New Resource for African American Family History

AmericanAncestors.org has created a new portal for African American family history research. Explore it for FREE in honor of Black History Month.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has created a new portal for African American family history research on its website, AmericanAncestors.org. Highlights include a webinar and study guide on African American genealogy and articles on several important African American historical figures.

During Black History Month in February 2016, “Guests Users may access several African American databases free in order to get a sample of the variety of information to be found in the collection of African American resources at NEHGS. Among them is a large database Free Negro Heads of Families in the United States in 1830, a list compiled from the 1830 census and published in 1925. It contains the name, age range, family size, and county and state residence of 47,300 individuals in 27 states and one territory—a valuable source of records on free African Americans in that period.”

New England (and therefore a New England archive) is not the first place people typically think of for researching African-American ancestry. But NEGHS is home to many relevant published genealogies and local histories; Bible, cemetery, and court records; original manuscripts and rare documents as well as many online databases, states a press release.