Genealogy is an amazing way to celebrate and reconnect with your family history and community. If you’re researching African American ancestors, you may encounter challenges in finding records. We have compiled some resources for researching African American genealogy that are either freely available from home or from your local library.
Video Trainings
African American Genealogy: Getting Past the 1870 Brick Wall by Janice Gilyard
African American Genealogy Research Tips by Sherman McRae
African American Genealogy Challenges by Shelley Viola Murphy
USCT Pension Files: A Rich Resource for African American Genealogy, Part 1 of 2 by Bernice Alexander Bennett & Toni Carrier
USCT Pension Files: A Rich Resource for African American Genealogy, Part 2 of 2 by Bernice Alexander Bennett & Toni Carrier
Online Resources
Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society: AAHGS was founded in 1977 in Washington, DC by a small group of historians and genealogists who felt a need to share resources and methodology for pursuing historical and genealogical research.
- AAHGS Genealogy Resources
- AAHGS Pittsburgh Chapter
- African American Genealogy 101 Resources
- Oral History Projects
- African American Genealogy by FamilySearch
- African American Heritage by National Archives
AfriGeneas is a site devoted to African American genealogy. It is particularly helpful for researching African Ancestry in the Americas as well as for general genealogical research and resources. It is also an African Ancestry research community featuring the AfriGeneas mailing list, the message boards and genealogy chats.
BlackProGen is a group of professional genealogists who research and document African American families. Check out their episode archive on YouTube.
BlackPast.org compiles Black History and resources for getting started with African American genealogy.
International African American Museum Center of Family History is a soon-to-be-open research facility and organization that focuses on African American genealogy. This organization offers digital historic files, such as marriage and bible records. They also offer a learning library to learn more about records, genealogy research methods and more.