Searching for Your African American Ancestry? A Research Scholar Has Recommendations

Searching for Your African American Ancestry? A Research Scholar Has Recommendations

By Lillian Williams

A wealth of resources exists for family history research. Yet, some data sources might be particularly helpful to those conducting research about African American lineage.

That’s according to Ari Wilkins, a scholar who specializes in African American family history research.  She spoke about the subject during a virtual, August 25, 2021, event sponsored by the Chemung County Library District in New York.

Titled “Scaling the 1870 Brick Wall in African American Research,” the well-organized webinar was free and open to the public.

Wilkins is a professional genealogist and library associate at the Dallas Public Library. She’s known for her work with noted genealogist, Dr. James Rose, on his project, “Generations: The WPA Ex-Slave Narrative Database.” She speaks at national genealogy conferences across the nation.

Offering a hand-out to event attendees, Wilkins clearly described the function and value of particular resources during the session, including the following:

  • Slave Schedules – Slave Schedules of the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Federal Census tracts enumerate the enslaved separately. The enslaver’s name is listed. The enslaved usually were not named, though they were described by sex, age and color.
  • Freedmen’s Bureau – The Freedmen’s Bureau records are a rich data source for information about former slaves, following the Civil War. It was established to assist the millions of former slaves, refugees, sick and destitute persons in Southern states. Their offices, with records spanning from 1865-1872, were in Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
  • Freedman’s Bank – The U.S. Congress established The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company in 1865,  primarily as a bank for free slaves and former African American military personnel. Between the years of 1865-1874, bank accounts were opened.  
  • Voter Registration Records – The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution granted African American men the right to vote.  Their registration started in 1867.
  • Military Records – Some 180,000 African American men, known as the United States Colored Troops, volunteered to fight for the Union Army. These military records could provide a soldier’s name, parents’ names, name of a former slaveholder, and birth information.
  • Plantation Records – Wilkins said that Ante-bellum Southern Plantation Records are an important source of information that could connect a formerly enslaved person to his or her family. A microfilm set, these manuscript records come from several major Southern repositories.
  • WPA Slave Narratives – During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration created jobs for Americans, including the Federal Writers’ Project. Writers and researchers interviewed and documented the testimonies of formerly enslaved persons. These ex-slave narratives were collected from 17 states between 1936-1938.
  • Southern Claims Commission – The Southern Claims Commission, created by the U.S. Congress, was a government organization tasked with considering claims for compensation for property loss to the U. S. Army during the Civil War.
  • Newspapers – Both mainstream and African American newspapers could provide valuable information about the lives and locations of African Americans.