African American Archives and Libraries: Difference between revisions

| {{TOC left}}[[Image:National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.jpg|thumb|right|350px|National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati]]

 

Most archives and libraries collect records about local residents (biographies, family histories, local histories) and about nearby places (maps, gazetteers, place-finding aids). They often compile reference helps and special indexes to important local sources. In many communities they serve as a meeting place for local historical and genealogical societies, and may provide referrals to people who are willing to look up information in local records. Before you visit an archive or a library, contact them and ask for information on their collection, hours, services, and fees.

[[Allen County Public Library|Allen County Public Library]]{{·}} [https://www.familysearch.org/en/library/ FamilySearch Library]{{·}} [[Library of Congress]]{{·}} [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives I]]{{·}} [[United States National Archives Regional Branches|National Archives Regional Branches]]{{·}} [[National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, John Parker Library]]{{·}} [https://civilrightstrail.com/attraction/birmingham-civil-rights-institute/ Birmingham Civil Rights Institute]{{·}} [https://blackarchives.org/ Black Archives of Mid-America]{{·}} [https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein Duke Univeristy Rubenstein Library]{{·}} [https://www.familysearch.org/centers/locations/ FamilySearch Centers]{{·}} [[Godfrey Memorial Library]]{{·}} [https://www.kalamazooblackhistorymuseum.org/ Kalamazoo College Black History Museum]{{·}} [[New England Historic Genealogical Society]]{{·}} [[Newberry Library]]{{·}} [[John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg]]{{·}} [https://www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture - New York Public Library] {{·}} [https://anacostia.si.edu/ Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum]{{·}} [[University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries]]{{·}} [https://www.africa.upenn.edu/ University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center]{{·}} [https://library.pitt.edu/hillman-library University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library]<br><br>

:They have federal and state censuses showing where '''African Americans''' lived, vital records, biographies, cemeteries, church records, Freedman's Bank, Freedmen's Bureau, court records, directories, genealogy, local histories, land and property (may include lists of free Blacks and enslaved persons, bills of sale), manumissions, maps, military records, newspapers, obituaries, periodicals, probate records (may list enslaved persons freed or bequeathed), slavery and bondage, and societies. Holds 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 3.1 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints records.<br><br>

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'''[[National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, John Parker Library]]'''<br>50 East Freedom Way<br>Cincinnati, Ohio 45202<br>Telephone: 513-333-7654<br>Email: [mailto:Genealogy@nurfc.org Genealogy@nurfc.org]<br>Website: [https://freedomcenter.org/visit/permanent-exhibits/genealogy/ National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, John Parker Library]

:The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center museum houses the John Parker Library and FamilySearch Center. Patrons can view limited-access FamilySearch and Ancestry databases. They tell the history of the guides, safe houses, and transportation network used to smuggle runaway enslaved African Americans out of the slave states to freedom in the North before the American Civil War.

:*''Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the Duke University Library,'' by Nannie M. Trilley, and Noma Lee Goodwin. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1947. {{FSC|183374|item|disp=FS Library Film 899894; Book 975.6 B5d ser. 27–28.}} {{WorldCat|2112391|item|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}. This guide lists about 8,000 names of individuals, families, and historical subjects, and it is indexed.  

There are more than 4,700 FSCs in 134 countries. There is no cost to visit a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Library. They are open to anyone with an interest in genealogical research. They are operated by [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]. Click on [https://www.familysearch.org/centers/locations/ Find a FamilySearch center] to locate the the center nearest you.

:Their collection features digital copies of six African American newspapers in the 1800s.<ref>"[http://www.godfrey.org/news/2008-7%20African%20American%20Records.pdf African American Records]" in ''INTERNET Genealogy'' (June/July 2008): 85.</ref> The overall collection is national in scope with many [http://www.godfrey.org/scholar/login.html online records] in addition to its physical collection. They compiled the {{WorldCat|865629740|item|disp=''American Genealogical and Biographical Index (AGBI)''}} including many African American biographies and autobiographies.  The AGBI is found at {{FSC|193375|item|disp=FS Catalog books 973 D22am (multiple) and digital Volumes}}. This library is an excellent genealogical facility including many New England town records, guidebooks, indexes, biographies, and genealogies.<ref name="DB25">Dollarhide and Bremer, 25.</ref><br><br>

'''Kalamazoo College Black History 101 Mobile Museum'''<br>1200 Academy Street <br>Kalamazoo, Michigan 49006<br>Telephone: 269-337-7000  

 

Website: [https://www.blackhistorymobilemuseum.com/ Kalamazoo College Black History Mobile Museum]<br>Website: [https://www.facebook.com/The-Black-History-101-Mobile-Museum-310160369817/ Facebook: Black History 101 Mobile Museum History Museum]

[[Image:Newberry Library.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois]]'''[[Newberry Library]]'''<br> 60 West Walton Street<br> Chicago, IL 60610<br>Telephone:  312-255-3512<br>Email:  [mailto:genealogy@ reference@.]<br>Website: [https://www.newberry.org/collection/subjects/genealogy-and-local-history Newberry Library Genealogy and Local History]

:The Newberry is a private, non-circulating library free and open to the public. It is a research library for humanities and social sciences with 1.5 million books, 5 million manuscript pages, and 500,000 maps. This includes good African American, Native American, railroad archives, Chicago history, and cartography collections.<ref>Wikipedia Contributors, "Newberry Library" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newberry_Library (accessed 29 October 2010).</ref>

:*''A Bibliography of African American Family History at the Newberry Library,'' Jack Simpson and Matt Rutherford. Chicago: The Newberry Library, 2005. {{FSC|1410543|item|disp=FS Catalog book 977.311 F23s}}. [https://www.newberry.org/uploads/files/af-amer-bib.pdf PDF version online]. {{WorldCat|60689421|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}. <br><br>

:The African Studies Center coordinates course offerings in anthropology, demography, economics, history, language, literature, politics, religion, and sociology. The [https://www.library.upenn.edu/vanpelt Van Pelt Library] holds most of the African collection. For more details see [https://www.africa.upenn.edu/ African Collection at Penn].<ref> in ''Penn Libraries'' (accessed 30 May 2016).</ref> See also the [https://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/subject/african-studies-collection African Studies Collection] at Penn Libraries.<br><br>

*''Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree,'' Tony Burroughs. New York: Fireside Book, 2001. {{FSC|1012177|item|disp=FS Catalog book 973 D27bt 2001}}; {{WorldCat|45068561|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}.  

*''Finding a Place Called Home: An African-American Guide to Genealogy and Historical Identity,'' Dee Parmer Woodtor. New York: Random House, 1999. {{FSC|829837|item|disp=FS Catalog book 973 F2wd}}; {{WorldCat|40331192|disp=At various libraries (WorldCat)}}. <br><br>

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