For many of us, the path to trace our family histories is fairly straightforward. We march back through the federal census records until we find a branch of the family that immigrated to America. Then we go to their country of origin and start digging. Land, court records, and wills can corroborate our census findings, usually in both countries.

Because of slavery, however, this trail does not usually exist for African Americans. For example, before 1870, slaves were not listed in the federal census records. Often, this has discouraged many African Americans from searching for their roots. But it shouldn’t. The records exist; they’re just different than those used by other ethnic groups.

The Quest
For the past several years Ancestry.com has been acquiring records to help African Americans trace their heritage. In honor of Black History Month, Ancestry.com is releasing a new African American Census Filter tool and several new collections. “Many of the records in the African American Collection were not easily accessible to the average family researcher before now,” said Lisa Arnold, Content Manager for the collection. “But now Ancestry.com hosts the largest online collection of records for African Americans available, and most of it is indexed so people can search by name.”

Searching the Census
One of the coolest new tools being released is the African American Census Filter. This tool will make it much easier for people searching out their African American ancestors on the census records to find them. To understand how, you’ll need a little bit of census history 101 first.

Census takers used a variety of terms to refer to African Americans, such as “black,” “colored,” “Negro,” “mulatto,” “slave,” and more. Previously, the census search tool on Ancestry.com had a field for “race,” but only had a few options for African Americans, such as “black.” If you selected “black” as the race, but the person you were looking for was listed as “colored,” his or her name might not have appeared in the search results. With the new African American Census Filter, all African American names will be located, regardless of how the census taker identified them.

One caveat: census takers only indicated race on the census records during the years 1850–1930, so the new search tool can be applied only to those years.

Other New Records
The new African American Census Filter isn’t the only new resource for African American research on Ancestry.com. These new databases are also being released for Black History Month:

• U.S. Colored Troops Records
  During the Civil War, about 178,000 African Americans served in segregated units. Records for each individual were compiled, including forms for enlistment and discharge. Other records can include items like residence, age, and physical description. Ancestry is completing an index of these records and will release them over the next few months. The first section will include the records of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry, the 1st through 6th Colored Cavalry, the Artillery Organizations, and other infantry units.
• Freedman’s Bureau Records
  After the Civil War the U.S. government established the Freedman’s Bureau to help freed slaves find work, establish schools, open bank accounts, and more. This collection is an eclectic group of documents kept by the Bureau in seventeen states. You’ll find labor contracts, court trial transcriptions, minister reports, applications for rations, and more. This collection is not indexed but is browsable.
• African American Photograph Collection
  From the photo collections at the National Archives and the Library of Congress, this database contains thousands of photographs of African Americans.

Where to Go from Here
Don’t believe it when you hear that no records exist for African Americans. They do. To learn more and start your search view the new page on Ancestry.com dedicated to the African American collection. In addition to the census filter tool and other new records, you’ll find World War I draft registration cards that contain information on nearly 2 million African Americans that served in the war and 3,500 slave narratives collected during the Great Depression.

If you want to go further, Ancestry.com also has a learning center where you can read more helpful tips. Or, perhaps you want to purchase one of several books published by Ancestry.com on the topic. Finding Your African American Ancestors, written by noted genealogist and African American family history specialist David Thackery, is a great place to start.

Jana Lloyd is editor of the Ancestry Monthly newsletter and associate editor of Ancestry Magazine. She can be reached at AMUeditor@ancestry.com, but cannot assist with personal research questions.