Searching for Records of Incarceration with Sharon Batiste Gillins

Have you ever considered searching records of incarceration to find your ancestors? 

Whether researching a notorious family outlaw or a victim of early 20th century justice, there’s a good chance that you have an ancestor who has been incarcerated. Researching records of incarceration at local, state or federal penal institutions can reveal valuable family history information and also document shameful community patterns of social and economic abuse against blacks. 

Join Sharon Batiste Gillins for an engaging discussion on the genealogical value of searching records of the incarcerated.

Sharon Batiste Gillins is a native of Galveston, Texas with paternal ancestral roots in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana and maternal roots in Fort Bend County, Texas. A life-long interest in her family's history led to an active involvement in researching African American family history over the past 25 years. While researching her own family, she developed an in interest in unique and under-utilized record systems and record groups.  Some of her more recent work focuses on strategies researchers can use to analyze Louisiana’s Freedmen’s Bureau field office records for revealing, often personal information on freedmen ancestors.

Ms. Gillins is a member of the Galveston Historical Society, National Genealogical Society, and Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.  A retired Associate Professor at Riverside City College, she frequently calls upon her career background as a college educator to present workshops or deliver courses at regional and national conferences and genealogical institutes.   She is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Samford Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in Birmingham.