Lorenzo Dow Blackson

My interest in Blackson genealogy began in 1997. My cousin Joyce Jenkins, our family historian, was conducting fieldwork, searching through books and records in Delaware and Pennsylvania for seeds of our family’s history. Growing up, I hadn’t heard much about my mom’s side of the family, partly because the Blackson clan resided in Philadelphia and partly because my mom was guarded when it came to the subject of the past. One thing that's important to know about researching family history is that whatever you uncover may not be pleasant. This is especially true for Africans in the Diaspora, whose families were separated, whose traditions were lost or fragmented and the very way in which we precieve our identity has been forever altered. Fortunately one of our ancestors, Lorenzo Dow Blackson, published a novel in 1867 titled "The Rise and Progress of the Kingdoms of Light and Darkness." You can access the book online by clicking the Wright American Fiction link.