'Five generations on Smith's Plantation, Beaufort, South Carolina', 1862. Civil War Photograph Collection (Library of Congress) LOT 4205, LC-B8171-152-A.

Guide to African American Genealogy
a selection of resources


This research guide is designed for anyone doing African American genealogical research. The call numbers and most of the materials listed are for the Athens-Clarke County Library circulating non-fiction or the Heritage Room collections. If you are looking for anyone after 1865, you will need to use the same techniques and the same records that other people working on American genealogy use after 1865. As in other genealogical research, it will be necessary to learn about the history and background of the specific geographic area in which your ancestor lived. And, if your ancestors were slaves you will need to learn the laws concerning slavery in that locale. Another research tip that can save you lots of time and help you uncover materials you did not know existed is to carefully read the notes, source lists and bibliographies in any books, articles, and other materials you read and find helpful.

KEYWORDS  : DDC NUMBERS  : BASIC "HOW TO"  : REFERENCE TOOLS  : BACKGROUND MATERIALS  :
 GENERAL GENEALOGY  : CEMETERIES  : MAPS & GEOGRAPHY  : MILITARY SERVICE & RECORDS  :
 NEWSPAPERS  : ORGANIZATIONS & SOCIETIES  : INTERMEDIATE RESEARCH  :
 FREE BLACKS  : SLAVE TRADE & SLAVERY  : ADVANCED RESEARCH  :
 GEORGIA-BASIC  : GEORGIA-INTERMEDIATE  : GEORGIA-ADVANCED

KEYWORDS

African American [geographic term]
African Americans - Genealogy - Bibliography
African Americans - Genealogy - Handbooks, Manuals, etc.
African Americans - Genealogy - Sources
Cemeteries
Confederate States of America. Army - African American troops
Death Notices
Epitaphs
Free African Americans
Freedmen
Marriage notice
Registers of births, etc. Slave bills of sale
Slaves - [geographic term] - Genealogy
Soldiers, Afro-American
United States of America - History - Civil War, 1861 - 1865 - Participation, African American


DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION NUMBERS

929.1        Genealogy
929.2        Family Histories
929.3        Genealogical Sources
929.4        Personal Names
929.5        Cemetery Records
929.6        Heraldry
929.8        Awards, Orders, Decorations, Autographs
975.8        Georgia History

Also See:
973.1        Early American History to 1607
973.2        American Colonial Period (1607-1775)
973.3        American Revolution & Confederation
973.4        American Constitutional Period (1789-1809)
973.5        American History, 1809-1845
973.6        American History, 1845-1861
973.7        Administration of Abraham Lincoln & American Civil War
973.8        American Reconstruction Period (1865-1901)
973.9        American History, 1901-


BASIC "HOW TO"
Books

Boy Scouts of America. Genealogy. Irving, Texas: Boy Scouts of America, 1988.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1 BOY
This is a good first book on genealogy, as in a few pages it gives you the basics and will make the other beginner’s books easier to understand.

Burroughs, Tony. Black Roots: a beginners guide to tracing the African American family tree. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1089 BURROUGH
Probably the best known recent book on beginner’s African American genealogy research. It is highly readable, well-organized and has a great bibliography that can give you ideas on other places to look.

Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo. Organizing Your Family History Search: efficient & effective ways to gather and protect your genealogical research. Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 1999.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1 CARMACK

Croom, Emily Anne. Unpuzzling Your Past: a basic guide to genealogy. 3rd ed. Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 1995.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1 CROOM 1995
This is a good beginning book on basic genealogy. Logically organized and easy to read and understand.

Dollarhide, William. Managing a Genealogical Research Project. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1990.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1 DOLLARHI
A good guide to managing papers and forms and setting up a system as you begin your research.

Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 2000.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1 GREENWOOD 3rd ed.
The "bible" of American genealogical research. It is crammed with important information. Good to keep on hand to refer to when having question or problems.

Hinckley, Kathleen W. Locating Lost Family Members & Friends: modern genealogical research techniques for locating the people of your past and present. Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 1999.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1072 HINCKLEY

Smith, Franklin Carter and Emily Anne Croom. A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African American Ancestors. Cincinnati: Betterway Books, 2003.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1089 SMITH
First four chapters appropriate for beginners. The explanation on how to read and analyze the census information is particularly helpful.

