We have genealogists who specialize in African-American research. Our genealogists will research and analyze the best records available to further your family history research.
Genealogists are available to research on location in archives and libraries containing African-American records, including:
- African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
Databases, articles, journals, books, microform, Colonial-era government documents, Historic News Sources and Periodical, Statistical Information, videos, Maps of Africa, images of Africa and Africans - Africo-American Black History Museum, Kalamazoo College
- Allen County Public Library
Contains 650,000 microfilm & fiche, 400,000 books, world’s largest English-language genealogy periodical collection, 55,000 genealogies & family histories - Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
- Black Archives of Mid-America
Colonization, Personal Stories, Abolition Prominent Abolitionists, Slavery, Migration, NarrativesFamily History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah
Largest genealogical library in the world with billions of records on over 3 billion deceased people from over 110 countries, including the U.S., Canada, and countries in the British Isles, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. - Godfrey Memorial Library
200,000 books and periodicals, including state and local histories, family histories, biographies, church records, funeral records, cemetery records, military records, and maps
- Hillman Library, University of Pittsburgh
Houses material on the African Americans, Africans, and Caribbean cultures in the following disciplines: Arts, Education, History, Literature, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Sociology, Sports, and Religion. - John Hope Franklin Collection for African and African-American Documentation, Duke University
- Library of Congress
Books, manuscripts, maps, military maps showing troop positions, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, diaries, scrapbooks, newspapers, photographs - National Archives – Regional Branches
- National Archives, Washington, D.C.
American prisoners of war and civilian internees, military awards, missing in action, casualties, and burials, censuses, correspondence files, court records, death and probate files of U.S. citizens in foreign countries, Freedmen’s Bureau records, Land records, Naturalization and Passenger Arrival records, Pension and compiled military service records for service before 1900, Probate Estate case files (1801-1878). Slavery records, War Department collection of Confederate Records - National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
- New England Historic Genealogical Society
Most complete collection of vital records for New England states from 1600s to 191, city directories, wills, probate and deed records, newspapers, genealogies, journals, pensions, books of local and military histories, church records, naturalizations - Newberry Library
Surname index to genealogical periodicals and local history books - Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum
Artifacts, photographs, archival documents, media, and art objects that document family and community locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Includes Griffith Family Collection (documenting three generations of women in Washington, DC); the Lillian Evans-Tibbs Collection (recording the life of local opera singer and teacher of national and international acclaim); and the Lorenzo Dow Turner Collection (featuring community life in South Carolina, Brazil, and West Africa). - St. Louis County Library, Special Collections
Birth, death, marriage, military, and newspapers - St. Louis Genealogical Society Collection (STLGS)
- The National Genealogical Society Book Loan Collection (NGS)
- The Julius K. Hunter and Friends African American Research Collection (JKH)
- Southern Claims Commission records
- UNC University Libraries
Our professional researchers can do research projects of many sizes and for many budgets. We customize the amount of research provided according to your needs.
If you would like to learn how our genealogists can further your research, request a research quote.
Some of the record sources that can be used for African-American genealogy research are:
- Birth, marriage, and death records
- Federal census records were recorded every 10 years starting in 1790
- State, territorial, and colonial censuses
- Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (often called the Freedman’s Bank) from 1871 to 1874
- Land records
- Probate records
- Churches sometimes kept records of the christenings, marriages, deaths, or other information about their members
- Newspapers were written in many areas and time periods which contain information such as notices of marriages, notices of death, and obituaries
- Town and county histories may include details regarding African-American settlers and slaves
- Slave records from 1600s
- Tax records
- Southern Claims applications from 1871
- Military records from 1775
