Deborah A. Abbott, PhD, is a professional genealogist specializing in genealogical methodology, manuscript collections, and African American family research. She is a member of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Archives Commission, an affiliate with the Kentucky-Tennessee Associates, past president of the African American Genealogical Society, Cleveland, Ohio, and a retired professor of Counseling from Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. She holds both the BS and MEd degrees from Tuskegee University in Alabama and the PhD degree from Kent State University in Ohio.
Dr. Abbott is coordinator of the African American Track at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), in addition, she teaches at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR). Dr. Abbott also presents lectures and workshops for national, state, and local genealogy conferences, colleges, businesses, and libraries, across the country. She has had articles published in the Ohio Genealogy News and Family Tree magazines. Dr. Abbott can be found teaching African American genealogy a segment entitled “Needles & Threads” on Ancestry Academy, an educational video course for Ancestry.com.
