Holly Henderson: Autism Advocate. Ancestors’ genetic morse code.

09/17/20 • 70 min

Holly discusses raising three Uniquely Special children on the Autism Spectrum, each with accompanying health challenges, after leaving her position as a gubernatorial appointee working as the Deputy Director of Communications for BWI Airport and subsequently being selected to be the Director of Communications for the Maryland Transit Administration. She tells her story of flying to Munich, Germany to search for her German grandmother at the age of 14 as her German-born father, who was legally adopted by his black birth father to come to the United States, had lost contact with his mother for 42 years; studying journalism at the University of North Florida; working as a flight attendant, beginning her career with landing gear failure; ending her airline career after a possible encounter with 9/11 terrorists; earning a M.S. in Transportation Management at Morgan State University; leaving the workforce to care and advocate for children with special needs who often end up incarcerated at higher rates; her third great grandfather Peter G. Morgan, who was born into slavery, was selected to write the new Virginia state constitution, was one of first blacks in the Virginia House of Delegates, and was a Presidential appointee working as a Postmaster in Richmond; solving the mystery of who is the father of family patriarch Preston Riley, descendant of Revolutionary War patriot Jacob Riley; learning that Preston’s father was T.J. Riley, a white man who had a relationship with a slave named Sally, petitioned the court to take care of their sons, and left land to her; feeling a deeper sense of patriotism and loyalty to her country because of her ancestors' fight for freedom for the United States; finding her place in history; deciding to follow Marian Anderson's lead of moving toward forgiveness by joining the Daughters of the American Revolution and representing women of color because "these are our ancestors too"; authoring the book Riley Road: Navigating the Path to Discover My 6th Great Grandfather, Jacob Riley, detailing her genealogy research methodology. Read Holly’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters
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Previous Episode

Adrienne Abiodun: Part 2. Overcoming generational shame.

Adrienne talks about how she discovered that the black man listed as the father on her grandfather's birth certificate was a lie but instead was a white man named James Moffett from 1924 segregated Mississippi; working through generational shame, anger and pain about her slave owning white ancestry; her grandfather's connection to Revolutionary War patriots; the story of how the family of George Leighton, son of her Revolutionary War ancestor Samuel Leighton, in Massachusetts, wrote him off because he married into a slave owning family in Mississippi; connecting with white relatives who shared stories of her Revolutionary War lineage; informing the leader of the Connecticut State Society Daughters of the American Revolution that they share ancestry with Revolutionary War patriot James Collins and subsequently being invited to be the keynote speaker at the state conference during which Adrienne presented their mixed race family connection; using DNA to help point toward more record sets; the variations in DNA connections versus genetic heritage versus traditional paper research; Commander James Collins's Revolutionary War service and his letter scolding the British; joining the DAR by a white Moffett cousin providing an affidavit of family relation for her application in support of his Y-DNA test results; amending her grandfather's death certificate to name his true father; giving herself permission to explore her own history; potentially caring for the gravesites of the family of her ancestor's enslavers; her brother joining The Society of the Cincinnati; taking leadership roles within the Children of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution; assisting members with DNA lineage research. Read Adrienne’s biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters
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A’Lelia Bundles: Madam C.J. Walker and a Family Legacy of Pioneers

Author of the biography that inspired Self Made, the Netflix series about her great-great-grandmother Madam C. J. Walker, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist and hair care industry pioneer, A’Lelia Bundles talks about her direct lineal descent from two Revolutionary War patriots through her biological grandmother Fairy Mae Bryant who was adopted by A’Lelia (nee McWilliams) Walker, the only daughter of Sarah Breedlove (Madam C. J. Walker), and became known as Mae Walker. A’Lelia shares stories about how her ancestors, who descended from American Revolution soldier Ishmael Roberts, were pioneers that migrated from North Carolina to Indiana and created free people of color settlements in the early 1800s; and her connection to Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Archer. She discusses her family’s multi-generational use of the name "A'Lelia"; her great grandmother A'Lelia Walker; growing up in a new black suburb of Indianapolis and attending predominantly white schools; her mother (A’Lelia Mae Perry Bundles) attending Howard University and taking the position of vice president of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company, continuing the legacy of producing cosmetics and hair care products for black women; her father’s success as the president of Summit Laboratories hair care company; the family’s expectation for her to have her own identity and accomplishments; her experience as a student attending Radcliffe College and graduating from Harvard; losing her mother while studying journalism as a graduate student at Columbia University; the journey to writing about Madam C.J. Walker; experience working as a black woman in the newsroom in the 1970s and highlights from her career at NBC covering the Atlanta child murders and Jesse Jackson, working at ABC on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, and then as deputy bureau chief in Washington, DC; her independence working as a speaker and author; making one her first speeches at her grandmother Mae’s alma mater, Spelman College, armed with personal advice from Roots author Alex Haley; assuming board positions with the National Archives Foundation, Columbia University, and Radcliffe College; receiving an Emmy and the Gold Baton award; being recognized by the NY Times for On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker; her decades long relationship with her significant other; losing her father and both brothers within twelve weeks of each other; changing her impression of the Daughters of the American Revolution after learning of the society’s black members; joining the DAR despite having a complicated sense of patriotism; her expectation for America to move toward a more perfect union; and defining "Real Americans" to include people of African descent. Read A’Lelia's biography at www.daughterdialogues.com/daughters
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