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Researching families of color shares some of the same fundamental techniques associated with researching non-black families. Other aspects differ, however. The institution of slavery, for instance, provides a challenge for many African Americans once they have reached back to the 1860s. Regardless of the difficulties involved, recording your family history can provide you with new information about your immediate family, introduce you to extended family members and to others who are also researching your family (even if they're not related!), present a permanent record of everything you've learned to date, and leave a legacy to future generations of your family. So, what are those fundamentals that anyone can use to get started doing genealogy? First, begin with yourself. Write down your birth date and marriage date, if applicable. Then, think about other key dates in your life--school graduations, religious milestones, awards, sports recognitions, first job, promotions--and write them down. Make a few notes about other important occurrences in life--first date, hobbies, vacations, first car--and add them to your list. You now have the beginning of an autobiography! Take a little time to turn your jottings into sentences and you'll end up with a brief look at some of the highlights of your life that you can share with others. Second, write down the names of your parents. Do you know their birth and marriage dates? If so, write them down. If not, then it's time to interview them. Third, continue to do the same for your grandparents and great-grandparents, etc., as far as you can easily go, which will lay out your direct line of descent. You may also want to begin listing siblings of yourself, your parents, and so on in order to give the most information about your family. To keep moving forward productively, keep the information on these collateral lines to a minimum for now: just include names and dates; you can return to them at a later time. Fourth, collect everything readily available to you in your house. Family papers, official documents, photographs, scrapbooks, and souvenirs can give you plenty of hard information and suggestive hints to go on as you continue your research. Fifth, begin a more intensive search by using libraries, archives, government records, and the World Wide Web. Here you will find such sources as vital records, city and telephone directories, family histories, Social Security and census records, the many kinds of personal records we generate throughout our lives (such as real estate, taxes, voter registrations, school and employment records, military service, and court records), and background information on U.S. history, African American history, local history, and military history. One or more helpful how-to guides can also be indispensable as you make your way into your and your family's past. What records to look for and where to find them, how to interview in person and write letters or e-mails, how to fill in charts and organize your records, dealing with slave records, and more can be found in the following books.
Slave Ancestral Research: It's Something Else by Mary L. Jackson Fears was written as she conducted her research. The text provides not only a fascinating account of one particular search, but also gives hints and guidelines on how to search for slave ancestors and their slave owners. Slave Genealogy: A Research Guide with Case Studies by David H. Streets details three case studies (drawn from the records of Wayne County, Kentucky) that demonstrate research methods and types of analysis to be employed in family history research. Black Indian Genealogy Research: African-American Ancestors among the Five Civilized Tribes by Angela Y. Walton-Raji. An excellent guide for those with Native Americans in their ancestry. Covers where to find and how to use the Indian freedman records and discusses black Indians and tri-racial groups from the Upper South, and more. |
