The next Best of Elizabeth Shown Mills series webinar is on Friday (a members-only event). Learn more here. Become a member here.

The next Best of Elizabeth Shown Mills series webinar is on Friday (a members-only event). Learn more here. Become a member here.

Nicka Smith

Nicka Smith is a professional photographer, speaker, host, and documentarian with more than 20 years of experience as a genealogist. She has extensive experience in African ancestored genealogy, reverse genealogy, and family reunion planning and execution. She is also an expert in genealogical research in the Northeastern Louisiana area, sharing genealogy with youth, documenting the ancestral journey, and employing the use of new technology in genealogy and family history research.

Nicka has diverse and varied experience in communications, with a background in publications, editing, graphic design, radio, and video production. She has edited and designed several volumes of family history that include narratives, photos, and genealogical information and has also transferred these things to an online environment. She is the host of BlackProGen LIVE, an innovative web show focused on people of color genealogy and family history.

She is a past board member of the California Genealogical Society (CGS) and the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC), member of AAHGS Memphis/Mid South and the Southern California Genealogical Society, and former chair of the Outreach and Education Committee for AAGSNC, and former project manager for the Alameda County, CA Youth Ancestral Project where more than 325 youth were taught the value of family history.  Nicka is also the family historian and lead researcher for the Atlas family of Lake Providence, East Carroll, Louisiana.
 

Nicka's Upcoming Live Webinars (3)

Fri, April 14 2023: 14:00 UTC
Giving Them Their Glory: First Kansas/US Colored Troops 79th Regiment
Fri, April 14 2023: 14:00 UTC
Organized in August 1862, the First Kansas Colored Infantry was the first Black unit recruited in the North, the first to see and die in battle in the Civil War. Made up of both free and enslaved men, including those from the Five Tribes, its exploits were legendary. Yet, the lives of its rank and file outside of their service were prolific and unsung.
Organized in August 1862, the First Kansas Colored Infantry was the first Black unit recruited in the North, the first to see and die in battle in the Civil War. Made up of both free and enslaved men, including those from the Five Tribes, its exploits were legendary. Yet, the lives of its rank and file outside of their service were prolific and unsung.
Fri, April 14 2023: 14:00 UTC
Fri, June 2 2023: 18:00 UTC
Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1718-1820
Fri, June 2 2023: 18:00 UTC
This groundbreaking collection, which also goes by the name Louisiana, U.S., Records of Enslaved People, 1719-1820, was the brainchild of Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo-Hall and features the names, genders, ages, occupations, illnesses, family relationships, places of origin and more for upwards of 100,000 formerly enslaved in Louisiana. In this session, learn the history of the collection, where records were obtained, how to search and find original documents, and more.
This groundbreaking collection, which also goes by the name Louisiana, U.S., Records of Enslaved People, 1719-1820, was the brainchild of Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo-Hall and features the names, genders, ages, occupations, illnesses, family relationships, places of origin and more for upwards of 100,000 formerly enslaved in Louisiana. In this session, learn the history of the collection, where records were obtained, how to search and find original documents, and more.
Fri, June 2 2023: 18:00 UTC
Fri, September 22 2023: 18:00 UTC
Finding John Lee
Fri, September 22 2023: 18:00 UTC
Discover how DNA, online and offline genealogy converged to break down a more than 100 year old brick wall revealing the life, times, and relations of a mysterious multi-ethnic man named John Lee.
Discover how DNA, online and offline genealogy converged to break down a more than 100 year old brick wall revealing the life, times, and relations of a mysterious multi-ethnic man named John Lee.
Fri, September 22 2023: 18:00 UTC

Nicka's Webinars (14)