{"id":11336,"date":"2015-08-31T11:35:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T15:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=11336"},"modified":"2023-03-28T15:16:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T19:16:23","slug":"resources-to-trace-african-american-slave-ancestry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/resources-to-trace-african-american-slave-ancestry.html","title":{"rendered":"Resources to Trace African American Slave Ancestry"},"content":{"rendered":"

FamilySearch recently announced it is working with the\u00a0Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture<\/a>, the\u00a0Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0California African American Museum<\/a>\u00a0to crowdsource the online indexing of 1.5 million Freedman\u2019s Bureau records<\/span> that FamilySearch has put online.<\/p>\n

This is a great resource to start learning about African American slaves in early American history. Is it possible to find out more about these slaves \u2013 the actual stories of their individual lives? Can we know what happened to each one?<\/p>\n

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Photo: slave cabin. Source: Library of Congress.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In some cases, yes \u2013 we can.<\/p>\n

There are two key sources for these African American slave stories.<\/p>\n

Slave Stories in Newspapers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of these black slave stories can be found in old newspapers. GenealogyBank\u2019s 1.8 billion news stories are available \u2013 with unlimited downloads \u2013 at a nominal monthly or annual fee, making them easily available to genealogists everywhere.<\/p>\n

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As the nation grew so did newspapers \u2013 and newspapers recorded and preserved our ancestors\u2019 stories.<\/p>\n

For example, in newspapers we can learn the story of 79-year-old \u201cUncle Reuben\u201d Taylor who grew up a slave on a farm near Baltimore, Maryland, was freed in 1863, and launched his career over the next 57 years delivering coal in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Patriot (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) 31 December 1920, page 7 tells us that he then retired to live with his daughter in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Dig in and find your ancestors\u2019 stories in GenealogyBank\u2019s newspaper vault 1690 to Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Note that GenealogyBank also has a special search for our online African American Newspaper Archives<\/a>, which contain some of the earliest black publications such as Frederick Douglass\u2019 Paper<\/em>, an early anti-slavery newspaper by abolitionist Frederick Douglass.<\/p>\n

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers\u2019 Project, 1936-1938<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Library of Congress has digitized and put online the collection of all 2,300+ first-person interviews with former slaves that were conducted by the Federal Writers\u2019 Project from 1936-1938.<\/p>\n

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Source: Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These one-on-one slave interviews are invaluable.<\/p>\n

The typescripts retain the tone of the person being interviewed. Reading the pages, you quickly can \u201chear\u201d them speaking to you today.<\/p>\n

Robert Bryant lived in Herculaneum, Mississippi \u2013 here is his story.
\nFind his story \u2013 and the story of thousands of others in this online collection.<\/p>\n

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Source: Library of Congress<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Real people. Real stories. Real lives.
\nThese stories give you the opportunity to glimpse the life of a slave \u2013 as told one story at a time.<\/p>\n

Get to know them \u2013 read and experience their stories.<\/p>\n

Related African American Slavery Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n