African American Genealogy Resource Guide: Other Libraries & Organizations

"Formerly enslaved people placed ads looking for loved ones from all over the United States and sometimes from as far away as Africa. "

Provided by The Historic New Orleans Collection, "[this] searchable database provides access to more than 2,500 advertisements that appeared in the Advocate between November 1879 and December 1900."

The African American Gateway, part of the Allen County (Fort Wayne, Indiana) Public Library Genealogy Center, combines links to websites with a bibliography of (print) resources for African American research.

Use of the site is free with registration.

"he Freedmen’s Bureau was established to help transition them from slavery to citizenship, providing food, housing, education, and medical care. And for the first time in U.S. history, the names of those individuals were systematically recorded and preserved for future generations."

A FamilySearch Research Wiki, devoted to African American history and genealogy. Users can learn about how to do genealogical research or share their knowledge with others. Sub-pages include information on researching by geographic location (i.e. U.S. state) or type of record.

"Chairman of the Vigilance Committee (part of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society), William Still assisted fugitive slaves as they were secretly shuttled into Philadelphia in the mid-1800s. From 1852 to 1857, Still kept a journal describing his encounters with the slaves in painstaking detail, recording their names, physical characteristics, personalities, and other details. Still's meticulous entries offer unique insight into the secretive network known as the Underground Railroad. The journal, which is owned by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, was deposited at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in the 1920s. Conservation and digitization of the journal was made possible in 2009 through a generous donation from the Penn Towne Chapter of The Links, Inc."

"This database is the latest step by the Virginia Historical Society to increase access to its varied collections relating to Virginians of African descent."

These digitized (and/or transcribed) records and collections include items relating to African Americans (Cohabitation Registers); County/City Research (Lost Records Localities Digital Collection and Database); and Biography/Genealogy (WPA Life Histories Collection).

"This database reflects [the] research in Albemarle County Court Minute Books conducted by Benjamin Ford. [The] Minute Books contain individual registration entries for free black citizens scattered throughout its volumes. [...] Minute Books between 1807-1865 were searched for registration entries. Each entry was transcribed and entered into a spreadsheet database. In late 2008, the Virginia Center for Digital History agreed to transform the information into a searchable online database."

"The African American Geography of Civil War Tennessee is an interactive map showing the landscape of emancipation as it unfolded from 1861 to 1865. Every point on the map is linked to primary documents and images that tell the story of people, places, and events." The site is the result of collaboration between the Tennessee State Library & Archives, Fullerton Geospatial Lab at Middle Tennessee State University, State of Tennessee OIR-GIS, and the Tennessee State Museum.

A "portal to some of Georgia's most important historical documents, from 1733 to the present." Collections include Georgia Death Certificates and Marriage Records from Microfilm.

10 Million Names is dedicated to recovering the names of the estimated ten million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America (specifically, the territory that would become the United States) between the 1500s and 1865. 10 Million Names is engaging a collaborative network of expert genealogists, cultural organizations, and community-based family historians.

Founded in 1845 and located on Newbury Street in Boston, the NEHGS is a membership based library, however users may access some resources for free with registration.