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 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 Genealogy

Archives and Libraries

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati Archives and Libraries 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. When one of these institutions is referred to elsewhere in the African American Research Wiki pages, return to this section for the address. The FamilySearch Library has copies of many of the records found in archives and libraries, but most repositories will have additional sources. The following archives, libraries, centers, institutes, and museums preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their African American ancestors. Wiki Articles on Major Repositories for African Americans Allen County Public Library · FamilySearch Library · Library of Congress · National Archives I · National Archives Regional Branches · National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, John Parker Library · Birmingham Civil Rights Institute · Black Archives of Mid-America · Duke Univeristy Rubenstein Library · FamilySearch Centers · Godfrey Memorial Library · Kalamazoo College Black History Museum · New England Historic Genealogical Society · Newberry Library · John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library at Colonial Williamsburg · Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture - New York Public Library · Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum · University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries · University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center · University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library Online Records for African American Research African American Online Genealogy Records Links to online databases and indexes that may include vital records, biographies, cemeteries, censuses, histories, immigration records, land records, military records, naturalizations, newspapers, obituaries, or probates.

Allen Co Public Lib in IN National Repositories Allen County Public Library Allen County Public Library 900 Library Plaza Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Telephone: 260-421-1225 Email: genealogy@acpl.info Website: Genealogy Center ACPL Allen County Public Library is the second-largest genealogy collection in the United States and the largest genealogy collection in a public library. Its holdings include more than 350,000 printed volumes and 513,000 items on microfilm and microfiche. It has a premier genealogical periodical collection, local histories, genealogies, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, ethnic sources including African Americans, and Canadians. They have a great African American collection.

FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

FamilySearch Library

FamilySearch Library
35 N. West Temple St.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150
Telephone: 801-240-6536
Website: FamilySearch

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.

The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C.

101 Independence Ave. SE
Thomas Jefferson Building, LJ G4
Washington, D.C. 20540-4660
Telephone: Reading Room: 202-707-5537
Fax: 202-707-1957
Email: Ask a Librarian form
Website: Library of Congress

See the tutorial at the FamilySearch Learning Center on "African American Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress. See book at the FamilySearch Library. The Library of Congress "Local History and Genealogy Reading Room" has moved to the main reading room, but services are unchanged. They are part of the world's largest library including 50,000 genealogies, 100,000 local histories, and collections of manuscripts, microfilms, maps, newspapers, photographs, and published material, strong in North American (including African Americans), British Isles, and German sources.

*The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History & Culture

National Archives I

National Archives I in Washington, D.C.

National Archives and Records Administration (Archives I)
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC
Telephone: 1-866-272-6272
Fax: 301-837-0483
Email: National Archives and Records Administration inquiry form
Website: National Archives

Nationwide censuses, pre-WWI military service and pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources (including African Americans) , prisons, and federal employees. The National Archives Building in Washington, DC (Archives I), houses textual and microfilm records relating to genealogy, American Indians, pre-World War II military and naval-maritime matters, the New Deal, the District of Columbia, the Federal courts, and Congress.

National Archives Regional Branches

National Archives Regional Branches
Website: National Archives Locations Nationwide

There are 2 main branches, 11 regional branches, 16 records centers, 2 personnel records centers, and 15 presidential libraries nationwide, as well as "affiliated archives." Each regional branch has copies of key records in Washington, as well as their own regional records. For example, the Atlanta Regional Branch for the Southern States region preserves records of Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement, and African American history.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, John Parker Library
50 East Freedom Way
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Telephone: 513-333-7654
Email: Genealogy@nurfc.org
Website: 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.

Regional Repositories

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
520 Sixteenth Street North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203
Telephone: 205-328-9696 ext. 203
Telephone toll free: 1-866-328-9696
Fax: 205-251-6104
Email: bcri@bcri.org
Website: Birmingham Civil Rights Institute

Papers of civil rights activist leaders (ministers, organizers, judges, politicians, newspaper editors, educators), school desegregation, 500 desegregation oral history interviews, 1,260 Jim Crow era oral histories, vertical files, TV documentaries, and legal cases collection.

Black Archives of Mid-America

Black Archives of Mid-America in KC, MO

Black Archives of Mid-America
1722 E. 17th Terrace (PO Box 270333)
Kansas City, MO 64127
Telephone: 816-221-1600
Email: info@blackarchives.org
Website: Black Archives of Mid-America homepage

By appointment only. Resources regarding the social and cultural experience of African Americans in the Kansas City metropolitan area and in the surrounding region. This includes oral histories, valuable rare books, and a reference collection, personal papers, records of civil and health service organizations, schools, churches, political organizations, sports groups, and clubs and other voluntary associations.

Duke University Perkins Library

Duke University Perkins Library in Durham NC

Duke University Perkins Library
Franklin Research Center
Durham, North Carolina 27708-0185
Telephone: 919-660-5922
Fax: 919-660-5934
Email: franklin-collection@duke.edu
Website: John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture

Largest manuscript collection in the South, including newspapers, county records, Bibles, and journals. They also have many census records originally at the National Archives.

*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. FS Library Film 899894; Book 975.6 B5d ser. 27–28. At various libraries (WorldCat). This guide lists about 8,000 names of individuals, families, and historical subjects, and it is indexed.

*John Hope Franklin Research Center collects, and preserves published and unpublished primary sources for understanding the history and culture of Africa and people of the African Diaspora in the Americas. The Franklin Center is part of the Rubenstein Special Collections Library on the 3rd floor of the Perkins Library.

