African American Genealogy

United States Genealogy

African American Genealogy

African American Genealogy Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Introduction Research Steps	Record Finder Search Strategies
Original Records
Bible Records Business Cemeteries Census Church Records Court Records Freedman's Bank Freedmen's Bureau Funeral Homes Land and Property Military Records	Newspapers Obituaries Occupations Online Records Oral History Probate Records Slavery and Bondage Southern Claims Commission Taxation Vital Records
Compiled Sources
Biography	Periodicals
Background Information
History Melungeons	Migration Periodicals
Finding Aids
Archives & Libraries Fam Hist Centers Further Reading	Internet Sources Resources Societies

A Tennesee Valley Authority African American worker

Welcome to the African American Research page

Its most unique genealogical features: Family name changes were common after the Civil War Slavery research is usually challenging Freedman's Bank Freedmen's Bureau Records Researching African American Genealogy Join the Facebook African American Genealogy Research Community.

State African American Pages

Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas

Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina

North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

• Southern States Slavery and Bondage Collections from the FamilySearch Catalog.

• North Carolina Slavery and Bondage Collections from the FamiySearch Catalog

How to do African American Genealogy Research

• Quick Guide to African American Records
• Search for resources in the FamilySearch Learning Center
• How to start African American Research
• African American Online Genealogy Records

Did you know?

Deep purple shows counties with an African American plurality

• The first African settlers in the U.S. were indentured servants in Jamestown, Va., in 1619 (before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock) and freed after 7 years.
• African American is the most common ancestry in: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
• The Freedman's Bank and the Freedmen's Bureau were separate organizations, from different federal departments, in separate National Archives record groups.
• Ten percent of the African American population was free before the Civil War.
• Only 15 percent of freed slaves used the family name of a former owner.
• From 1865 to 1875 many African Americans changed their family name.
• Over 3,600 Free African Americans owned slaves in 1830.
  
  
  

Keys to success in African American research

You will find the most success researching African American ancestors if you begin with yourself, and follow oral history as well as historical records such as birth, marriage, and death certificates to document the previous generations.

Use the US Census to research your family groups. Many times, you may have difficulty in documenting an ancestor.If you research the collateral lines (aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins), you will discover more about your common ancestor and have a wealth of resources to explore.See United States Basic Search Strategies.

In the beginning, you may use the same type of genealogical records other groups use to identify ancestors.  For this reason there is no need to duplicate state resources here. Consult the state and county articles on the FamilySearch Wiki first until you exhaust them. See Finding Records for Your Ancestors, Part A-African American 1870 to Present. You will find records become somewhat scarce as you move back in time.

Once you notice you are no longer able to find your ancestors on the records most commonly used by others, return here and choose the state above where your ancestor lived to discover records not commonly used in genealogy research.  

Key Internet Links

DiscoverFreedmen Finding African Americans 1870-Present Digital Library on American Slavery U.S., Freedmen's Bureau Records of Field Offices, 1863-1878 LegacyTree: African American Ancestry (hire genealogist) Southern Claims Commission African-American Migration Experience North American Slave Narratives African American Cemeteries Online American Memory - Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860 The Menare Foundation The Atlantic Slave Database Network: A New Resource for Scholars

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 Institute of African American Research National Archives - African American Heritage African Ancestored Genealogy Trans-Atlantic Slave Voyages African American Gateway Free African Americans of VA, NC, SC, MD, DE American Slave Narratives Africana Heritage Project Bobbie's Genealogical Classroom guide

Wiki articles describing online collection are found at:

• United States, Freedman's Bank Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
• United States Freedmen’s Branch Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
• United States Freedmen's Bureau Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Family History Library