This event marks the launch of the HGGHH database of enslaved individuals, a free, online resource with information about the enslaved people at the Hermann-Grima House in New Orleans.

While many African Americans in the South have ties to Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia due to slavery, forgotten yet recovered, histories can lead to astonishing finds. Join us as we discuss the enslavement, freedom, and descendants of enslaved people willed and sold to Louisiana from Presidential-related families.

About the Speaker:

Louisiana native, Ja’el “YaYa” Gordon is a Professional Historian and Genealogist who specializes in interpreting antebellum history, genetic genealogy, Descendant group research, and conducting oral history interviews. Gordon is a Contributing Writer and Researcher for ARRAY’s newest learning companion, the Queen Sugar 101 Learning Companion (queensugar101.org), which is based on the critically-acclaimed OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network series QUEEN SUGAR created by filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

She currently serves as a Researcher for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and serves as the President of the Bonnet Carre Historical Center / 1811 Kid Ory House. She has also served as a Research Assistant for the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training with the National Park Service. In 2022, she became the recipient of a grant awarded by the Social Sciences Research Council and the Ford Foundation for the purpose of transcribing oral histories to be housed in the Library of Congress.

Gordon holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Southern University and A&M College at Baton Rouge, a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from Southern University New Orleans and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education at Jackson State University. She serves as a Charter Member and current President of the Louisiana Chapter of Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS-Louisiana) and is the current Vice-President of Genealogy for the AAHGS National Chapter.