African American Digital Bookshelf

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United States

African American Genealogy

African American Digital Bookshelf

Introduction

Welcome to the African American Digital Bookshelf! This is a curated list of virtually accessible books that provide information on specific African American ancestors, historical context, and guidance to other resources.

The digital books are organized first by access (FamilySearch Digital Access and Other Digital Access Sites), then by state. To access the FamilySearch books, users must be signed in to an account. You can create a free account here.

Other Digital Access Sites includes sources such as Internet Archive, Hathi Trust Digital Library, and Google Books. The books listed in this category do not require an account in order to read them, with the exception of a few books located at Internet Archive. However, an Internet Archive account is also free and you can create one here.

Note this is not an exhaustive list of books relevant to African American research available online or at FamilySearch. The Family History Library houses hundreds of books on the shelves that contain genealogically valuable information for African American genealogy. This list will grow as we become aware of additional digitized books.

If you have a suggestion for a book to add to this list that is virtually (and freely) accessible or have a suggestion for a book we ought to digitize, please contact us.

FamilySearch Digital Access

State	Title
U.S.	Afro-American encyclopaedia : or, the thoughts, doings, and sayings of the race, embracing addresses, lectures, biographical sketches, sermons, poems, names of universities, colleges, seminaries, newspapers, books, and a history of the denominations, giving
	Black slavery emancipation research in the Northern States
	Generations past : a selected list of sources for Afro-American genealogical research
	History of the American negro and his institutions
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	List of Black servicemen compiled from the War Department collection of Revolutionary War records
	List of free black heads of families in the first census of the United States, 1790
	Noted Negro women : their triumphs and activities
	Progress of a race, or, The remarkable advancement of the American Negro : from the bondage of slavery, ignorance, and poverty to the freedom of citizenship, intelligence, affluence, honor and trust
	Record of the services of the seventh regiment U.S. colored troups
	Services of colored Americans in the wars of 1776 and 1812
	The Negro soldier : a select compilation
	Two colored women with the American Expeditionary Forces
	Who's who in colored America : an illustrated biographical directory of nolable living persons of African descent in the United States
Alabama	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Slavery in Auburn, Alabama
	The large slaveholders of the deep South, 1860
Arkansas	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
California	The Negro trail blazers of California : a compilation of records from the California Archives in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, in Berkeley, and from the diaries, old papers and conversations of old pioneers in the state of Californ
District of Columbia	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
Florida	Florida plantation records from the papers of George Noble Jones
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
Georgia	Gwinnett County, Georgia book B marriage licenses of free persons of color, 1866-1884
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Names from Georgia, 1865-1866, Freedmens Bureau letters
	Savannah River plantations
Illinois	Gallatin County, Illinois slave register 1815-1839
Indiana	Admission record, Indianapolis Asylum for Friendless Colored Children, 1871-1900
Indiana	Enumeration of white & colored males, Henry County, Indiana 1907
	List of aliens who applied for citizenship in Jefferson County, Indiana : list of indentures of apprentices in Jefferson County
	Register of negro slaves and masters for 1805-1807, Knox County, Indiana Territory
Kentucky	African Americans in and around Jefferson County
	Afro-American deaths of Boone thru [sic Boyle County, Kentucky, 1852-18 62]
	Biographical sketches of prominent negro men and women of Kentucky : with introductory memoir of the author
	Civil War African American soldiers from Taylor and Green Counties, Kentucky : in the 5th United States Colored Cavalry and the 107th and 108th Colored Infantry
	Colored marriage bonds, Logan County, KY to 1900
	Golden jubilee of the general association of Colored Baptists in Kentucky : the story of 50 years' work from 1865-1915 including many photos and sketches, compiled from unpublished manuscripts and other sources
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Mt. Moriah Cemetery : a history and census of Bowling Green, Kentucky's African-American cemetery
	Weeden's History of the colored people of Louisville
Louisiana	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Louisiana's households of free people of color : residing outside of Orleans Parish & the city of New Orleans in 1810 & 1820
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
Massachusetts	The trial and execution, for petit treason, of Mark and Phillis : slaves of Capt. John Codman, who murdered their master at Charlestown, Mass., in 1755 ; for which the man was hanged and gibbeted, and the woman was burned to death ; including, also, some
Maryland	Maryland slave owners and superintendents
Missouri	Index, nineteenth century black and associated white persons (a) named in primary records at Clay County Archives & Historical Library, Liberty, Missouri; (b) extracted from U.S. colored volunteer enlistments (Civil War) on file at the National Archives a
Mississippi	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
North Carolina	Caswell County, North Carolina : land grants, tax lists, state census, apprentice bonds, estate records
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Somerset homecoming: recovering a lost heritage
	Census of slaves, 1755
	The cradle of freedom : a history of the Negro in Rochester, western New York and Canada
	Underground railroad in Tompkins County, (N.Y.)
Oklahoma	Oklahoma Creek freedman : my roots, 1858-1921
	The Choctaw freedmen : and the story of Oak Hill Industrial Acadamy, Valliant, McCurtain County , Oklahoma, now called the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial
Pennsylvania	A comparison of negro and white labor in a charcoal iron community
Rhode Island	An Historical inquiry concerning the attempt to raise a regiment of slaves by Rhode Island, during the war of the revolution
South Carolina	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
Tennessee	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	The Negro in Tennessee, 1790-1865
Texas	Beaumont colored schools, 1880-1926
	History of Negroes of Limestone County
	Names and dates from grave markers in Evergreen Negro Cemetery, Houston, Texas : Eagle Scout Project
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
	No land -- only slaves
Utah	The story of the Negro pioneer
Virginia	History of the colored volunteer infantry of Virginia 1871-99
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
	Registrations of free negroes commencing September court 1822, book no. 2 & register of free blacks 1835, book 3 : being the full text of the two extant volumes, 1822-1861, of registrations of free blacks now in the county courthouse, Fairfax, Virginia
	Something to build on : genealogy of African American families of Henry County, Virginia and surrounding area with surnames A-Z
West Virginia	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro
Wyoming	Pack slaves of upper New River, West Virginia, and their families

