Contact: Kay F. Jones
An African-American mailing list and a related World Wide Web site now are part of Mississippi State University's cyberspace connection.
Formerly housed at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, the list and WWW site AFRIGENEAS recently moved to Mississippi State because of "the university's hospitable climate to African Americans, the presence of the widely known Historical Text Archive on the web and the university's computer telecommunications prowess," according to Donald J. Mabry.
Sandra Hall of San Diego, Calif., designed the site, which is maintained by Valencia King Nelson of Anniston, Ala., and Mabry, associate dean of Mississippi State's College of Arts and Sciences.
Mabry, a history professor, also maintains the Historical Text Archive.
According to Nelson, "Afrigenas is a mailing list focused on genealogical research and resources in general and on African ancestry in particular.
"This page serves as a focal point for information about African-ancestored families and for pointers to genealogical sources worldwide," she added. "Each of us may provide information to this collection."
Anyone interested in African-American genealogy and history can access AFRIGENEAS via the Internet. Besides materials collected through the mailing list, the site provides links to other genealogical sources, including the Historical Text Archive with its collection of materials on African-American history.
"Enabling African Americans to discover their roots is important in itself, but the fact that we can share the discoveries widely provides rich sources of data to researchers in the history of families and of slavery," said Mabry.
The list address is afrigeneas@msstate.edu; list moderator Nelson may be contacted via e-mail at VKN@aol.com. The web address is http://www.msstate.edu/Archives/History/afrigen/.
Mabry also can be reached for more information at (601) 325-7095.