2022 Conference Speaker Bios

Bernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-host of the podcast - Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program. She is also the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcasting stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. She also received the Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Genealogy Award in 2019 for original research in support of African American Genealogy. Bennett is on the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society, co-founder and faculty member of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI), and a Volunteer with the Homestead National Historical Park Service.

Deborah A. Abbott, PhD is a professional genealogist specializing in genealogical methodology, manuscript collections, and African American family research. She is a member of the Cuyahoga County (OH) Archives Commission, the Lakeview Cemetery Community Outreach Committee, past president of the African American Genealogical Society, Cleveland, Ohio, and a retired professor of Counseling from Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. She holds an AA degree from Cuyahoga Community College, both the BS and MEd degrees from Tuskegee University in Alabama and the PhD degree from Kent State University in Ohio.

Dr. Abbott is coordinator of both the African American Track at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Athens, Georgia, and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). She teaches at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR) in Dallas. Dr. Abbott has articles published in the Ohio Genealogy News and FamilyTree magazines. She can be found teaching African American genealogy in a segment entitled “Needles & Threads” on Ancestry Academy, an educational video course for Ancestry.com. She also teaches monthly classes entitled “Using Ancestry.com in Genealogy Research” at the Lakewood (Ohio) Public Library and coordinates the “Genealogy and Family History Clinic” for the Cleveland Public Library.

A Cleveland, Ohio native, she is a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Tuskegee University National Alumni Association, and Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland.

Robyn N. Smith has been researching her family and others for over 25 years. An engineer by day, Robyn applies those research and problem-solving skills to the field of genealogy. She specializes in Court and Land Records, Genealogy Skillbuilding, and Slavery Research. From 2008-2015, Robyn taught an Advanced African American Genealogy class at Howard Community College in Columbia, MD.

Robyn has lectured widely at genealogical conferences, and institutions such as the Smithsonian African American Museum, the Maryland Genealogical Society, and the Maryland State Archives. She has published numerous articles about her family history in Tennessee and Florida, including articles on her Maryland roots in the peer-reviewed Maryland Genealogical Society Journal. Robyn won second place in the 2015 International Society of Family History Writers and Editors writing competition for her article “Minty’s Legacy: A Black Family in Slavery and Freedom.”

For more than twelve years, she has authored a popular genealogy teaching blog called Reclaiming Kin (www.reclaimingkin.com). Her blog focuses on growing genealogical research skills for all genealogists, and the unique challenges of researching the enslaved. Her work has been referenced in The Washington Post and The New York Times, Ancestry, Cyndi’s List, Maryland Public Television, the Washington Family History Center’s Newsletter, and the Library of Virginia, among others.  

In 2020, in the backdrop of the COVID pandemic, Robyn launched Zoom webinars directly from her Reclaiming Kin website. They continue to prove hugely popular and regularly draw large audiences eager to learn from her expertise.

In 2021, Robyn’s first lecture for Legacy Family Tree Webinars (“Do You Have an Artificial Brick Wall?”) garnered thousands of views and remained in the Top Five Most-Watched webinars for several months.

In addition to writing and teaching, Robyn also has a special passion for documenting the histories of communities and promoting adherence to genealogical standards.

Melvin J. Collier has been conducting historical and genealogical research for almost 30 years, starting at the age of 19. He is a former civil engineer, who used his passion for African American history and historical preservation to foster a career change. He then earned a Master of Arts degree in African American Studies, Clark Atlanta University, in 2008, with additional graduate coursework in Archival Studies from Clayton State University.

For seven years, he worked as an archivist at the Atlanta University Center, processing numerous collections such as the Morehouse College Dr. Martin Luther King Papers, the Maynard Jackson Administrative Papers and Photographs, the Dr. Asa Hilliard III Papers, and others. He now works for the Department of Defense in the Washington, D.C. area.

Collier has appeared on the NBC show, Who Do You Think You Are, as one of the expert genealogists on the Spike Lee episode (2010). He has given numerous presentations on genealogy, slave ancestral research, and genetic genealogy at many events and conferences around the country. He was also a guest speaker for African Heritage Day at the 2017 RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City with actor LeVar Burton. Collier maintains a genealogy blog, Roots Revealed, at www.rootsrevealed.com.

The Afro-American Historical and Genealogy Society (AAHGS) awarded Collier with the 2012 Marsha M. Greenlee History Award and the 2016 Paul Edward Sluby, Sr./Jean Sampson-Scott Meritorious Achievement Award. He is also the author of three books, Mississippi to Africa: A Journey of Discovery (2008), 150 Years Later: Broken Ties Mended (2011) and Ealy Family Heritage: Documenting Our Legacy (2016).