Bernice Alexander Bennett is an award-winning author of three books, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, and producer-former host of the podcast – Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program and current host of Ancestor’s Footprints Podcast. She is also the first recipient of the Ida B. Wells Service Award given by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage for her dedication to broadcasting stories about enslaved and indentured ancestors of African descent. In addition, she received the Elizabeth Clark-Lewis Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Genealogy Award in 2019 for original research to support African American Genealogy. Bennett is a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society, co-founder and faculty member of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute, a Volunteer with the Homestead National Historical Park Service, and the 2022 Midwest Region’s Hartzog Award for being a leader in unearthing and sharing important black homesteading stories.

Bennett, a New Orleans native and current resident in Maryland–enjoyed a 35-year career in domestic and international public health. She received an undergraduate degree from Grambling State University and a graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan.

Her genealogical research centers on Southeast Louisiana, and Edgefield and Greenwood Counties, South Carolina. Her South Carolina journey is chronicled in Our Ancestors, Our Stories, which won the 2018 International AAHGS Book award for Non-Fiction Short Stories. Her second book Tracing Their Steps – A Memoir received the Phillis Wheatley Literary Award from the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage in 2019; the International AAHGS Book Award in 2020 for Non-Fiction Short Story and, the Next Generations Indie Award in 2021 for the African American Non-Fiction book category.

Her third book Black Homesteaders of the South (The History Press) is the Next Generations Indie Book Awards 2023 Finalists for two book categories – African American (Non-Fiction) and African American (Culture and History), the 2023 Phillis Wheatley book award for African American (Non-Fiction Event) by the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, and the 2023 International AAHGS Book Awards Winner for Historical: Non-Fiction.

Bennett is a founding director and faculty member with the award-winning Midwest African American Genealogy Institute; a former member of the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society, and a Volunteer with the Homestead National Historical Park in Beatrice, Nebraska. She received the 2022 Midwest Region’s Hartzog Award for being a leader in unearthing and sharing black homesteading stories and important historical documentation.