Char McCargo Bah is the CEO/Owner of FindingThingsforU. She is retired from the federal government as a Senior Policy Writer and Researcher and holds undergraduate degrees in Urban Studies and African-American Studies. In addition, Char holds professional certificates in Genealogy, Publishing, Investigation, Research, and Paralegal Studies. She has been a genealogist since 1982, appearing in numerous television interviews and documentaries.

Char’s most recent book  Alexandria’s Freedmen’s Cemetery: A Legacy of Freedom was published in 2019. Prior to that, Char’s work also reflected her expertise in genealogy and research, with the publication of  African Americans of Alexandria, VA: Beacons of Light in the Twentieth Century in 2013 and the short story Everyday Grace, Everyday Miracle: Living the Life You Were Born to Live in 2006. She is a freelance writer on local history for her column “The Other Alexandria,” in the Alexandria Times.

JRW: When did you first realize you wanted to be a researcher and writer?

CMB: I realized when I was a teenager that I enjoyed reading biographies and memoirs. I would go to the library to research additional information on the biographies that I was reading. Later on, as a young adult, while I was in college, I changed my major to Urban Studies and African-American Studies and excelled in those majors. My research skills really took off. In addition, I fell in love with genealogy. I studied genealogy for ten years before I started taking on clients. Now it has been forty years of researching and writing. Throughout my life journey from my teenage years, college years, and now as a mature woman, I still love reading, writing, and researching families.

JRW: What subject are you most passionate about writing?

CMB: I am passionate about family matters. I would say that the subject would be stories centered around families, whether they are nonfiction or fiction stories.

JRW: What is one of the most surprising things you learned while publishing your work?

CMB: The most surprising thing about my publishing experience is that I did it. A sense of accomplishment. All of my years of studying the craft, strengthening my skills, and researching paid off when I published my first and second books.

JRW: What advice would you offer new writers?

CMB: A famous author gave me advice in the 1980s that was true then, as it is true today. She said, “Study your craft. Read, write, and study the art of writing.”

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