Baobab: Learning and Teaching by Making Family History Books at New Haven Museum

New Haven, Conn. (June 18, 2025) – Have you ever researched your family history but didn’t know how to preserve all you found? Are you curious about how your family history connects to the larger history of the United States, but unsure how to begin your exploration? Join the New Haven Museum for a lunchtime webinar, “Baobab: Learning and Teaching by Making Family History Books,” on July 16, 2025, at 12:30 pm. Former NHM intern and 2025 Yale University graduate KaLa Keaton will offer a look at the research and creative process needed to make a “family history book” Register here.

KaLa Keaton

In 2024, the Afro American Cultural Center and Generational African American Students Association held a genealogy series on the Yale campus. The events renewed Keaton’s interest in genealogy and led her to create “Baobab” as her Education Studies Scholars Intensive Certificate senior research capstone project.

Keaton notes that a family history book is a great way to preserve the memory of the elders in one’s family and keep their stories for future generations. Her webinar will offer a starting place to begin a family history book journey. “In a time when educational institutions are under increasing scrutiny, public schools and museums alike, we can find solace in being able to research our direct ancestors to learn about historical subjects that are important to us,” Keaton says.

“Baobab: Tree of Our Lives,” is Keaton’s own family history book tracing her maternal and paternal family histories. Inspired by her own curiosity around her family’s history and how to preserve their stories, “Baobab” is a loving combination of genealogy, archiving, oral history, scholarship, art, and creative design that preserves Keaton’s research findings into the form of a book/magazine. “I realized the wealth of knowledge my family members have cannot be taken for granted,” Keaton says. “ I wanted to act on this project while my elders were still able to tell their stories and share information that I did not know. “

Keaton is a 2025 graduate of Yale University with a degree in African American studies and intensive certificate in education studies. A North Carolina native, she found her passion for history, preservation, and educational equity during a high school partnership with the Equal Justice Initiative investigating the only recorded lynching in her home county. While a student at Yale, she learned from New Haven educators by participating in teacher partnerships, working in High School in the Community, and interning for the New Haven Museum. Before returning to school to pursue her doctorate, she will work in the college access and admissions field.