Thackery, David T. "Tracking African American Family History," in The Source: a guidebook of American genealogy. 3rd ed. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1997, p. 574-586.
Call No.: GR 929.1072 SOURCE 1997
discusses various types of records created by different entities like governments, churches, etc. that are essential tools for genealogical research. This chapter focuses on those of particular interest to people researching African Americans.

Walker, James Dent. Black Genealogy: how to begin. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Center for Continuing Education, 1977.
Call No.: GR 929.1 WALKER

Woodtor, Dee Parmer. Finding a Place Called Home: a guide to African-American genealogy and historical identity. New York: Random House, 1999.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1089 WOODTOR
Most valuable for covering intermediate and advanced research techniques and sources, and providing a historical context for your research.


REFERENCE TOOLS
Web Sites

Citing Records in the National Archives of the United Statess
"Guidelines for citing unpublished records it holds in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and in the Regional Records Services facilities, the Presidential Libraries system, and Affiliated Archives. The guidelines cover citations to textual records, microform records, non-textual archives (i.e., photographic records, posters, motion pictures, tape recordings, cartographic records, and architectural drawings), electronic records, and online references."

Vital Records Information, United States
"“This page contains information about where to obtain vital records (such as birth, death & marriage certificates and divorce decrees) from each state, territory and county of the United States. See the guidelines for information on how to order vital records. If you are looking for vital records from a foreign county, see my links to foreign vital records web sites."

Books

Almanac of American History. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1983.
Call No.: R 973.0202

Bentley, Elizabeth Petty. The Genealogist's Address Book. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998.
Call No.: GR 929.1 BENTLEY
A state by state listing of libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, genealogical societies and any other place or organization that might have historical or genealogical records

Black, Henry Campbell. Black's Law Dictionary: definitions of the terms and phrases of American and English jurisprudence, ancient and modern. 7th ed. St. Paul: West Publishing co., 1990.
Call No.: R 340 BLACK

Black Studies: a select catalog of National Archives microfilm publications. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1984.
Call No.: GR 016.973 UNITED
This is a catalog of microfilm publications from the National Archives that relate directly to Blacks or contain significant amounts of materials about Blacks in the United States. The information provided includes: The records listed can often be found at one of the Regional Archives or at the National Archives. Many are also available from the Family History Library through your local Family History Center. The catalog is also available online at http://www.archives.gov/publications/microfilm_catalogs/black_studies/black_studies.html.

Dictionary of American History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976- .
Call No.: R 973.03

Eichholz, Alice. Ancestry's Red Book: American state, county & town sources. Rev. ed. Salem, UT: Ancestry, 1997.
Call No.: GR 929.1072 EICHHOLZ
Arranged alphabetically by state, this resource provides a guide to records available in each state that are useful in genealogical research. Under each state listing and keyed to a state map, there is also a list of counties with information on what records are available for each county and when the county was formed. There is often a Special Focus Categories section that has information on state specific materials for Black American research.

Federal Population Census Schedules 1790-1930.
Call No.: GR Microfilm Also available through Ancestry Plus
Schedules for the census that is taken every 10 years. This census was begun in 1790 and continues to the present day. Although the raw data from each census is used for reapportionment and statistical analysis, the individual information remains closed for privacy reasons for 72 years.

The Handy Book for Genealogists: the United States of America. 10th ed. Draper, UT: Everton Pubs., 2002.
Call No.: GR 929.1072 EVERTON 2002

Kemp, Thomas Jay. International Vital Records Handbook. 4th ed. Baltimore: Gen. Pub., Co., c2000.
Call No.: GR 929.373 KEMP

Printed Sources: a guide to published genealogical records. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1998.
Call No.: GR 016.929 PRINTED
Guide to published materials of all kinds including geographic tools, ethnic sources, bibliographies and catalogs, published indexes, vital and cemetery records, church sources, published probate records, printed land records, military sources, immigration sources, county and local histories, biographies, family histories and genealogies and much more.

Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence!: citation & analysis for the family historian. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1997.
Call No.: 929.1 MILLS
Most current and comprehensive book to date on evaluating and analyzing evidence and on citing sources of all kinds. Evidence! is essential reading and reference for every family historian.

Rose, James and Alice Eichholz. Black Genesis: a resource book for African American genealogy. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co, Inc., 2003.
Call No.: GR 929.1 ROSE
This book, arranged alphabetically by state, provides basic information on the history of African Americans in each state and a break down of the types of records that should be checked for your African American ancestors in each state. As you find your ancestors in a state be sure to check this title as a basic tool. For Georgia the 2nd edition is not comprehensive; but it is a starting place, and a huge improvement over the 1st edition.

