Virtual Event: Book Talk By Eric A. Smith, Beman Triangle Descendant

In conversation with Jesse Nasta, PhD via Zoom.

Join us to hear author Eric A. Smith speak about his new book, A Journey of a Thousand Sorrows, an account of Smith’s New England indigenous ancestors and their role in history.

Smith is a direct descendant of the Jeffrey family, the first people of color to own property on Middletown’s Beman Triangle, one of the first free, property-owning African American communities in Connecticut and New England. A Journey of a Thousand Sorrows is an account of the history, destruction, genocide, and migration of certain tribes out of New England in the eighteenth century. In addition, Smith’s book reveals how he discovered his indigenous ancestry among the seashore tribes of New England through historical and genealogical research. From his very first documented ancestor, Wyandanch, a Montaukett, sachem, to the Jeffrey family, Smith’s ancestors played a significant role in Indigenous and African American culture in Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and the Upper Midwest.

This Zoom talk is free but registration is required. Register at: bit.ly/BemanTriangle

Click here to learn more about Smith’s book, and to purchase a copy

About the Author
Eric A. Smith is a lecturer, teacher, author, historian, and television talk show host. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and Master of Arts degree in history from Chicago State University. Eric is also a member of Phi Alpha Theta National Honor Society and has served as past president of the Afro-American Genealogical & Historical Society of Chicago.

Smith has published articles in the Afro-American Genealogical & Historical Society of Chicago newsletter and the Iowa Genealogical Journal, Hawkeye Heritage, and various other publications. His book, Oak Hill: A Portrait of Black Life in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1920-1950, appeared in 2006.

Smith has been a consultant and contributor to Iowa Public Television’s documentary, Searching for Buxton (2012). In addition, he has been a consultant to Professor Henry Louis Gates’s PBS series Roots, concerning the genealogy of Gayle King. Smith has also appeared on local Chicago affiliate ABC News interviewed by Janet Davies and FOX 32 News by Wanda Wells about genealogy. Over the years he has been a contributor to the online encyclopedia blackpast.org .

He has given presentations on history and genealogy in numerous venues, including in the Chicago Public Schools, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago State University, and the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Inc., National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and other national conferences. In 2023, Smith was a presenter at Wesleyan University, at a conference convened by Jesse Nasta, concerning the Jeffrey family history in early Connecticut. Also, in 2023, Eric gave presentations at Nazareth University and the Rochester Genealogical Society concerning the role the Jeffrey family played in the early Civil Rights, Abolitionist, and Women’s Rights Movements in Rochester, New York.