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Genealogy Research Guide

Introduction

In recent years many black Americans have begun to take pride in their African heritage and to look for information about the past. Although tracing African-American genealogy can be difficult, it is no longer considered impossible.

Most blacks came to America when slavery was legal. and documentation of blacks as individuals was often lacking. However, even then there were some free blacks, and by 1863, one-seventh of all blacks in the United States were free. This means that there are many blacks now living in the US who have free black ancestry. Slave or free, almost every black family can be traced back until at least 1825, and some families can be traced to even earlier times.

Please note that this research guide deals primarily with resources pertaining to African-American genealogy and local history from colonial times through the end of the nineteenth century. 

 

African American Genealogy

Introductory Resources

If you just beginning your family history, you may want to famalarize yourself with some of the books listed below.  These sources will provide great assistance no matter the ethnicity.

African-American Genealogy

  • Blockson, Charles L., and Ron Fry. Black Genealogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentiss-Hall, 1977 [Ref CS 21 .B55].
  • Lawson, Sandra M. Generations Past: A Selected List of Sources for Afro-American Genealogical Research. Washington: Library of Congress, G.P.O., 1988 [LC 1. 12/2:AF 8/4].
  • Rose, James, and Alice Eichholz. Black Genesis: An Annotated Bibliography for Black Genealogical Research. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1978 [Ref CS 21 .R57].
  • Smith, Jessie Carney, ed. Ethnic Genealogy: A Research Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983 [Ref CS 49 .E83 1983]. See pages 309-363.
  • Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Rev. Ed. Salt Lake City: Ancestry Incorporated, 1997 [CS 49 .S8 1997]. See pages 575-586.
  • Young, Tommie. Afro-American Genealogy Sourcebook. New York: Garland Publishing Co., 1987 [E 185.96 .Y67 1987].
  • Willis, Deborah. Famy History Memory.   Irvington, NY, 2005.  Hylae Publishing Co, 2005. {call number ______}

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