African American Research

African American Genealogy Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Introduction Research Steps	Record Finder Search Strategies
Original Records
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Compiled Sources
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Background Information
History Melungeons	Migration Periodicals
Finding Aids
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United States    African American Research

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Welcome to the African American Research page

Its most unique genealogical features: many family name changes after Civil War slavery research is usually challenging Freedman's Bank & Freedmen's Bureau

African American pages are available for these states

Alabama Arkansas Colorado District of Columbia Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana

Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Michigan Mississippi Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina

Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin

African American Genealogy

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The key to success in African American genealogy 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.  

Did you know?

• 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.

Key Internet Links

African American Quick Guide pdf 1870 United States Census Family History Library Bibliography of African-American Sources Freedman Bank Records 1865-1874 Freedmen's Bureau Marriages, 1815-1869 Freedmen's Bureau Field Offices 1865-1872 Southern Claims Commission African-American Migration Experience North American Slave Narratives African-American Resources at FamilySearch Forums Resting Places of United States Colored Troops, Officers and Sailors African American Cemeteries Online American Memory - Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860 African American Genealogical Society of Northern California Digital Library on American Slavery The Menare Foundation Restoring the Ancestors Indexing Project:  SC Estate Inventories

Access Genealogy: African American Genealogy Civil War Soldiers and Sailors World War I Draft Registration National Archives African American Research Genealogy.com African American Institute of African American Research African American Research Library and Cultural Center African Ancestored Genealogy Trans-Atlantic Slave Voyages Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture African American Gateway The USF Africana Heritage Project Slaveholders and African Americans 1860-1870 Free African Americans of VA, NC, SC, MD, DE American Slave Narratives Africans in the Low Country AfriGeneas Africana Heritage Project Avoid Traps in African American Genealogy, Tony Burroughs Finding Records for Your Ancestors, Part A-African American 1870 to Present

Things you can do

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FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

An online collection containing this record is located in  FamilySearch.org.

A wiki article describing this collection is found at:

• United States Freedmen’s Bureau Letters (FamilySearch Historical Records)