Yesterday a friend who is researching her African American genealogy contacted me, wondering if I have any tips for her, since this type of research is difficult due to the country’s horrible history of slavery. Unfortunately, never having done any African American genealogical research, I wasn’t of much help to her. However, I am inspired to broaden my knowledge and try to help her as best as I can. I am looking forward to her next email, which will provide me with the information I will need to see if I can discover any new information for her.
I am also inspired to create a blog post about African American genealogy resources. In my quick search yesterday, I came across some promising-looking sites that I would like to share with you.
AfriGeneas: This site is wholly devoted to African American research. It provides tips, forums, and records to help genealogists, all for free. They also have a wonderful beginners guide for genealogists wishing to learn the basics of African American research.
The Center for African American Genealogical Research is another great site devoted only to African American genealogy. The organization provides tips and records to visitors free of charge. There is also an option for taking a few online classes.
Genealogy.com, RootsWeb, and Ancestry.com have free message boards for discussing African American genealogy. You can post new topics or join current discussions.
Cyndi’s List and Eleanor’s Links include extensive lists of resources for African American genealogy and research. I highly recommend checking both of these websites out.
African American Cemeteries Online provides transcriptions of tombstones located in African American cemeteries across the United States. You will need to know which cemetery your ancestor is buried in, in order to locate them on this site.
Another website for African American genealogy worth checking out is Christine’s African American Genealogy Website. Like the sites listed above, this site includes advice, records, forums, and more, and is devoted to African American genealogical research.
Do you know of any other African American genealogy websites worth checking out?
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