history and culture. Most recently she worked as the climate justice advocate at Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, engaging communities and educating local, state, and federal policymakers on the impact of climate change on frontline coastal communities.
She attended Spelman College and Georgia State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in heritage preservation.
She lives with her husband in Midway, GA, a town forty miles south of Savannah.
JANICE CROSS GILYARD
Janice Cross Gilyard is a charter member of the Harriet Tubman Chapter of Sons & Daughters of the US Middle Passage, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society – New Jersey Chapter (AAHGS-NJ), the New Jersey Genealogical Society, and the National Genealogical Society. She served as Vice President (three terms) and is currently serving a second term as President for AAHGS-NJ. She is Editor of the AAHGS-NJ Family Times Newsletter, Programming Coordinator, and she provides content for the chapter’s Facebook page. Janice also serves on the following boards: The National Genealogical Society, Sons & Daughters of the US Middle Passage, and the 313+ Ancestors Speak Project. She is also on the Advisory Team for the James Howe House Project in Montclair, New Jersey.
Janice has conducted her family research for the past 26 years and documented her family history back to 1720 (Native American, African American, and European). She is proud of her ancestors, which include farmers, authors, professors (two founded colleges), abolitionists, mariners, midwives, political campaigners, and pastors. Janice is enthusiastic about history and genealogy and believes that her ancestors chose her to research, document and tell their stories. She has made numerous presentations at genealogical and lineage societies, churches, libraries, universities, and she has presented at RootsTech 2021, 2022 virtually, and for the first time in person this year. She is a Paul E. Sluby African American Scholarship recipient (2021 from The Board of Certified Genealogist – BCG) and host a Podcast: Speak On It! History & Genealogy Conversations with Janice & Cherekana via BlogTalkRadio.
Janice’s professional experience includes over 20 years in Public Relations providing consulting services. Currently, she manages all Customer Care Clients for a major health foods company in New Jersey. Janice loves history, genealogy, and traveling.
CHEREKANA FELICIANO
Cherekana Feliciano is a family historian, public history enthusiast and law school graduate. She has been conducting family history research for almost fifteen years and currently serves as the Vice President of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) – New Jersey Chapter. By day, she works for the local courthouse. Alongside her cohost, Janice Gilyard, she is one half of a genealogy podcast entitled, Speak On It! History and Genealogy Conversations with Janice and Cherekana on BlogTalkRadio. She also conducts informal research on African American cemeteries in New Jersey. She blogs her genealogy findings and musings at https://curiousconjurerblog.wordpress.com/. She is a New York City native and Rutgers University (Douglass College!) alumna.
ADRIENNE G. WHALEY
Adrienne G. Whaley is an educator and history-lover currently serving as Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Museum of the American Revolution. She was recently named a Class of 2022 40 Under 40 by the Philadelphia Business Journal and a 10 Under 40 People to Watch honoree by the Philadelphia Tribune and is a 2022 recipient of the Paul Edward Sluby Meritorious Achievement Award from the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
Adrienne earned her Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Harvard University and her Master’s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked in both art and history museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, and loves the potential for objects, artifacts, and primary source documents to enrich student learning experiences. She carries her love of history and for uncovering the stories of common people into her spare time as an avid genealogist researching her own family history and as Programming Chair and former President of Philadelphia’s African American Genealogy Group. As both a museum educator and as a genealogist, she has presented on television and in workshops and conferences both locally and nationally.
DR. DAWN CHITTY
Dr. Dawn Chitty is the Director of Education at the African American Civil War Museum where she has worked since 2010. Before joining the staff at the museum, Dawn was a curriculum specialist and social studies teacher serving school districts in South Carolina.
Dawn specializes in 18th and 19th century education and historical interpretation. She has developed interpretive programs in colonial life, chattel slavery, and archaeology for several historic sites in the Charleston area and operated a successful tour company specializing in low country African American history called “Low Country Walks.”
She holds degrees in Anthropology and Education and holds a doctorate in Education in which she focused her research on the topics of museum curriculum and pedagogy about slavery and abolition in the United States. As a doctoral student, she learned a great deal about the importance of historical memory and its connection to inclusive pedagogy. Therefore, she dedicates her time to initiatives and organizations that center diversity, equity and inclusion in curriculum and interpretation practices.
STEPHEN HAMMOND
Stephen Hammond A Denver, Colorado native, Steve Hammond is a retired federal employee, having spent his entire 40-year career as an earth scientist with the United States Geological Survey. He is now a Scientist Emeritus with the agency. Steve is a charter member of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage and a member of the Society of the First African Families of English America. He also is a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the Louisiana Historical Society, and the James Dent Walker Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society in Washington, DC. He was named a Virginia Humanities Scholar for his work in exploring African-American life and achievement in Virginia. He currently serves as a Trustee for the Arlington House Foundation and is a Trustee Emeritus at his Alma mater, Whitman College where he gave the 2022 commencement speech and received an honorary doctorate. Steve is a 7th generation member of the Syphax family of Washington, DC: a line that moved by force to New Orleans and then by choice to Denver. He aims to educate and inspire others to research and document their family history. Steve has spoken at the African American Civil War Museum and the historic Decatur House on Lafayette Square both in Washington, DC and has contributed to exhibits at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Arlington House – the Robert E. Lee Memorial. Steve routinely participates in summer teacher institutes. He is invited into high school and college classrooms and attends field trips to discuss his Syphax family in relationship to 19th and 20th century history.
As an Arlington House descendant family member and a docent at the site, Steve has participated in a variety of National Park Service programs to highlight the lives of his Syphax ancestors and other enslaved Americans on the estate. Over the last two years, Steve has played a key role in bringing together descendants of enslaved and free family members as well as institutional partners. He helped to initiate an ethnohistory project and is helping lead and effort to pass federal legislation that will redesignate the Lee Memorial as a National Historic Site. Under Steve’s leadership, more than 100 Arlington House descendants met in April for their first face-to-face reunion.