With Tallahassee's Bicentennial in full swing, there seems to be a bit more interest in the area's history than usual. That may be whyso many people turned out for Saturday's Third Annual History Festival at Kleman Plaza under the auspices of Tallahassee Community College.
It was truly an event of historic proportions.
In the run-up to the Civil War, nine out of every ten Leon County residents were African-American. Juanita Gaston, secretary/treasurer with the Tallahassee Arican-American Genealogical Society, was working her organization's booth, which was one of dozens at the festival. She remarked that tracing the lineage of those descended from those who had been enslaved can be a challenge.
"We can go to freedmen back records, freedmen bureau records, you name it. And we're finding out more and more information."
And Shannon Kuch, executive director of the Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation, said her group has 2 main purposes.
"We have the regulatory side od dealing with historic buildings in town, but we also have some fun with education and outreach."
