Slavery » United States

Families Discover Roots

From the Augusta Chronicle. Meticulous records kept by slave owner allows descendants to chronicle their history in South Carolina.

Family Name

Companion site to the PBS documentary film. As a young child growing up in North Carolina, Macky Alston thought that it was unusual that many of his African American elementary school classmates shared his last name.

FamilySearch - Virginia, Slave Birth Index, 1853-1866

Index and images of birth registers compiled by the WPA.

FamilySearch Wiki - African American Slavery and Bondage

Federal Records that Help Identify Former Enslaved People and Slave Holders

By Claire Kluskens, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

Florida: Leon County Enslaved Persons and Slaveholders - American Origins

This database is an ongoing project to index the names of enslaved persons and slaveholders in Leon County, Florida.

Fold3 - African American Records $

Fold3 is an online repository for original historical documents, combined with the ability for users to make comments, annotations, and upload their own documents. The focus of Fold3 is to be a comprehensive collection of U.S. Military records. Some areas of Fold3 are free to use, while others can be freely searched and then viewed with a paid subscription.

Free at Last? Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Free at Last? Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries

From the University of Pittsburgh.

From Slave Women to Free Women: The National Archives and Black Women's History in the Civil War Era

Article by Noralee Frankel for Prologue: Special Issue on Federal Records and African American History.

Genealogy and Family History of Enslavement (YouTube)

By Jacquelyn Wright Palmer, PhD | TEDxDayton.

Georgetown Memory Project

In 1838, Georgetown University sold 272 slaves to plantations in Louisiana. Men, women, and children. University folklore says they perished without a trace. But almost one hundred survived the Civil War. Thousands of descendants are alive today. Their story is part of our story.

Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California | ACLU NorCal

In observation of the four centuries that have passed since the enslavement of people of African descent in the United States in 1619, this website examines an under-reported slice of California’s unique racial legacy – one tarnished by the unlawful and inhumane treatment of Black and Indigenous people.

Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery

The Presidential Initiative on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, announced by Harvard President Larry Bacow in November of 2019 and anchored at Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an effort to understand and address the enduring legacy of slavery within our University community.

History of slavery in California (Wikipedia)

History of slavery in Pennsylvania - Wikipedia

How Do I Trace My Slave Ancestors?

How to information from Lineages, Inc.

Illinois Database of Servitude and Emancipation Records 1722-1863

This database includes more than 2000 transactions found in governmental records involving the servitude and emancipation of Africans and, occasionally,Indians in the French and English eras of colonial Illinois (1722-1790) and African-Americans in the American period of Illinois (1790-1863).

Index to Parish Court Slave Emancipation Petitions, 1814-1843, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

John Spencer Bassett, 1867-1928 Slavery and Servitude in the Colony of North Carolina.

From Documenting the American South.