Rose, Christine. Nicknames: past and present, a list of nicknames for given names used in the past and present times. San Jose: Rose Family Association, Inc., 1987.
Call No.: GR 929.4 ROSE

Rubincam, Milton. Pitfalls in Genealogical Research. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1987.
Call No.: GR 929.1 RUB
This small book is worth triple its weight in gold with the tips it provides on avoiding errors and assumptions.

Szucs, Loretto D. and Sandra H. Luebking. The Source: a guidebook of American genealogy. 2nd ed. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1997.
Call No.: GR 929.1072 SOURCE 1997

Thorndale, Williams and William Dollarhide. Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1987.
Call No.: GR 911.73 THORNDAL


BACKGROUND MATERIALS
Web Sites

African American World
Created by the Public Broadcasting Service. "Your guide to African American history and culture. From Sojourner Truth to Jacob Lawrence, discover the courage and talend that shaped the African American experience."

Books

Bass, Patrik Henry and Karen Pugh. In Our Own Image: treasured African American traditions, journeys, and icons. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2001.
Call No.: NONFIC 973.0496 BASS
Photographs and memorabilia are used to tell the story of African Americans.

Dennis, Denise. Black History for Beginners. New York: Writers and Readers Pub., 1984.
Call No.: NONFIC 305.896 DENNIS

Franklin, John Hope and Alfred A. Moss, Jr. From Slavery to Freedom: a history of Negro Americans. 6th ed. New York: Knopf, 1988.
Call No.: NONFIC 305.896 FRANKLIN
Title has remained a standard through through numerous updates and revisions.

Gutman, Herbert George. The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925. New York: Pantheon Books, 1976.
Call No.: NONFIC 306.85 GUTMAN
Provides much factual data about African American history and family relationships and dynamics during the period covered.

Smead, Howard. The Afro-Americans. New York: Chelsea House, 1989.
Call No.: NONFIC 973.0496 SMEAD

Stevenson, Brenda E. Life in Black and White: family and community in the slave South. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Call No.: NONFIC 306.8 STEVENSO


GENERAL GENEALOGY
Web Sites

Afrigeneas
"AfriGeneas is a site devoted to African American genealogy, to researching African Ancestry in the Americas in particular and to genealogical research and resources in general. It is also an African Ancestry research community featuring the AfriGeneas mail list, the AfriGeneas message boards and daily and weekly genealogy chats."

Christine's Genealogy Website
A forum, links and stories. Contributors are also working to load cemetery transcriptions online.

Cyndi's List, African American Category
Comprehensive categorized listing of genealogical websites.

Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records: a genealogy guide.
"Gathers together links to online death indexes by state and county. Included are death indexes, obituaries, probate indexes and cemetery and burial indexes.".

Family Search- church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Particularly useful for beginning researchers on this site is the U.S. Social Security Death Index. In addition in the Search section, under Research Guidance and Research Helps, are outlines and guides to assist in your research. There are also CDs available from the LDS Church in the Heritage Room.

ROOTS-L Home Page
"“The main genealogy discussion list Web site. Contains: the ROOTS-L library, with hundreds of files, including how to obtain vital records, useful tips for beginners, book lists, etc.; the Roots Surname List or RSL, a list of over 900,000 surnames and contact information for the almost 100,000 people researching them; GENSERV, a massive database comprised of the GEDCOMs of over 11,000 submitters; the U. S. Civil War Units file; United States Resources: A Web page for every state in the United States, with links to genealogical and historical resources; and the ROOT-L archives, searchable."- Source: Librarian's' Index to the Internet.

RootsWeb.com
"Billing itself as ‘The Oldest & Largest FREE Genealogy Site,’ RootsWeb includes search engines and databases, family trees (over 70 million names), surname and geographical mailing lists, and message boards. The site also hosts other volunteer projects such as the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild and Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. Although it remains free to users, RootsWeb is now sponsored by Ancestry.com, whose databases (both free and pay) can also be searched from this site." Source: Librarians’ Index to the Internet.

