Help Connect US Black Heritage Project Notables May 2023!

+12 votes
1.0k views

All of these U.S. Black Heritage Project Notables, born in the month of May, need to be connected to the Global Family Tree.  Can you help by adding profiles of family members until a connection to the Global Tree is made?

The current tree size as of 25 April and CC7* as of 29 April is shown for each profile.[Tree sizes as of 28 May and CC7 as of 30 May updated in red]  During the month of May we will update the tree and CC7 sizes weekly for those still unconnected so we can all see any progress made.   Even if a connection is not made, adding even a single profile to a family is helpful and appreciated!

The ten notables selected for this month, in order of their birthdays, are:

  •  7 May  Mary Eliza Mahoney, first Black nursing school grad, tree size: 22   CC7: 24 CONNECTED!!
  • 9 May  Weldon Groves, WWII Tuskegee Airman,  tree size: 27  CC7: 64 CONNECTED!!
  • 11 May  Ewart Abner, Jr, President of Motown Records, tree size: 131 162  CC7: 108  132
  • 15 May Daddy-O Daylie Chicago radio personality and Black Ski Club founder, tree size:18  81  CC7: 17 38
  • 24 May Patti LaBelle, Singer, songwriter and actress, tree size: 11   18  CC7: 11  19
  • 27 May Lou Gossett Jr., Academy-award winning actor, tree size:  8   148  CC7: 114
  • 28 May Mary Lou Williams,  Jazz pianist, composer, arranger, tree size: 20  28   CC7: 44
  • 28 May “Papa John” Creach, Blues violinist,  tree size: 16  61 CC7: 36 57
  • 30 May Dr Claudia Alexander, Space plasma physicist, tree size: 10  , CC7:   9 CONNECTED!!
  • 31 May Patricia Harris, U.S. Cabinet member and diplomat, tree size:  13 13  CC7: 12 20 CONNECTED!!

 

If you want to add family to a living Notable, please create the family profile first and send me a request to link the two profiles.

As always, please add the {{African-American Sticker}} to any profiles of African-American people, and if you add photographs, make sure they're in the public domain.

For more unconnected USBH Notables profiles, and up-to-date links to this post and the current USBH Connection Challenge, check out the US Black Heritage Connectors Page.

*Tree sizes do not include private profiles or profiles connected thru the private profile and are only recalculated by WT+ once a week. The CC7 does include private profiles, but may not include all profiles for those with extended tree;  the CC7 is calculated with close to real-time data.

in The Tree House by Katie Bryant G2G6 Mach 8 (84.4k points)
edited by Katie Bryant

8 Answers

+10 votes
 
Best answer

While attempting to connect Motown president Ewart Abner, I wound up adding notable Native and Black football quarterback Jimmy Johnson. So far neither are connected, and the link between them would likely go through living people, so I'm trying to recruit some cousins.

by Karen Lowe G2G6 Pilot (207k points)
selected by Leah Chaillet-Hines
There are now 8 total notables in that unconnected tree!  Connect one, connect all 8!
+11 votes
Another great list, Katie!!
by Kate Schmidt G2G6 Pilot (153k points)
+9 votes
Looks like someone connected Mary Eliza Mahoney!
by Kate Schmidt G2G6 Pilot (153k points)
Yay, way to go, thanks to whomever you are for connecting Mary Eliza!
+11 votes
I have been working on adding to the family of Patti LaBelle. Would your project consider adopting their profiles?

Holte-291, Holte-290, and Holte-289 are what I've completed so far. You might also adopt Holte-248, which has no profile manager.

I've also found Patti's great-grandparents, Joshua and Mariah or Maria Reed, and will be adding them another day. And will also add the husband of one of her aunts. They had a lot of children, but many of them are likely still alive, and I don't feel good about creating profiles for living people without their permission.
by Alison Gardner G2G6 Mach 9 (90.2k points)
Alison, thanks for working on Patti LaBelle's family!  You can go ahead and add the {{African-American Sticker}} to any of the profiles that you create when you know the individuals are African-American.  Our project does not "manage" them per se, but we use the stickers for statistics tracking and other identification.  We DO like to manage or co-manage any African-American Notables; if you feel someone fits that category just let us know.   And we agree its best NOT to create profiles for living people,unless Notable!   Thanks again for the profiles!
+10 votes

Weldon Groves should be connected (once things turn over) only had to connect through one existing profile, love it when that happens smiley

by Denise E G2G6 Pilot (117k points)
Nice!!  Its wonderful when you get so lucky!  I've been adding lots of profiles for Lou Gossett Jr but no magic connection yet...
Hope the magic happens soon for him Katie, he's a tough one!
+11 votes

I think Dr. Claudia Alexander-17256 might now be connected.

smiley Bev (Felty-296)

by Beverly Enslow G2G6 Mach 1 (19.1k points)

Great job, Bev! smiley

That's fantastic, Beverly!  I'm amazed we already have 3 connected this month.  I thought April would be a hard act to follow but May is looking pretty good, thanks to you and Denise!
+10 votes
Someone connected Patricia Harris!
by Leah Chaillet-Hines G2G6 Mach 2 (20.6k points)
Looks like Bev found a magic link??  Thanks to all who added profiles!  We are up to 4 connected this month.  I've added a lot to Daylie and found a family full of doctors for several generations that I thought would be the key, but no luck so far.
+8 votes

I don't know how I manage to pick one not on your list, but I began looking at Notable Cincinatti Reds players, and it turns out that Frank Robinson has a statue at the ball park. His profile had only a few family members, but to be fair, his father is relatively unknown and his mother was not fully researched. So I've begun filling out his tree as best I can. I think he's up from CC7 of 4 to 21 now, and my research should fill in another 20-40 profiles easily. It's way too early to believe we'll find a connection, but I'd just like to give him a decent family around him first, then we'll worry about a connection later.

by Scott Fulkerson G2G Astronaut (1.6m points)
Thanks Scott!  We need Frank connected just as much as any of the Bday group, so appreciate the help.  I see he is native Texan like me;  I know I've created profiles for families in Beaumont area so maybe there will be a connection someplace there.
Well, believe it or not, I've got Frank now extended in his small unconnected tree to multiple states, Switzerland, and I think India (all pretty much through marriages, since he was pretty much an only child), but no connections yet. I'm still working to add all the profiles, but I'm sure there's now 100-150 more to add now that the harder part of the research is starting to pay off. We'll see where this leads.
His CC7 is now 55, so progress is being made, but no connection in sight so far. The hunt continues.
I see his CC7 is up to 58 today, thanks for adding those profiles!  If he's not connected by August we can feature him again in his official Birthday month.
OK - just found a connection for him. I had to rush the last few profiles into place, but the connection looks good. We should see it once the links update tonight. I think I've got his CC7 up around 70 or thereabouts now, but we'll see for sure shortly.
Darn - CC7 is 69... oh well. I have another several hundred profiles researched now that could be added, so if I had time, I could add the one more... Maybe tomorrow just to get him above 75...
OK - bumped him to 70 connections and cleaned up the hasty profiles I'd created to get him connected. All looks good now. Another very interesting journey, as the connection runs through a family in Louisiana who had a white married to a mulatto around 1850, so there's a story behind all that somewhere, but I didn't find it in my research. Granted, it came right at the end and usually I'm ready for a break, but if anyone wants to look further into it, you can hunt into his connection and see if you can add to the biography on some of the profiles.
That's terrific Scott!  Thanks so much for the work!

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