Tips for Researching Family History
Researching your family history is not an exact science. There is no particular order in which you have to conduct your search. Learning more about your heritage should be an exciting and enlightening experience. If the work becomes too much at any given time, take a break or begin researching a different family member.
- Document what you already know about your family history. What information do you have already?
- Keep records of the what, when, where, how and why.
- Talk to older family members about people, places and events. If you allow them to die without talking with
them, you will lose a living library.
- View your pictures and those of other family members. Check the attic, shoe boxes, pictures on walls, etc.
- Become familiar with U.S. and African American history. How did historical evens affect your family?
- Find where your state's vital records, (birth, death, marriage, divorce, land records, etc.) are housed.
- Become familiar with the records held at the National Archives, Archives.gov/, (census records,
Freedmen's Bureau records, military service records and marriage licenses, certificates, registers and
reports documenting the Federal Governments efforts to legitimize marriages of former slaves)
- Use internet websites like FindFamilyRoots.com and Ancestry.com to assist you in your search.
- Visit family, church and historical cemeteries. Read the headstones.
- Consider purchasing a camera, laptop and portable scanner.
- Review microfilm of old news papers including African American news papers like the Richmond Planet, the
Montgomery Enterprise, the Afro - American and others for birth, wedding and death announcements and
fraternal organization's announcements.
- Learn how your ancestors gained their freedom.
- Create and place your family within an historical timeline.
Example Timeline
Slavery 1526 - 1865 | Civil War 1861 - 1865 | Reconstruction 1865 - 1877 | Great Migration 1915 - 1930's | Segregation Jim Crow Era 1896 - 1954 | Civil Rights Movement 1954 - 1970 | Migration from North to South 1980 - present |
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Research Tools
AfriGeneas,afrigeneas.com, beginner's guide, slave data, surnames, links, state and worldwide resources, newsletter, library, and a mailing list. AfriGeneas'Census Schedules Online, afrigeneas.com/aacensus/.
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society's Web site,aahgs.org/ does not provide research services, but will offer suggestions on how to start researching genealogy and a list of local AAHGS chapters.
Ancestry.com, ancestry.com/, large research databases. Ancestry.com/bgca, A site within Ancestry.com. It offers activities and resources for kids to learn their family history.
Christine's African American Genealogy Website, ccharity.com/, a resource for roots-seekers, includes links to a variety of genealogical sources and African American homepages.
Cyndi's List of African American Genealogy Resources, CyndisList.com/african.htm.
Vitalrec.com, vitalrec.com/. Excellent resource for vital records in all 50 states, United States Birth Certificates, Death Records and Marriage Licenses.
Slavery Insurance Registry provided courtesy of California Department of Insurance - insurance.ca.gov/0100-consumers/0300-public-programs/0200-slavery-era-insur/.