USGenWeb Project
"This comprehensive site provides links to all the state genealogy Web sites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. They also sponsor Special Archiving Projects that include putting all U.S. census data online; transcribing cemetery tombstone information; tracking single lineage; and genealogy for children. In addition, there is an excellent guide to doing genealogy research that also includes such information as caring for old documents; repairing old books; preserving old photographs; and publishing your results." Source: Librarians’ Index to the Internet.


CEMETERIES
Web Sites

African American Cemeteries Online
Although this homepage has not been updated since October 2003, you can get a list by state of cemeteries for which information has been submitted. one can participate in the African American cemetery forum (moved to Afrigeneas), and access the excellent links for additional cemetery information.

Books

Brooke, Ted O. The Cemetery Book: cemetery preservation, restoration, and recording. Atlanta: Georgia Genalogical Society, 1989.
Call No.: GR 363.69 BROOKE

Cemeteries of the U.S.: a guide to contact information for U.S. cemeteries and their records. Washington, D.C.: Gale Research, Inc., 1994.
Call No.: GR 929.5 CEMETERI

Lay Down Body: living history in African American cemeteries. Detriot: Visible Ink Press, 1995.
Call No.: NONFIC 393.9 WRIGHT
Call No.: GR 393.9 WRIGHT


MAPS & GEOGRAPHY
Web Sites

David Rumsey Map Collection
Over 8,000 historical maps in digital format, available for personal use.

Library of Congress- American Memory Collections: Original Format: Maps
Maps from the American Memory digital collection.

United States Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System
"Our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic names information." Query page for mapping information located at http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form

UT Library Online- Perry Castaneda Map Collection- Historical Map
This site has a wonderful collection of historical maps from all over the world. The site also provides links to other good web sites.

Books

Carnes, Mark C. and John A. Garraty. Mapping America's Past: a historical atlas. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1996.
Call No.: R 911 CARNES
Call No.: NONFIC 911 CARNES

Ferrell, Robert H. and Richard Natkiel. Atlas of American History. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1993.
Call No.: NONFIC 911.73 FERRELL


MILITARY SERVICE & RECORDS
Books

Lanning, Michael Lee. The African-American Soldier: from Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell. Secaucus, New Jersey: Carol Publishing Group, 1997.
Call No.: GR 355.008 LANNING
Call No.: NONFIC 355.008 LANNING

Hewett, Janet B. The Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865. 16 vols. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing, Co., 1995-96.
Call No.: GR 973.742 HEWETT

Hewett, Janet B. The Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865. 33 vols. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing, Co., 1997.
Call No.: GR 973.741 HEWETT
Contains volunteers and draftees, not regular Army.

Hoyt, Max Ellsworth and Frank Johnson Metcalf. Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications. 3 vols. Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1943-1963.
Call No.: GR 939 HOYT
**See Also Corrections to the Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications. Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1965.

Johnston, Richard S. and Debra Johnson Knox. How to Locate Anyone Who Is or Has Been in the Military: Armed Forces locator guide. 8th ed. Spartanburg: MIE Publishing, 1999.
Call No.: R 355.0025 JOHNSON
Call No.: NONFIC 355.0025 JOHNSON

Moore, Brenda L. To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race: the story of the only African American WACS stationed overseas during World War II. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
Call No.: NONFIC 940.5403 MOORE

Nalty, Bernanrd C. Strength for the Fight: a history of Black Americans in the military. New York: The Free Press, a division of Macmillan, Inc., 1986.
Call No.: NONFIC 355.0089 NALTY

White, Virgil D. Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files. 4 vols. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Company, 1990-1992.
Call No.: GR 973.34 WHITE

White, Virgil D. Index to Old Wars Pensions Files, 1815-1926. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Company, 1993.
Call No.: GR 929.373 WHITE

White, Virgil D. Index to Pension Applications for Indian Wars Service Between 1817 and 1898. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Company, 1997.
Call No.: GR 929.373 WHITE

White, Virgil D. Index to Revolutionary War Service Records. 4 vols. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Company, 1995.
Call No.: GR 973.4 WHITE

White, Virgil D. Index to War of 1812 Pension Files. 2 vols. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing company, 1992.
Call No.: GR 973.524 WHITE

World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918: [microform]: Georgia. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2000.
Call No.: GR 929.3758
Microform copies of the cards for Clarke, Oconee and Oglethorpe Counties. The originals of all of these for the entire nation are in the Southeast Regional Archives at East Point. Digital versions of these records for some states are also accessible through AncestryPlus and GALILEO.

