June 8-13, 2008

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Ph.D.

Lecturer: Course 8


Deborah A. Abbott, Ph.D., is a researcher, lecturer and President of the African-American Genealogical Society of Cleveland, Ohio (AAGS) and Professor of Counseling at Cuyahoga Community College in Parma, Ohio. She has been lecturing and researching for over 15 years.

In 2006, Dr. Abbott taught under the coordination of Frazine Taylor in the African American track of the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research at Samford University (IGHR). She was one of several lecturers on the "Genealogy at Sea Cruise" (Oct. 2006) and "RootsMagic Genealogy Cruise" (Nov. 2007). In addition, Dr. Abbott has presented a variety of genealogy topics to genealogical societies, libraries, museums, schools, churches, etc., across northeastern Ohio and Michigan Most recently Dr. Abbott's genealogical work was spotlighted in The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Feb. 14, 2008) newspaper highlighting research project that she completed tracing the family of her pastor through seven generations. As president and member of AAGS she teaches members and others in the community the basic tools needed to start their family history and also helps those who are more advanced how to hurdle genealogical brick walls. Dr. Abbott has attended many state, regional and national genealogical conferences. She has been a student at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy in Salt Lake City, Utah where she studied "Southern Research" and "Writing Your Family History".

Dr. Abbott is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Genealogical Speakers Guild, the Ohio Genealogy Society, the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Oberlin African American Genealogy Group, Fred Hart Williams Genealogy Society (Detroit), and the Utah Genealogical Association. She is an active member of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland and a volunteer for the Garfield Park Nature Center (Garfield Hts., Ohio) where she is a participant in an interactive "Underground Railroad" program. Dr. Abbott presently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. She has been researching since 1990 in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois.