Savannah Temple AME Zion celebrates Black History Month with genealogy

Savannah Temple AME Zion Church in Clarkton celebrated Black History Month with its annual Virtual Distinguished Service Awards banquet.

The guest speaker for the occasion was Dr. Linda A Gillespie-Murakata. She is a board-certified pathologist, genealogist, researcher, and published author. She also retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel. Dr. Murakata spoke about the importance of knowing your family’s history. She said it took her 35 years to trace her family tree, but she was determined to find her family. She published a book that details her journey and ancestors called “Gillespie Geneology and a copy was given to each family member.

Dr. Murakata traced her family tree to Bladen County where she found several cousins and Brown’s Creek AME Zion Church, Baldwin Branch Baptist Church, and Mt. Olive AME Zion Church. Dr. Murakata is passionate about family and her research work as a genealogist. She challenged the members of Savannah Temple to trace their family trees, compile the information, write it down, and pass it on from generation to generation. Writing down or printing out your family’s history is important because digital copies can become compromised or lost in multiple ways. Having a physical album to pass down also connects the generations and can become an heirloom to be cherished for decades.

Rev. Joyce A. McLaughlin presented Distinguished Service Awards to the following:

1. Bertha Cromartie

A.D. – Business Administration

Deaconess and Steward Board

2. Dr. Linda A. Gillespie Murkata

Lt. Col. (0-5) Medical Corp.

U.S. Air Force

Roy Wilkins NAACP Award

Genealogy Researcher and Author

3. D&H Farm, LLC

4. Marzell Myers

Baltimore City Public School

Asst. Principal-Teacher (37 years of service)

MA – Morgan State University

BS – Coppin State University

5. Joanne D. Atkinson

Nursing Asst. II

Fiber Optics

Deaconess

6. Leslie Kristen Martin

Medicare Representative Tier II

7. Dr. Leroy Purdie, Ed D

Paul R. Brown Trustee Bd. President

CEO LPJ Services

Georgia State Mediator

8. Gloris A. Lloyd

Retired Educator (34 years of Service)

9. Narcenia Hamilton

Humanitarian

WHOM Supply Dept.

Foster Care Parent

10. Sedarius Johnson

McDonald’s Shift Manager

East Bladen High School

2023 Early Graduate

11. Linda Simmons

BS- Early Childhood Education

Med – Tech

Board of Evangelism

12. Agnes McCall

Bladen County Public Library (43 years of Service)

Asst. Library Director

AAS – Library & Information Technology