Join us for a free, online Gallier Gathering this month with Gaynell Brady. This genealogy workshop is in partnership with Whitney Plantation.

Navigating African American genealogy can be very challenging. Moreover, searching for maternal ancestors who were recently enslaved can be tedious and difficult. Yet, Isabelle “Ma Belle” London Jefferson was worth the years of research and challenges.

After emancipation, many African Americans lived and worked on the same plantations where they were formerly enslaved.

Gaynell Brady will examine African American genealogy through the lens of the Greens, Meyers, and Jefferson families who lived in Clinton, Des Allemands, and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Gaynell Brady earned a BA in History and MA in Museum Studies from Southern University at New Orleans. Gaynell is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Capella University, in Minneapolis, MN, working on her dissertation that includes teaching and interpreting slavery to students.

Gaynell is a local museum professional who has served as an education program consultant and curator at the Louisiana State Museum and an interpretive park ranger for the National Park Service.

Gaynell's passion for history and genealogy is expounded through her company Our Mammy’s, where she provides interactive history and genealogy lessons for children and families. She has spent the last seven years teaching and interpreting the lives of African Americans in Louisiana. Gaynell has lectured at cultural institutions, libraries, and museum conferences.

When she is not teaching or researching, Gaynell is traveling Louisiana's highways and byways and spending time with her family.