|
Ancestry Magazine
9/1/1997 - Archive
| September/October 1997 |
Vol. 15 No. 5 |
The Challenge of African American Research
Conducting successful African American genealogical research can be a challenging adventure. In recent years, the challenge has been lessened and the adventure heightened by the growing body of publications relating to this ethnic group. Special-interest groups and genealogical societies nationwide are publishing key guides, new bibliographies, and important how-to books. Before delving into published sources, however, it is always important to pause long enough to organize one’s own personal papers and review standard research methodology.
Putting It All in Context
Important in any genealogical investigation as a part of sound research methodology, but particularly key when researching African American ancestors, is the process of framing one’s research within the proper context. Some veteran researchers simply call this process "contexting." Contexting involves (1) understanding what is transpiring in the nation, state, county, and city for the particular time period being researched; (2) knowing the migration, naming, prejudice, and settlement patterns of the particular family and ethnic group being investigated; (3) understanding the religious, benevolent, political, and other special organizations which might have been extant in the geographic area and may have interacted with the ethnic group in question; and (4) being cognizant of the implications laws, codes, and regulations may have had on the creation, maintenance, and location of pertinent historical records.
The revised edition of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy(Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997) includes a very useful chapter entitled "Tracking African American Family History." The chapter provides genealogists with an excellent foundation for researching this ethnic group, detailing various types of records, the types of information they contain, and where one can locate them. The chapter also has a generous number of notes and concludes with a bibliography.
African American Military History
There are many important resources for the researcher of African American family history. One of these is the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. Joining this society is a wise move for the family historian interested in this ethnic group. Another helpful resource is a massive tome dealing with the African American military experience entitled Black Soldiers–Black Sailors–Black Ink: Research Guide on African-Americans in U. S. Military History, 1526—1900, compiled by Thomas Truxtun Moebs (Chesapeake Bay, VA: Moebs Publishing Co., 1994). Nearly 1,700 pages, this work is largely a bibliography of sources, arranged in several major sections to assist the researcher in accessing specific materials. The first section is a bibliography of writings by African Americans, followed by an annotated chronology. The next two sections contain a subject bibliography with author cross-references, and a listing of unit histories from 1729 to 1900. Ten appendixes round out the publication, covering more than four hundred pages. United States Colored Troops regimental records, Congressional Medal of Honor winners, Confederate publications, and portraits of veterans can be found in these appendixes.
What makes this work particularly useful is its comprehensiveness. While many genealogists initially prefer publications which provide family names with associated vital events and family data, comprehensive bibliographies, properly used, certainly can be worth one’s research time. Such bibliographies provide the researcher with a vast collection of resources crucial to establishing the proper context in which to conduct research, as well as citations to records that can be searched for more family-specific data. Citation analysis, the process of looking through the citations, notes, and bibliographies of published materials for further leads and resources, is a less-frequently-used but quite worthwhile endeavor for family historians. This process assists one in finding as much supporting documentation as possible while working to acquire the maximum amount of primary source materials.
Black Heritage Sites
At the recent American Library Association annual meeting, an important work for African American researchers, Black Heritage Sites: An African American Odyssey and Finder’s Guide, by Nancy C. Curtis, Ph.D. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1996), received the prestigious Denali Press Award. This award is given to reference works of outstanding quality and significance that furnish information about ethnic and minority groups in the United States. This compilation, arranged by general geographic region within the country, yields much detail about a significant number of historic sites. The material is very useful for building a context within which to conduct area-specific research, and also supplies some potentially useful family data. Each section contains endnotes, as well as a bibliography of works consulted by the author.
African Americans in the Confederacy
As with other areas of genealogical research, periodical literature plays a vital part in African American family history. There are a significant number of African American historical and genealogical societies which publish newsletters and quarterlies. There are also special issues of local, regional, and state genealogical periodicals focusing on African American records and research methodology, as well as numerous articles in geographically-based magazines. One of these special issues is unique–volume fourteen of the Journal of Confederate History series (Atlanta, GA: Southern Heritage Press, 1995). This particular volume has a series title which accurately describes the nearly two hundred pages of text: "Forgotten Confederates: An Anthology about Black Southerners." And what an anthology it is!
The work contains a number of heavily footnoted articles on the role of African Americans in the Confederacy. A number of these notes may very well lead to sources of data that are vital for particular family history research. Other articles contain abstracts and lists from compiled military records, extensive biographical sketches, obituaries, veterans’ narratives, and selected correspondence. The issue is completed with a bibliography of sources for the study of African American Confederates. A compilation such as this special issue challenges the researcher to investigate all possibilities and search for a wide range of records while engaging in Civil War-era African American genealogical research. It also challenges the researcher to seek facts and rigorous documentation rather than give credence to stereotypes and information found in undocumented general-history texts.
Internet Sources
The Internet can play a key role in assisting those engaged in African American research. There are a number of excellent sites which assist the researcher in locating historical data, help identify individuals who are working on particular family lines, and provide a means for networking. A number of these sites can be easily located by using one of the many Internet search engines, such as Yahoo! or Altavista, or by visiting some of the more popular genealogy sites, such as Cyndi’s List, and looking for the ethnic or African American pages at the site.
The Afrigeneas Homepage is an excellent example of the type of information researchers can find when looking for African American genealogy sources on the Internet. The page is well organized and contains numerous links to important genealogical resources worldwide. From this home page, one can subscribe to the Afrigeneas mailing list, a place where queries can be asked and answered, significant research discoveries can be shared, and information about upcoming symposia, conferences, and seminars can be disseminated.
There are a host of other links on the Afrigeneas Homepage, including links to The Genealogy Home Page, ROOTS-L RESOURCE, the African American Genealogy Group of Pennsylvania, the USGenWeb Project, the African-Native American Genealogy Page, underground railroad data, books and pamphlets on African Americans, a directory of genealogical libraries, and basic search strategies. As with an increasing number of sites, this site also links the genealogist to searchable data files, including the National Park Service’s United States Colored Troops database.
One can also find a link to The AfriGeneas News. The AfriGeneas News is an online newsletter intended to be a center for sharing genealogical tips and resources from the African American online chats at America OnLine and from the Afrigeneas mailing list. Among its many informational items, this online newsletter contains a question-and-answer section called "From the Archives," a list of current commemorative events scheduled around the country (such as the 9th Cavalry cemetery dedication in Las Animas, New Mexico), links to genealogy books, and numerous valuable links from the main Afrigeneas Homepage, such as black studies on microfilm, Britannica black history, and explanations of important historical events. Researchers from novice to seasoned genealogist can find much assistance at this Internet site.
With these works–and the other sources certain to be found as one explores them–the genealogists interested in African American family history should enjoy much success.
Curt Witcher is the department manager for the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana; adjunct professor in Indiana University’s Continuing Education Program; and a genealogical instructor and lecturer. He is the past president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and is currently the national volunteer coordinator for the Civil War Soldiers Names Index Project.
|
|
 |
|
