My Research Guide

Research Guide: African American Genealogy












A. Overview

The topic I decided to research was African American Genealogy. I wanted to know more about my family background and black culture. So, the following resources I selected below are extensive in content and are the top resources in the field. I’ve searched many library catalogs such as LBBC Voyager, Cerritos Library, Howard University, the University of South Florida, the Inglewood Public Library, the University Cal-State Dominguez and Worldcat.com to find these various resources. All resources found here can also be found in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Please note the resources call numbers. Some resources were hard to find while others were very easy to search for. I hope someday that the information I gather in this research guide will help me trace my ancestors. The scope of my topic will cover resources books, government and educational Archival, Directories, and web resources.

B. Library of Congress Subject Headings

Genealogy (Not Subd Geog)

• UF Ancestry


• Descent


• Family Trees


• Genealogical research


• Genealogy – Handbooks, manuals, etc.

I tried to look up African American Genealogy in the Library Congress Subject Headings catalog, but it wasn't listed. So I went to the broader topic term of Genealogy. I found this information at University Cal-State Dominguez Hills.

C. Keywords

• African American Genealogy Research


• African American Ancestry


• Tracing your African American family history


• Black Genealogy


• African American Family Tree

The keywords above, in the following order, gave me the greatest number of results as I searched various online catalogs.

D. Reference Sources

• Boyce-Davies, Carole Elizabeth. Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture 3-volume set. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2007.

Call Number: DT16.5 E53 2008

I felt that this three volume cross-referenced set by Carole Elizabeth Boyce-Davies would be a valuable resource in studying African-American Genealogy because it covers geography, cultural and political movements, personalities, and theories.

• Library of Congress. The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1993

Call Number: E184.6 .L47x 1993

This book covers an aray of topics such as Colonization, Abolotion, Northen and Western Migration, and Slave Narratives.

• Fisk University. Dictionary Catalog of the Negro Collection of the Fisk University Library, Nashville, Tennessee. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1974.

Call Number: E185 .F57x 1974

According to the Harvard guide to African-American History this book identifies over 35,000 books and pamphlets on African American Life and Culture.

• Howard University. Dictionary Catalog of the Jesse E. Moorland Collection of Negro Life and History, Howard University Library, Washington, D.C. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1970.

Call Number: E185 .H69x 1970

According to the Harvard guide to African-American History this is a nine volume set first published in 1970 added two supplemental books in 1976 that includes an Index to African Periodicals, Index to American Negro Periodicals as well as an Index to Biographies.

E. Books

• Carter-Smith, Franklin. A genealogist's guide to discovering your African-American ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2003.

Call Number: E 185.96 .S6514 2003

I found this book while searching the Cerritos Library Online Catalog using the Keyword search "African American Genealogy".

• Cruise, M.T.W. Guidelines for ancestry research with an emphasis on African-American genealogy. 1st Ed. Dublin, VA: M.T.W. Cruise, 2007.

Call Number: CS42.7 .C78 2007

I found this book while searching the Inglewood Public Library Online Catalog using the Keyword search "African Americans Genealogy Handbooks, manuals, etc".

• Saunt, Claudio. Black, white and Indian race and the unmaking of an American family. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Call Number: E99.C9 S27 2005eb

I found this book while searching the Voyager Online Catalog using the NetLibrary Database "African American Genealogy Research."

• Washington, Reginald. Black family research: records of post-Civil War federal agencies at the National Archives. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 2001.

Call Number: CD3047.5 .W37 2001

I found this book while searching the Inglewood Public Library Online Catalog using the Keyword search "African American Genealogy Research". Subjects covered in this book are: a) United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands Archives Catalogs, b)African American families History Sources Bibliography Catalogs, C)African Americans Genealogy Bibliography Catalogs.

Rose, James M. and Eichholz, A. Black genesis: a resource book for African-American genealogy. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 2003.

Call Number: CS21.R57 2003

I found this book while searching the Chicago Public Library Online Catalog using the Keyword search "African Americans Genealogy Handbooks, manuals, etc."

F. Periodicals

• Journal of Black Studies. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1970 to 2003.
  
  The Journal of Black Studies can be accessed electronically on JSTOR online database at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
  
• Journal of Negro History. Chicago, Ill: Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 1919-2001.

• Journal of African American History. Chicago, Ill: Association for the Study of African American Life and History, 2002-Present.
  
  

  The Journal of Negro History was changed in 2002 to the Journal of African American History. Both journals can be accessed electronically on JSTOR online database at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

G. Websites

• The USGenWeb Project http://www.usgenweb.org/
  
  The USGenWeb Project is a free genealogy website run by researchers and volunteers that contains genealogical research in every
  county and every state of the United States. I like this website because it is very easy to use. All that you have to do is select your state of interest, then a county (i.e. California, Orange County). Then type in a last name, first name for research (i.e. Jackson, Franklin) and year of birth, marriage or death. Within seconds, a list of all the persons fitting that description will appear.

• Cyndi’s list of Genealogy Sites on the Internet http://www.cyndislist.com/

Cyndi’s list of Genealogy Sites on the Internet is a categorized & cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet. Most website links are free on Cyndi’s List but there are a few pay websites.