FamilySearch Centers

A FamilySearch Center in Fayetteville NC

FamilySearch Centers (FSCs) have premium online services for genealogists for free and offer research suggestions. These microfilms include a good collection of African American records including censuses, vital records, cemeteries, church records, biographies, Freedman's Bank, Freedmen's Bureau, funeral homes, military records, oral history, probate records, slavery and bondage records, and the Southern Claims Commission records.

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 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Click on Find a FamilySearch center to locate the the center nearest you.

Each center has unique hours of operation, and may have changed from the hours posted on our site. It is a good idea to call the center for their scheduled hours before you visit.

Godfrey Memorial Library

Godfrey Memorial Library
134 Newfield St.
Middletown, Connecticut 06457
Telephone: 860-346-4375
Fax: 860-347-9874
Email: Sharon@godfrey.org Reference Librarian
Website: Godfrey Memorial Library

Their collection features digital copies of six African American newspapers in the 1800s. The overall collection is national in scope with many online records in addition to its physical collection. They compiled the American Genealogical and Biographical Index (AGBI) including many African American biographies and autobiographies. The AGBI is found at 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.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library

Rockefeller Library in Colonial Williamsburg, VA

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
Email: libref@cwf.org
Website: John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library

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.

Kalamazoo College Black History Mobile Museum

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

Website: Kalamazoo College Black History Mobile Museum
Website: Facebook: Black History 101 Mobile Museum History Museum

Prominent artifacts include documents signed by Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, Fredrick Douglas, Dorothy Height, Elijah Muhammad, Ralph Bunche, Coretta Scott King, Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, and Angela Davis.

NEHGS 101 Newbury St in Boston

New England Historic Genealogical Society

New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)
101 Newbury Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116-3007
Telephone: 617-536-5740; Library 617-226-1231
Fax: 617-536-7307
Email: info@nehgs.org
Website: AmericanAncestors.org

Best overall collection for New England vital records and probates, and excellent collection for Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and Europe. The manuscript collection for members-only has diaries, letters, account books, business papers, church and town records, sermons, maps, wills, deeds, unpublished town and family genealogies, photos, and papers of the region's best genealogists since 1850.

Newberry Library

Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois

Newberry Library
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610
Telephone: 312-255-3512
Email: reference@.
Website: 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.

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

NYPL Schomburg Center in Harlem, New York

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Schomburg Center For Research In Black Culture
A Unit of the New York Public Library
515 Malcolm X Blvd
New York, NY 10037
Telephone:917-275-6975
Website: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture located in Harlem, New York, is a research unit of The New York Public Library system. It focuses exclusively on African-American, African Diaspora, and African experiences. It accomplishes this through art, artifacts, research and reference collections, manuscripts, archives, rare books, photos, moving images, sound recordings, educational programs, and digital collections.

Anacostia Comm Museum in Washington DC

Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum

Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
1901 Fort Place SE
Washington, D.C. 20020
Telephone: 202-633-4820
Website: Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum

The Anacostia Museum Branch Library has over 5,000 books, and close to 100 periodical titles in various formats. It collects materials relating to the preservation of family and community history through education, advocacy, and documentation. Primary focus is on east of the Potomac River communities. Their new focus is community museology, urban communities, issues that impact urban communities, and the people who reside in urban communities.

UNC Wilson Library in Chapel Hill, NC

UNC Davis Library

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries

Wilson Special Collections Library
200 South Road Wilson Library (Campus PO Box #3948)
UNC Chapel Hill, NC 27515-8890
Telephone: 919-962-1172
Email: nccref@unc.edu

Davis Library
208 Raleigh Street (Campus PO Box #3916)
UNC Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Telephone: 919-962-1151
Email: Email a Question form

Website: UNC Chapel Hill Libraries

Wilson Special Collections Library is home to: the famed Southern Historical Collection with strengths in plantation records, slavery, the Civil War, Civil Rights, communities, family, race relations, and religious communities; the North Carolina Collection of published works on North Carolina and its people and biographical index; the Rare Book Collection; the Southern Folklife Collection; the Manuscript Department collection of personal papers, letters, and diaries of early North Carolina residents; and the Map Department.

Davis Library has humanities, and foreign language materials, maps, a federal documents depository, and microforms.

Digital Online: Documenting the American South digital project description, and Collections descriptions of 16 thematic digitized collections.

University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center

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
Website: The Africa Center Home

The African Studies Center coordinates course offerings in anthropology, demography, economics, history, language, literature, politics, religion, and sociology. The Van Pelt Library holds most of the African collection. For more details see African Collection at Penn. See also the African Studies Collection at Penn Libraries.

University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library in PA

University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library

University of Pittsburgh Hillman Library
3960 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260
Telephone: 412-648-7756
Website: University of Pittsburgh Library System African American Collection

The library houses material on the African Americans, Africans, and Caribbean cultures in the following disciplines: Arts, Education, History, Literature, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Sociology, Sports, and Religion.

International African American Museum

Homepage
Charleston, South Carolina 29401

Center for Family History
113 Calhoun Street
Charleston, South Carolina 29401
(843) 872.5352

Various State Archives and Libraries

See also the state "Archives and Libraries" wiki articles (links below) for descriptions of repositories with further African American material in each respective state.


Archives and Libraries in Each State

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Territories and Federal District

American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands

Guides

• Black Roots: A Beginner's Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree, Tony Burroughs. New York: Fireside Book, 2001. FS Catalog book 973 D27bt 2001; 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. FS Catalog book 973 F2wd; At various libraries (WorldCat).