Where to Find African American Genealogy Records Online



Looking for information about your African American ancestors? You could start with the 1870 population census. It is the first one that includes many African Americans by name. You can also use a variety of African American genealogy records that can be found online.

FamilySearch African American Genealogy Records
Most people seeking their African American genealogy can trace their ancestry to slaves who were brought to the United States from Africa and the Caribbean Islands. FamilySearch provides free access to valuable black family history records. Those records include:

* Alabama, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Arkansas, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1864-1872
* District of Columbia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records 1863-1872
* Georgia, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Kentucky, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Louisiana, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Maryland and Delaware, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Mississippi, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Mississippi, Freedmen’s Department (Pre-Bureau Records), 1863-1865
* Missouri, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* North Carolina, Freedmen’s Bureau Assistant Commissioner Records, 1862-1870
* North Carolina, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1863-1872
* South Carolina, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Tennessee, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* Texas, Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872
* United States Freedmen’s Bank Records, 1865-1874
* United States Freedmen’s Branch Records, 1872-1878
* United States Freedmen’s Bureau Marriages, 1815-1869, 1872-1878
* Virginia Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872

Ancestry.com African American Collection

* A list of references for the history of Black Americans in agriculture, 1619-1974
* A path to freedom: one underground railroad route in Monroe County
* African American Photo Collection, 1850-2000
* Blacks in the State of Oregon, 1788-1971
* California, Africa American Who’s Who, 1948
* Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina Black Deaths 1871-1889
* Colored People’s blue-book and business directory of Chicago, Ill, 1905
* Florida plantation records from the papers of George Noble Jones
* Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware from the Colonial Period to 1810
* Louisiana, Freed Slave Records, 1719-1820
* Louisiana, Slave Records, 1719-1820
* New Orleans, Louisiana, Slave Manifests, 1897-1860
* Savannah, Georgia, Registers of Free Persons of Color 1817-1864
* U.S. African American Newspapers, 1829-1947
* U.S. Definitive List of Slaves and Property, 1827-1828
* Washington D.C., Slave Emancipation Records, 1851-1863

The Freedman’s Bureau Project
The Freedman’s Bureau Project was created as a set of partnerships between FamilySearch International and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the California African American Museum.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* Tips for Researching Your African-American Ancestors

* Resources for African American Genealogy

* Slave and African-Americans on Documents

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