In the
AfriGeneas Spotlight

Del Jupiter

A 2003 Local Visionary Honoree 
National Visionary Leadership Project

Del Jupiter is a native of Pensacola, FL and a fifth generation Floridian. She has an A.B. Degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and an M.S. in Library Science from Atlanta University. During her long career, she worked as a branch librarian in Orlando , FL and as a school librarian in Houston , TX and Atlanta , GA. She lives in Atlanta.

Now retired, Del became interested in her family stories about a  great-great-grandmother, a slave who was allegedly born in Spain and brought to Florida during the Spanish rule. She decided to engage in genealogical research because of this interest. This research led to the discovery of her ggggrandmother in 1770 Louisiana. 

In 1990, Del was admitted to membership in the Florida Pioneer Descendants Society. She was the first person of African American descent in that state to document her heritage from a free person of color back to Florida ’s Territorial period. In 2003 she received the Florida State Genealogical Society award for her contributions to Florida History and Genealogy for the past three years.

Del has written extensively about genealogy and her research into her ancestral lines. Her articles have appeared in many publications and journals including the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and have have won numerous awards including:

  • The 1992 runner-up in the National Genealogical Society’s Family History Writing Contest. The essay, “Augustina and the Kelkers: A Spanish West Florida Line”,  was published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly 80 (December 1992): 265-79.

  • The 1998 National Genealogical Society Quarterly Award for Excellence for the essay, “From Augustina to Ester: Analyzing a Slave Household for Child-Parent Relationships”, National Genealogical Society Quarterly 85 (December 1997): 245-75.

  • The 2002 runner-up in the National Genealogical Society’s Family History Writing Contest. The essay, “Matilda Madrid: One Woman’s Tale of Bondage and Freedom”, was published in the National Genealogy Society Quarterly 91 (March 2003): 41-59. [review]

Del has been a frequent guest speaker at local and national genealogy conferences including the Florida State Genealogical Society and the Florida Historical Society. She has conducted and participated in numerous genealogy seminars and workshops at the National Archives in Atlanta, the New Orleans Public Library, the Anniston, AL Public Library, the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Atlanta, and Spelman College among others. She was a  volunteer at the Family History Center in Jonesboro, GA. She is a long-time member of AfriGeneas and a contributor of online records to AfriGeneas and the USGenWeb Project.

On October 17, 2003, Del Jupiter will be honored as a Local Visionary by the National Visionary Leadership Project at an awards gala to be held at the Kennedy Center. Del was selected and interviewed as a Local Visionary, an extraordinary elder, by an NVLP fellow for her pioneering contributions as a librarian, educator, historian and genealogist. Her interview will eventually be archived on the project's website.

 

11 Oct 2003 | 12 Oct 2003
Copyright © 2025. All rights reserved.
AfriGeneas ~ African Ancestored Genealogy