Ancestry and Genealogy: Doreen Wade Interview

Salem Ancestry Days is a time for residents and visitors to celebrate their ancestral and immigrant connections to Salem, Massachusetts. In the interview transcribed below, we spoke with Doreen Wade, President of Salem United, Inc. to learn more about her organization's role in preserving Black history.

• Ancestry and Genealogy: Doreen Wade Interview

  
  

  An interview with Doreen Wade, President of Salem United Inc. for Salem Ancestry Days.

  Date created:

  04/26/2022

  Audio Transcript

  Today we are interviewing the President of Salem United Inc., Doreen Wade. Can you tell us a bit about your organization and the work it does? Our organization preserves, protects, and builds Black history. A lot of people know a lot of the cemeteries around the city of Salem. We have preserved three headstones in one of the cemeteries and we’re getting ready to work on a couple more—these cemeteries headstones are all of African Americans. We put together an exhibit from a history that we learned about Negro Election Day being the first Black voting system in the country. We put an annual event together which celebrates Negro Election Day and we have parades, vendors, entertainment, and music. We are doing a documentary on the history of Negro Election Day. We will be interviewing political leaders from all around Essex County. We’re putting together a movie, we’re writing a book, and we’re also working with museums around the state of Massachusetts. We’re going to start an African American preservation group. We’re also going to produce a full Black heritage trail in Essex County.

  How does genealogical research inform that work? I’m going to use my own family as an example. I started doing genealogy of my family to find out that I am the fifth-generation granddaughter of a member of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. And of course, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry is a very historical part of the Civil War in Massachusetts. A lot of times, what happens when your doing genealogy and your preserving history—like I do with my organization—you will find your own family in there, so your family history actually becomes part of the history you may be preserving.

  What are the most rewarding research projects you’ve worked on? What made them memorable? I would say the most rewarding research that I have worked on is Negro Election Day. It was rewarding because, for many years, people have looked at it as a place where everybody goes in the summer in July. We meet on Salem Willows and we talk, laugh, and eat, but it actually became the history of the first Black voting system in this country. That is why it is memorable to me, because not only did I open up a history knowledge—that I want to say hardly anybody knew—I’ve actually built a bill in the Senate around it which recently got passed favorable. Now that day that we go to Salem Willows is actually going to be a state holiday, so I feel like all that research and all that history is not in vain.

  What barriers do you encounter while doing historical research on Black communities, and how have you been able to overcome them? That is a very good question you are asking me. I’ve encountered racism. I’ve encountered people telling me that this history is not true. I’ve encountered hate and anger—anger to bring out the truth of what history is and to have people use that anger to actually deny my work and limit me from the abilities that I have the legal right to do. It’s been difficult. I’m trying to overcome them, but every day is a new experience. Every day I encounter a new fight against what I am doing, but many people know me and they know how I am. How I overcome it is I just keep going. I put my head up in the air and I use pride to help me move forward.

  What advice would you give to someone who wants to do research on historically underrepresented groups? You have to be thick-skinned because a lot of times what happens is people are going to become hostile. You just have to believe in what you’re doing. You have to love what you’re doing because there are times when it becomes so difficult and so painful that you want to give it up and there’s not a lot of people around to tell you, “No, you can’t give it up.” You have to learn to tell yourself that.

  How do you translate the research you do to stories you share with the community? I figure out what is the best way to help people learn and understand. I built an exhibit so people can come and see the exhibit. I can travel around with the exhibit and I’m actually interfacing and interacting with people. Everyone loves to sit in front of the TV, so what I’m also doing is I’m taking that history and I am translating it into a documentary. And then at some point, I will be translating it into book form—a children’s book and an adult book. From there, I’m not sure where I’m going, but I find that these are probably the three greatest ways to tell your story and have the community understand it and relate to it. To see it visually, it’s hard to not trust it because they can see all the proof that they need in front of them.

  Why do you think it’s valuable for non-professionals to do family or genealogical research? It allows you to know who you are and where you came from. My mother used to say to me all the time, “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from.” To know your history, to know your ancestry, to know your family roots, that gives you pride and that builds self-esteem. All these things are part of what helps you live and survive in today’s world. I was a grown adult when I found out that my family served in the 54th [Massachusetts Infantry]. I sat and watched this movie and this movie had people who looked like me and they were talking about my family. That’s why I believe it’s of value.