Wynn, Neil A. "War, Society and the Afro-American," in The Afro-American and the Second World War. New York: Homes & Meier Publishers, 1976. p. 1-20.
Call No.: NONFIC 940.5315 WYNN


NEWSPAPERS
Web Sites

Afro-American Newspapers on Microfilm at the University of Georgia Libraries.
Listing of the African American newspapers on microfilm at UGA. Provides state, city, title. UGA Call No., years published, and the years UGA owns.

Books

Brigham, Clarence S. History and Bibliography of American newspapers, 1690-1820. vol. 1. Hamden,[CT]: Archon Books, 1962.
Call No.: GR 071.3016 BRIGHAM V.01

Danky, James Phillip. African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: a national bibliography. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1998.
Call No.: GR 051.7303 AFRICAN

Gregory, Winifred, ed. American Newspapers, 1821-1936: a Union List of files available in the United States and Canada. Millwood, NY: Kraus Reprint, 1967.
Call No.: GR 016.071 AMERICAN

Henritze, Barbara K. Bibliographic Checklist of African American Newspapers. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., Inc. 1995.
Call No.: GR 071.3 HENRITZE


ORGANIZATIONS & SOCIETIES
Web Sites

African American Historical and Genealogical Society
"The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. (AAHGS) strives to preserve African-ancestored family history, genealogy, and cultural diversity by teaching research techniques and disseminating information throughout the community. Our primary goals are to promote scholarly research, provide resources for historical and genealogical studies, create a network of persons with similar interests, and assist members in documenting their histories."

National Genealogical Society
"The National Genealogical Society, a non-profit organization founded in 1903, is the premier national society for everyone from the beginner to the most advanced family historian. The NGS serves its members by:


INTERMEDIATE RESEARCH
Web Sites

National Archives and Records Administration- Genealogy- African American Research.
This is a research guide with links from the Genealogy section under the Research Room on the web site.

Books

Fears, Mary L. Jackson. Slave Ancestral Research: it's something else. Bowie, Maryland: Herirage Books, Inc., 1995.
Call No.: GR 929.2 FEARS Call No.: NONFIC 929.2 FEARS

Hatcher, Patricia Law. Producing a Quality Family History. Salem, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 1996.
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1072 HATCHER

Kemp, Thomas Jay. The Genealogist's Virtual Library: full-text books on the World Wide Web. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 2000. p. 207-220.
Call No.: GR 025.0692 KEMP
These titles are from digital collections of major repositories. Therefore the digitizations are reliable and accurate; and furthermore, unlikely to be withdrawn from the Web. The pages listed in the citation are those from the African Americans section in the chapter on "General Subjects".

Montgomery, Elvin. Collecting African American History: a celebration of America's Black Heritage Through Documents. New York: Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, 2001.
Call No.: 9730496 MONTGOME

Smith, Franklin Carter and Emily Anne Croom. A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African American Ancestors. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2003.
Call No: NONFIC 929.1089 SMITH


FREE BLACKS
Books

Heinegg, Paul. Free African American of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to About 1820. 4th ed. 2 vols. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield, 2001.
Call No.: GR 929.375 HEINEGG

Stevenson, Brenda E. Life in Black and White: family and community in the slave South. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1996.
Call No.: NONFIC 306.8 STEVENSO

Woodson, Carter G. Free Negro Owners of Slaves in the United States in 1830, Together with Absentee Ownership of Slaves in the United States in 1830. New York: Negro Universities Press, 1968. ©1924.
Call No.: GR 305.5 WOODSON


SLAVE TRADE & SLAVERY
Web Sites

Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1719-1820.
"A database of information on 100,000 slaves who were brought to Louisiana in the 18th and 19th centuries. It contains "African slave names, genders, ages, occupations, illnesses, family relationships, ethnicity, places of origin, prices paid for slaves, and slaves' testimony and emancipations." Searchable by name, master, gender, racial designation, time period, plantation location, and origin. "Miscellaneous Searches" has lists of African names, slaves involved with revolts, and runaways. Demographic tables are available." Source: Librarians’ Index to the Internet

Books

Gomez, Michael Angelo. Exchanging our Country Marks: the transformation of African identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Call No.: NONFIC 305.896 GOMEZ

Johnson, Walter. Soul by Soul: life inside the Antebellum slave market. Cambridge. Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Press, 1999.
Call No.: GR 976.335 JOHNSON

Thomas, Hugh. The Slave Trade: the story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Call No.: NONFIC 380.122 THOMAS

U.S. Census Population Schedules. 1850, 1860.
Separate Slave Schedules taken as part of the census process. These list the names of the slave owners and then tally the dwellings on the property and the slaves by gender and age.

