speakers bios

SCOTT WILDS has a master's degree in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania and was an associate editor of the Papers of William Penn. For the past ten years, his genealogical research has been concentrated on African American families in Darlington County. His article "Freemen's Bureau Ration Book, May-September, 1866, Darlington, South Carolina", won the SCGS publication competition for best article in the Carolina Herald in 2003. He is Deputy Director of Housing for the City of Philadelphia, PA. SPEAKER: SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008.

Mr. Bennett Greenspan and Family Tree DNA Since its inception, in April of 2000, Family Tree DNA has been associated with the Arizona Research Labs, led by Dr. Michael Hammer, one of the world's leading authorities in the field of Y-DNA genetics. Family Tree DNA has other renowned scientists on its advisory board and is the world leader in the field of genetic genealogy exploration. With over 190,000 records, Family Tree DNA has the largest database of its kind in the world. Family Tree DNA and other cooperative ventures, including the National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project and AfricanDNA.com, now comprise the largest non-medical DNA testing program in the world. Family Tree DNA was founded in 2000 by Mr. Bennett Greenspan, an entrepreneur and life-long genealogy enthusiast, turning a hobby into a full-time vocation. His effort and innovation created the burgeoning field now known as genetic genealogy. Mr. Greenspan, a Nebraskan native who received his B.A. from the University of Texas, spent years investigating the ancestors of his maternal grandfather, an obsession which eventually led to the founding of Family Tree DNA and the beginning of a new kind of genealogy. As a serial entrepreneur, his business career has spanned photographic equipment and supplies, real estate, the pro-college website GoCollege.com, Family Tree DNA, and is now also involved in DNATraits.com, a new medical genetic testing company. Despite the long hours and frequent travel, Mr. Greenspan is still married and enjoys returning home to his wife and two children. SPEAKER: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, JULY 11 & 12, 2008.

Shirley Gage Hodges has been actively doing genealogical research since 1967. She has taught genealogy classes in Community Education Programs at various high schools and has also been a guest lecturer for several university programs. Shirley has presented lecturers, seminars and workshops locally and regionally both in the United States and Canada since 1994. Her lectures are accompanied by visual aids, handouts and examples. In 2006 Shirley was elected to the office of President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild. She also became a columnist for The Global Gazette in June 2006. Although Shirley specializes in tracing your female ancestors she covers a wide variety of topics for both the novice and advanced genealogist. Her interest in sharing her love of genealogical research and her sense of humor has delighted audiences. SPEAKER: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, JULY 11 & 12, 2008.

Greg Matthews is a native of Rock Hill, SC currently residing in North Carolina. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1990. Greg first became interested in genealogy in 1994 after wondering why his grandfather’s family had the odd surname of Blackwelder. Gret is a member of the Old Edgefield District Genealogical Society and the South Carolina Genealogical Society. Articles Published: “Some Mathews Families of Edgefield District.” OEDGS The Quill, Vol XXIII, Number 5 (Sept/Oct 2007) and “Making the Most of Internet Searches” OEDGS The Quill Vol. XXIII, Number 5, (Sep/Oct 2007). SPEAKER, FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2008.

Charles Andrews is a retired engineer and systems consultant currently living in the Atlanta, GA area. Because many of his ancestors hailed from the Upcountry of South Carolina, he has become a serious student of the history of the State, particularly in the period of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Recently, he has been mapping land grants around Mount Willing, an important community in the early history of Old Edgefield District. He has written articles for the Old Ninety Six Chapter, SCGA and for the Old Edgefield District Genealogical Society, including a series on code duello and a history of the 1815 Scotch Cross plantation home and the families who lived there. He, with co-authors Carol Hardy Bryan and Bela Padgette Herlong, is in the finishing stages of a book on the history of Mount Willing, which should be welcomed by enthusiasts of history and genealogy alike. SPEAKER: FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2008.

John H. Smith received a BA in psychology from Lenoir-Rhyne College and has taken graduate courses in history at Winthrop University. He has been a continuing education instructor at Western Piedmont Community College since 1991, teaching genealogy & family history courses. He served as editor of The Burke Journal, the quarterly publication of the Burke County Genealogical Society, 1992-1995, which won the Excellence in Periodical Publishing Award from the North Carolina Genealogical Society in 1995. A contributor to numerous research publications, he is also co-author of six volumes of North Carolina Slaves & Free Persons of Color. He has previously spoken at SCGS Summer Workshops on private manuscript collections & NC African American research. SPEAKER: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, JULY 11 & 12, 2008.

Harris M. Bailey, Jr. is a native of Greenwood, South Carolina. He graduated from Lander University, in Greenwood, South Carolina, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science in 1981. He attended Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, Kentucky where he received a Master of Public Service in Public Administration Degree in 1983. He continued his Graduate Studies in Political Science at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 1983-1984. From 1986 to 1987 he was enrolled in the Teacher Education curriculum at Lander University, Greenwood, South Carolina. For the past fifteen years he has been employed in the field of workforce development and is currently employed with the Upper Savannah Council of Governments in Greenwood, South Carolina. He has taught political science/government classes for Lander University, Piedmont Technical College and South Carolina State University. He is a member of the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society and a charter member of the Old Edgefield District African-American Genealogical Society. SPEAKER: SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008.

Richard Fowler was born in the Saxon Mill community of Spartanburg County, and went to Laurens County at the age of nine to live with his grandparents after the death of his mother. He later wrote a little book recalling people and experiences at the church and in that community which he called “Beaverdam Creek”. He then lived in Virginia and France with his father, an army officer, and graduated high school as valedictorian in Frankfurt, Germany. He rode a bicycle about 2000 miles across France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, and learned to speak French there. He majored in French and Education and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia with a BA and Masters Degree and later became a teacher and Foreign Language coordinator in Spartanburg District 7 Schools, an adjunct professor at Converse College, and has worked as a foreign language consultant for many school districts across North and South Carolina. He has further graduate work from USC, Clemson and Florida State. He was an instructor in Foreign Language Methodology in teacher training institutes at the University of Toulouse in France for 7 summers, working with major linguists there. He has conducted tours of Europe for more than 38 years and is currently a travel agent at Gateway Tours in Spartanburg and also works as a Foreign Language specialist for FACES, an organization that imports foreign teachers to work in South Carolina. His great love is history and genealogy and he has produced several books on those subjects that pertain mostly to the Upstate, particularly Laurens County, including Beaverdam Creek, Laurens County Kinfolks, Laurens County Ghosts of the Past, the Benjamin Family History, the Caldwell Family History, Descendants of John Martin and has edited a number of cemetery reference and church history books for Laurens County. SPEAKER: SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008.

Additional bios will be added as received from the speakers.

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05/16/2008