Join one of Beck’s Generations classes! Beck has two classes (beginner and intermediate). Both classes meet online once a month.

Harold Hicks has researched his family tree since the early 1980’s.  He became interested in researching his family’s past after listening to his second cousin talk about the Hicks family history as relayed to her from her grandmother (his aunt).  Her research was limited to just her maternal family history.  The Hicks family roots began about 1824 with his paternal great grandfather on a plantation near Lynchburg, Virginia and travelled through Baltimore, Maryland and Newport, Rhode Island. His paternal great grandmother’s family roots also start in Amherst County, Virginia.  His mother’s paternal and maternal family roots are deep into Nash and Edgecombe Counties, North Carolina, also beginning about 1825.  His research has resulted in uncovering over 3,500 close and distant relatives. 

Harold obtained a Mechanical Engineering degree from North Carolina A&T State University and a MBA from the University of Louisville.  He served in the United States Air Force, worked for General Electric Co. (Louisville, Kentucky), Ford Motor Co. (Milan, Michigan), and Philips Electronics Co. (Knoxville, Tennessee and Briarcliff, New York). 

Harold is involved in several community organizations including serving on the Beck Board of Directors.

When Harold retired 17 years ago, he returned to Knoxville with his wife.  He has three children and seven grandkids.

Alice Greene was inspired to find her ancestors after reading first the excerpts of the Alex Haley book, Roots, in Readers Digests in 1974 and the book in January 1975 before viewing the acclaimed TV miniseries. She had the good fortune to meet Mr. Haley several times up close and personal. One of his most important quotes was, "talk to the oldest person in your family because when they are gone a whole library dies with them". 

Alice learned about her maternal family and relationships from her mother while growing up in Washington, DC. She was encouraged to talk to her mother's eleven surviving brothers and sisters at the Bethea/Dantzler family reunions which began in 1962. She began her research using Soundex at the National Archives and Records Administration, in Washington, DC. She completed her first family chart in 1987 and disseminated it to family members. She has traced her maternal family back to 1810 in Orangeburg, Dillon and Marion counties in South Carolina and Lumberton county in North Carolina. Her goal is to write a book on her family research; and place copies in the Library of Congress, the new African American Museum, Dillon County Library and the Lumberton county Library. 



She was born and educated in Washington, D.C. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Howard University and a Master of Education degree from the University of Maine. She and her late husband moved to Knoxville from Oberlin, Ohio in 1977. She retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 2007 and spends her time traveling the globe, gardening and researching. She has two children and two very precious grandsons.