🌍African American Genealogy: Build Connections Through Evidence

Start with certificates, obituaries, family papers and oral histories, then compare census households and addresses. Research siblings, aunts, uncles and neighbors when the direct line is unclear.

FamilySearch’s African American guide recommends combining oral history with historical records and following state and county resources. Keep each remembered detail attached to the person who supplied it and distinguish it from documentary evidence.

Use the National Archives’ African American Heritage resources to identify federal collections relevant to the place, date and question. Its guidance includes slavery, emancipation and post-Civil War agency records.

Freedmen’s Bureau and Freedman’s Bank records come from separate organizations. Check the actual document type and collection rather than treating their indexes as interchangeable. Military, land and other records may offer additional evidence for a particular family.

If the evidence leads to enslavement, investigate the documented locality and relevant court, probate, land and other surviving records. Not every African American family has the same history; do not infer enslavement or an enslaver from a surname alone.

Read historical descriptions in context and preserve uncertainty. Compare ages, relatives, places and witnesses across independent sources, and discuss sensitive findings with care before sharing them publicly.