  What final words of advice would you like to share? I would just like to say, first off, doing genealogy is fun and it is exciting. It’s fun and exciting whether you’re a professional or you’re not. It’s fun to see it in the schools because young people learn and from learning they get excitement. That excitement, that is what helps them develop and grow every single day knowing who they are. I can’t stress this enough; this is what helps people grow and develop and learn.

  Doreen, thank you for sharing your insights and expertise with us today. To learn more about Salem United, be sure to visit salemunitedinc.org.

Can you tell us a bit about your organization and the work it does?

Our organization preserves, protects, and builds Black history.

A lot of people know a lot of the cemeteries around the city of Salem. We have preserved three headstones in one of the cemeteries and we’re getting ready to work on a couple more—these cemeteries headstones are all of African Americans.

We put together an exhibit from the history that we learned about Negro Election Day being the first Black voting system in the country. We put an annual event together which celebrates Negro Election Day and we have parades, vendors, entertainment, and music. We are doing a documentary on the history of Negro Election Day. We will be interviewing political leaders from all around Essex County.

We’re putting together a movie, we’re writing a book, and we’re also working with museums around the state of Massachusetts. We’re going to start an African American preservation group. We’re also going to produce a full Black heritage trail in Essex County.

How does genealogical research inform that work?

I’m going to use my own family as an example. I started doing genealogy of my family to find out that I am the fifth-generation granddaughter of a member of the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry. And of course, the 54^th Massachusetts Infantry is a very historical part of the Civil War in Massachusetts.

A lot of times, what happens when your doing genealogy and your preserving history—like I do with my organization—you will find your own family in there, so your family history actually becomes part of the history you may be preserving.

What are the most rewarding research projects you’ve worked on? What made them memorable?

I would say the most rewarding research that I have worked on is Negro Election Day. It was rewarding because, for many years, people have looked at it as a place where everybody goes in the summer in July. We meet on Salem Willows and we talk, laugh, and eat, but it actually became the history of the first Black voting system in this country.

That is why it is memorable to me, because not only did I open up a history knowledge—that I want to say hardly anybody knew—I’ve actually built a bill in the Senate around it which recently got passed favorable. Now that day that we go to Salem Willows is actually going to be a state holiday, so I feel like all that research and all that history is not in vain.

What barriers do you encounter while doing historical research on Black communities, and how have you been able to overcome them?

That is a very good question you are asking me. I’ve encountered racism. I’ve encountered people telling me that this history is not true. I’ve encountered hate and anger—anger to bring out the truth of what history is and to have people use that anger to actually deny my work and limit me from the abilities that I have the legal right to do.

It’s been difficult. I’m trying to overcome them, but every day is a new experience. Every day I encounter a new fight against what I am doing, but many people know me and they know how I am. How I overcome it is I just keep going. I put my head up in the air and I use pride to help me move forward.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to do research on historically underrepresented groups?

You have to be thick-skinned because a lot of times what happens is people are going to become hostile. You just have to believe in what you’re doing. You have to love what you’re doing because there are times when it becomes so difficult and so painful that you want to give it up and there’s not a lot of people around to tell you, “No, you can’t give it up.” You have to learn to tell yourself that.

How do you translate the research you do to stories you share with the community?

I figure out what is the best way to help people learn and understand.

I built an exhibit so people can come and see the exhibit. I can travel around with the exhibit and I’m actually interfacing and interacting with people. Everyone loves to sit in front of the TV, so what I’m also doing is I’m taking that history and I am translating it into a documentary. And then at some point, I will be translating it into book form—a children’s book and an adult book.

From there, I’m not sure where I’m going, but I find that these are probably the three greatest ways to tell your story and have the community understand it and relate to it. To see it visually, it’s hard to not trust it because they can see all the proof that they need in front of them.

Why do you think it’s valuable for non-professionals to do family or genealogical research?

It allows you to know who you are and where you came from. My mother used to say to me all the time, “You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you came from.” To know your history, to know your ancestry, to know your family roots, that gives you pride and that builds self-esteem. All these things are part of what helps you live and survive in today’s world.

I was a grown adult when I found out that my family served in the 54^th [Massachusetts Infantry]. I sat and watched this movie and this movie had people who looked like me and they were talking about my family. That’s why I believe it’s of value.

What final words of advice would you like to share?

I would just like to say, first off, doing genealogy is fun and it is exciting. It’s fun and exciting whether you’re a professional or you’re not. It’s fun to see it in the schools because young people learn, and from learning they get excitement. That excitement, that is what helps them develop and grow every single day knowing who they are.

I can’t stress this enough; this is what helps people grow and develop and learn.