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Optional Print Course Material: Research: U.S. African American Ancestors
*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.
Researching African American genealogy can be difficult but it is not impossible, as some believe. This course focuses on three aspects of genealogical research and how these relate specifically to researching African Americans: research skill, knowledge of records, and understanding of historical context.
The course is organized into reverse chronological eras, beginning with the twentieth century and moving through the late nineteenth century and Reconstruction, the Civil War era, and the antebellum (pre-Civil War) period. In each module case studies and assignments demonstrate and test the skills being developed.
Course Length: 7 weeks
MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN-AMERICAN RESEARCH
Introduction to Research
Beginning Your Research
Summary of common record groups
Defining your problem
Identifying and locating relevant records
Cluster genealogy
Principles of source citation
Sources, information, and evidence
Evaluating your evidence
The Genealogical Proof Standard
MODULE 2
TWENTIETH-CENTURY RESEARCH
Twentieth-century sources
Privacy concerns
The Great Migration
Introduction to African Americans in the U.S. Federal Census
Locating your family in the federal census
Tracing back through the recent years
Supplementing the census with other records
MODULE 3
LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY RESEARCH & RECONSTRUCTION
Overcoming the missing 1890 census
Using the 1880 census to identify families
The 1870 census: the first after emancipation
1867 Voter Registration lists
Southern Claims Commission
Freedman’s Bank records
Freedmen’s Bureau records
Other Sources
MODULE 4
THE CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865
The Beginnings of the Civil War
The African American contribution to the War
Identifying your veteran ancestor
Compiled Military Service Records
Slave Claims Commissions
U.S. Pension Records
Identifying your pensioner ancestor
Clues in a pension application file
Confederate pensions
MODULE 5
IDENTIFYING THE FINAL SLAVE OWNER
Introduction
Records that identify slave owners directly
Creating profiles of the slave and the slave owner
Identifying a probable slave owner
The U.S. Census Slave Schedules
Comparing multiple lists of slaves
MODULE 6
THE ANTEBELLUM PERIOD (PRE-1861)
Antebellum free African Americans in the North and South
Overview of the history of American slavery
Introduction to researching slaves
African American families under slavery
Using Chattel and Probate records to follow slave transactions
Pre-1850 federal census records and local tax lists
Runaway slave advertisements
Slave narratives
Court records
Manuscript collections
Suggested Reading