African American Archives and Libraries

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 Family History Centers] Further Reading	Internet Sources Resources Societies

United States African American Research Archives and Libraries

[[Image:Template:NatlUndRR]]Most archives and libraries collect records about local residents (biographies, family histories, and local histories) and about nearby places (maps, gazetteers, and 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 be able to 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. When one of these institutions is referred to elsewhere in this outline, return to this section for the address. The Family History Library has copies of many of the records found in archives and libraries, but most repositories will have additional sources. These archives, libraries, societies, and museums preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their African American ancestors. National Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture 515 Malcolm X Blvd New York, NY 10037 Telephone:1- 212-491-2200 Internet: http://www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg Family History Library 35 North West Temple Street Room 344 Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 Telephone: 801-240-2331 or 1-800-346-6044 Internet:www.familysearch.org/ Federal and state censuses showing where African Americans lived, biographies, cemeteries, church records, court records, directories, genealogy, local histories, land and property (may include lists of free Blacks and slaves, bills of sale), manumissions, maps, military records, newspapers, obituaries, periodicals, probate records (may list slaves freed or bequeathed), slavery and bondage, societies, and vital records. National Archives 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20408 Telephone: 202-501-5415 Fax: 301-837-0459 Internet: http://www.archives.gov National Archives - Regional Branches Internet: http://www.archives.gov/facilities/index.html Library of Congress The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture 101 Independence Avenue SE Washington, D.C. 20540 Telephone: 202-707-5000 Internet: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html See the tutorial at the FamilySearch Learning Center on "African American Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress" Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center 900 Library Plaza, P.O. Box 2270 Fort Wayne, Indiana 46801-2270 260-421-1225 Email: Genealogy@ACPL.Info Internet: http://www.GenealogyCenter.org African American Gateway: http://www.genealogycenter.info/africanamerican/ NOTE: Microfilm from the rich collection of the Family History Library can be ordered at The Genealogy Center. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center 50 East Freedom Way Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Telephone: 513-333-7500 or 877-648-4838 Internet: http://www.freedomcenter.org/

Regional

The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
1901 Fort Place SE
Washington, D.C. 20020
Telephone: 202-633-4820
Internet: http://anacostia.si.edu/

Kalamazoo College
Africo-American Black History Museum
1200 Academy Street
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49006
Telephone: 269-337-7000
Internet: http://www.kzoo.edu/africa/links.htm

The University of Pittsburgh
Hillman Library
3960 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
Telephone: 412-648-7756
Internet: http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/hillman/hillman.html

University of Pennsylvania
African Studies Center
647 Williams Hall
255 S 36th Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6305
Telephone: 215-898-6971
Fax: 215-573-7379
Email: africa@sas.upenn.edu
Internet: http://www.africa.upenn.edu/AS.html

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
520 Sixteenth Street North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
Telephone: 205-328-9696
Toll Free: 1-866-328-9696
Fax: 205-251-6104
Internet: http://www.bcri.org/index.html

The Black Archives of Mid-America
2033 Vine Street
Kansas City, Missouri 64108-3007
Telephone: 816-701-3590
Email: info@blackarchives.org
Internet: http://www.blackarchives.org/Internet: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html

Duke Univeristy
John Hope Franklin Collection for African and African-American Documentation
Durham, North Carolina 27708
Telephone 919-684-8111
Internet:
http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/franklin/ Internet: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html

John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg
PO Box 1776
313 First Street
Williamsburg, VA 23187-1776
Telephone: 757-565-8542
Fax: 757-565-8548
E-mail: cwres@cwf.org
Internet: http://research.history.org/JDRLibrary.cfm

Emphasis is on the history of colonial British America, the American Revolution, and the early United States with books, manuscripts, images, Civil War materials, family Bibles, and databases for research in the political and economic life of the thirteen colonies, the new republic, and African American studies.

University of North Carolina University Libraries

Documenting the American South (DocSouth):  Collections

New England Historic Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-3087
Telephone: 617-536-5740
Fax: 617-536-7307
Internet address: www.americanancestors.org

See the tutorial at the FamilySearch Learning Center on "African American Resources at NEHGS"

Godfrey Memorial Library
134 Newfield St.
Middletown, CT 06457
Telephone: 806-346-4375
www.godfrey.org

Newberry Library
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610

Note: Microfilms from the Family History Library can be ordered at this Public Library

• Jack Simpson and Matt Rutherford, A Bibliography of African American Family History at the Newberry Library (Chicago: The Newberry Library, ©2005). PDF version online. At various libraries (WorldCat). FHL book 977.311 F23s.
  

Online Records

Links to online databases and indexes that may include vital records, biographies, cemeteries, censuses, histories, immigration records, land records, maps, military records, naturalizations, newspapers, obituaries, or probate records.

Guides

• Tony Burroughs, Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree (New York: Fireside Book, ©2001). At various libraries (WorldCat). FHL book 973 D27bt 2001.
• Dee Parmer Woodtor, Finding a Place Called Home: An African-American Guide to Genealogy and Historical Identity (New York: Random House, ©1999). At various libraries (WorldCat). FHL book 973 F2wd.