African American Research

African American Genealogy Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Introduction Research Steps	Record Finder Search Strategies
Original Records
Bible Records Business Cemeteries Census Church Records Compiled Genealogies 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 Family History Centers] Further Reading	Internet Sources Resources Societies

United States    African American Research

[[Image:Template:TVAworker]]

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 Join the Facebook and Skype African American Genealogy Research Community.

African American pages are available for these states

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

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

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

African American Genealogy

[[Image:Template:LargestAncestry]]

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.

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

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 Resting Places of United States Colored Troops, Officers and Sailors African American Cemeteries Online American Memory - Slaves and the Courts 1740-1860 The Menare Foundation

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors World War I Draft Registration 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 AfriGeneas Africana Heritage Project Avoid Traps in African American Genealogy, Tony Burroughs

Things you can do

In order to make this wiki a better research tool, we need your help! Many tasks need to be done. You can help by:

Expand an article or short page Create a new article Categorize articles

Add external links to articles Add internal links to articles Other...

If you are interested in being the moderator for these African American Research pages, Please contact the Support Team.

Wiki articles describing online collection are found at:

• United States Freedman's Bank Registers 1865-1874 (FamilySearch Historical Records)
• United States Freedmen’s Bureau Letters (FamilySearch Historical Records)
• United States Freedmen's Bureau Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)

_NOTOC__