Watson, Alan. Slave Law in the Americas. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1989.
Call No.: GR 342.7087 WATSON


ADVANCED RESEARCH
Books

African American and American Indian Patriots of the Revolutionary War. Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2001.
Call No.: GR 973.344 AFRICAN

Ham, Debra Newman. List of Black Servicemen Compiled from the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Washington: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1985.(Special list, no. 36)
Call No.: GR 929.3 LIST

List of Black Heads of Household in the First Census of the United States 1790. Washington: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1973. (Special List no. 34).
Call No.: Currently In Processing


GEORGIA- BASIC TOOLS
Web Sites

Old Georgia Newspapers
This is an online listing of newspapers that have been microfilmed by the Georgia Newspaper Project. These microfilms are located in the basement of the University of Georgia Main Library in Athens. The list includes newspaper title, years available, call number and where it was published and the site is searchable by town, county, name of newspaper, and county map. This site does not index each paper, it just indicates which newspapers might be available.

Books

Davis, Robert Scott, Jr. The Georgia Black Book: morbid, macabre & sometimes disgusting records of genealogical value- just when you thought it was safe to get back into genealogy. Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press.
Call No.: GR 929.3758 DAVIS V.1 (1982)
Call No.: GR 929.3758 DAVIS V.2 (1987)

Davis, Robert Scott, Jr. and Ted O. Brooke. Georgia Research: a handbook for genealogists, historians, archivists, lawyers, librarians, and other reseachers. Atlanta, GA: Ga. Genealogical Society, 2002.
Call No.: GR 929.1758 DAVIS
Call No.: NONFIC 929.1758 DAVIS

Davis, Robert Scott, Jr. A Researcher's Library of Georgia History, Genealogy, and Records Sources. Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, 1987.
Call No.: GR 929.3758 DAVIS V.1
Call No.: GR 929.3758 DAVIS V.2

Thurmond, Michael L. Freedom! Georgia's Anti-slavery Heritage, 1733-1865. Atlanta, GA: Longstreet Press, 2002.
Call No.: GR 975.8 THURMOND
Call No.: NONFIC 975.8 THURMOND
an overview of African American history in Georgia and of the conflicting economic pulls between anti-slavery and pro-slavery factions from Georgia’s colonization by Oglethorpe until the end of the War Between the States. This is essential reading for anyone with African American ancestors in Georgia.


GEORGIA- INTERMEDIATE RESEARCH
Books

Georgia 1850 Slave Schedule Census Index. Salt Lake City, Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems International, Inc., 1988.
Call No.: GR 317.58 GEORGIA

Georgia 1860 Slave Schedule Census Index. North Salt Lake,Utah: Accelerated Indexing Systems International, Inc., 1990.
Call No.: GR 317.58 GEORGIA

Martin, Joann. Slave Bills of Sale Project. 2 vols. Atlanta, GA: African American Family History Association, Inc., 1986.
Call No.: GR 929.3758 SLAVE

United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Marriage records of the Office of the Commissioner, Washington Headquarters of the Bureau of Refugees, Freemen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
Call No.: MF 929.3 M1875

United States. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Records of the Field Offices for the State of Georgia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress and National Archives and Records Administration.
Call No.: MF 929.3758 M1903

United States, National Archives and Records Administration. Records of the Field Offices for the State of Georgia, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress and National Archives and Records Administration, 2003.
Call No.: GR 929.3758 M1903
Pamphlet describing microfilm publication M1903.

White, Index to Georgia Confederate Pension Files. Waynesboro, TN: National Historical Publishing Company, 1995.
Call No.: GR 929.3758 WHITE


GEORGIA- ADVANCED RESEARCH
Personal Papers

Often have information on slaves. These can be found at repositories throught the state. Examples of collections to look in are:

Dissertations and Theses



Image at top of page: Black & white photo. 'Five generations on Smith's Plantation, Beaufort, South Carolina', 1862. Civil War Photograph Collection (Library of Congress) LOT 4205, LC-B8171-152-A.

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Athens Regional Library System
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