Harris told that four years ago he decided to organize a family reunion. He explained that the only time he and other extended family members gathered were for funerals. He began writing down what he had been told about his relatives and then sent a copy of it to his sister. She then added what she knew and remembered and passed it on to aunts and uncles and the process continued. From there Harris became even more curious and began his formal search, using census records, library resources and genealogy Internet sites.
Bender follows suit as well.
He too was interested in organizing a family reunion. He obtained an unofficial family tree from an elderly relative, but never pursued it any further, storing the paper away. All three have found older relatives to be extremely helpful to their genealogical searches and strongly encourage others to use the living resources. Harris and the other members of the group hope to help other African Americans make sure the libraries or legacies don't die by teaching them the skills necessary to trace and record their genealogy for the next generation.