Other Digital Access Sites

State	Title
U.S.	African American slave narratives Vol I
	African American slave narratives Vol II
	African American slave narratives Vol III
	African-Americans and the Gettysburg campaign
	Black courage 1775-1783: Documentation of Black participation in the American Revolution
	Black genesis : a resource book for African-American genealogy
	Black Indian genealogy research
	Compiled military service records of volunteer soldiers who served with the United States Colored Troops : 1st through 5th United States Colored Cavalry, 5th Massachusetts Cavalry (Colored), 6th United States Colored Cavalry : pamphlet describing M1817
	Compiled military service records of volunteer Union Soldiers who served with the United States Colored Troops, 2nd through 7th Colored Infantry: including 3rd Tennessee Volunteers (African Descent), 6th Louisiana Infantry (African Descent), and 7th Louisiana Infantry (African Descent).
	Compiled military service records of volunteer Union Soldiers who served with the United States Colored Troops, infantry organizations, 14th through 19th
	Finding a place called home : a guide to African-American genealogy and historical identity
	Forgotten patriots : African American and American Indian patriots of the Revolutionary War : a guide to service, sources, and studies
	Free Negro owners of slaves in the United States in 1830, together with Absentee ownership of slaves in the United States in 1830
	Great slave narratives
	History of the American Negro in the great world war : his splendid record in the battle zones of Europe, including a resume of his past services to his country in the wars of the revolution, of 1812, the war of the rebellion, the Indian wars on the front
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro: Cases from the Courts of England, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro: Cases from the Courts of New England, the Middle States, and the District of Columbia
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro: Cases from the Courts of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee
	Judicial cases concerning American slavery and the Negro: Cases from the Courts of Ohio and west of the Mississippi Rivers, Canada, and Jamaica
	List of free Black heads of families in the first census of the United States 1790
	Patriots of color: a peculiar beauty and merit : African Americans and Native Americans at Battle Road & Bunker Hill
	Slavery in the courtroom: an annotated bibliography of American cases
	The colored patriots of the American Revolution
	The National cyclopedia of the colored race
	The underground rail road : a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. narrating the hardships hair-breadth escapes and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom, as related by themselves and others, or witnessed by the author
Alabama	The Cyclopedia of the colored Baptists of Alabama, their leaders and their work
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1879
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1880
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1881
	The Cyclopedia of the colored Baptists of Alabama, their leaders and their work
California	Slavery era insurance registry
	The negro trail blazers of California : a compilation of records from the California archives in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, in Berkeley; and from the diaries, old papers and conversations of old pioneers in the state of California
Florida	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1884
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1884
Georgia	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1877
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1878
Illinois	The Negro family in Chicago
Kentucky	Biographical sketches of prominent negro men and women of Kentucky : with introductory memoir of the author, and prefatory remarks showing the difference between American and British slave holders; also opinions of leading thinkers of the race
Louisiana	History of Louisiana Negro Baptists and early American beginnings from 1804 to 1914
Massachusetts	The narrative of Bethany Veney, a slave woman
Maryland	A Listing of Slaves and Indentured servants in Somerset County, 1668-1720
	A narrative of the life of Rev. Noah Davis: a Colored man
	Manumissions and Sales of Slaves recorded in land records of Somerset and Worcester Counties, Maryland, 1859-1866
	Slave statistics of Saint Mary's County, Maryland, 1864
	The Hawk yearbook
	The Hawk yearbook
	The Hawk yearbook
	The Hawk yearbook
	1954 The Hawk yearbook
	The Hawk yearbook
	The price of freedom : slavery and manumission in Baltimore and early national Maryland
Michigan	Michigan manual of freedmen's progress
Mississippi	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1882
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1883
	The History of Negro Baptists in Mississippi
North Carolina	A history of the Negro Baptists of North Carolina
	Annual report of the superintendent of Negro Affairs in North Carolina, 1865: with an appendix, containing the history and management of the freedmen in this department up to June 1st, 1865
	Enslaved ancestors abstracted from deed books, Granville county, North Carolina
	Mountain masters, slavery, and the sectional crisis in western North Carolina
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1873
New Jersey	Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of New Jersey relative to the manumission of Negroes and others holden in bondage
	Manumission book of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1791-1844
New York	Quaker marriages, births, deaths, slaves, Nine Partners M.M., Dutchess CO, NY
Oklahoma	The final rolls of citizens and freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory
Pennsylvania	A picture of slavery, drawn from the decision of southern courts
	Pennsylvania Negro Business directory, 1910
South Carolina	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1874
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1875
	Report of the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, made to the two Houses of Congress February 19, 1876
Tennessee	History of Louisiana Negro Baptists: from 1804 to 1914
Virginia	Negro office holders in Virginia, 1865-1895
	Princess Anne County guardian accounts: an index to enslaved and free African-Virginians in Princess Anne County
	Princess Anne County guardian accounts: an index to enslaved and free African-Virginians in Princess Anne County
	Register of colored persons of Montgomery County, State of Virginia : cohabiting together as husband and wife on 27 February 1866
	Register of colored persons of Montgomery County, State of Virginia : cohabiting together as husband and wife on 27 February 1866
Vermont	Vermont's anti-slavery and underground railroad record, with a map and illustrations