Getting started in genealogy, which is the process of researching and recording your family history, is easy: You begin by asking questions and gathering information. Who are your parents, your siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents? Then add their names and other information — birth dates, death dates, marriage dates, names of their children, and the city, county and state where they lived or currently live — to a family group sheet, and you're on your way to building a family tree.
Once you've recorded your relatives on the sheet, find ancestors and fill in the blanks by interviewing the oldest members of your family. They may have access to items such as family Bibles and keepsakes. (You may want to record the interview using a camcorder or tape recorder.) Whatever you decide, talk to your family members now — when they're gone, that precious information will be gone too.
If a relative is iffy on dates and locations, ask about experiences instead: "What was it like in elementary school?" "Who were your aunts and uncles?" "Do you know how your parents met?" "Did your family have summer reunions?" Recalling events may help your relative remember the information you need. Create a family group sheet for each family member to record individual info about spouses and children.
The Census: The Web and Beyond
Now you're ready to head to the Internet. African-American genealogy has traditionally been difficult to research, but as more records are posted online and other methods become available, the process is becoming easier. (Be warned: You won't be able to piece together your whole family online, because millions of records aren't on the Internet. At some point your research will send you to a county courthouse or state archive, and you'll have to spend time reading documents such as wills and deeds.)
The first place to search is the U.S. census, which has been counting inhabitants of the country every 10 years since 1790. You'll find the state, county and city where your family members lived, who their relatives were and their ages at the time the census was enumerated. Depending on which census you search, you'll discover estimated birth years, the year of marriage, the number of marriages, the number of children, the occupation of each member of the household and whether they could read and write, and property and land ownership.
Each census is opened to the public every 70 years. The latest census available for viewing is for 1930; the 1940 census becomes available for searching in April 2012. Census records are stored at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and posted online on several websites. Heritage Quest Online and Ancestry.com, both of which are paid-subscription sites, have every census from 1790 to 1930. FamilySearch.org has free access to the 1880 census. Footnote.com, another paid-subscription site, and several others have partial census records.
Check with your local library to find out how you can get free online access to Heritage Quest's census database by using your library-card number and a PIN. You may also be able to view Ancestry.com for free by using your local library's public computers.
Focusing Your Search on Black America
Trace African Americans by going back every 10 years to the 1870 census, the first one conducted after Emancipation and the first to count all African Americans. You can search for free African Americans in the censuses preceding 1870. If you know the county and state where your grandparents (or great-grandparents) lived in 1930, look for them in the 1930 census.
In all census records, African Americans may be identified as "black," "mulatto," "colored" or "Negro." As you go back 10 years for each census, remember that the person you are searching for is 10 years younger and, if he or she is a child, may be living with a parent or other adult, who will be identified as "head of household." Write down all members of the household.
You can use Heritage Quest's filters to find black people and "mulattoes" with the same surname. Ancestry.com is effective for grouping African Americans with the same surname on the same page.
Cite your sources as you go — you don't want to repeat your efforts. You'll also leave a trail for other family members to follow after you.
Once you have narrowed your search to the state and county where your family lived, check the state for documents such as wills, deeds and court records. Many states have designated Web pages that list sources for African-American research that are available at the state's library or archives; the websites may also list records and resources that are open for public viewing.
Google.com comes in handy for this type of search. Enter the state and county name and "African American genealogy" as keywords. For example, the keywords "researching african american genealogy kentucky" point to the Kentucky Historical Society, Rootsweb.com and Access Genealogy.
A Website Primer
The following are excellent sites to visit as you embark on your research:
AfriGeneas: Subtitled "African American & African-Ancestored Genealogy From Africa to the Americas," Afrigeneas.com has been named one of Family Tree Magazine's 101 Best Websites of 2010. Its stated vision is "To find and document the last slaveholder and the first African in each family." Besides message boards, live weekly chats and slave-related records, it has a great interactive Beginner's Guide.
Ancestry.com: This subscription site includes an African American Collections section. It contains the following records: Slave Narratives, U.S. Colored Troops, Freedmen's Bureau Records, Freedmen's Bank Records, World War I Draft Cards, African American Photo Collection, Southern Claims Commission and Freedmen's Bureau Records.
Christine's African American Genealogy Website: Has access to numerous records, including Freedmen's Bureau records.
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: Cyndi Howells has been collecting genealogy-related links since 1996 and now has 282,000-plus sites. Click on its Beginner and African-American links.
FamilySearch.org: The genealogy website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it has a link to African American Family History Resources as well as online birth, marriage, death, census, church and other indexes. To gain access to the massive number of records held in Salt Lake City, check out the online library catalog, print out a list of the records you want, visit the LDS Family History Center nearest you and order, for a small fee, microfilms of those records. The center will contact you when the film has been delivered from Salt Lake City; you can then return to the center and view the film. (You can also access Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org and Freedman's Bureau bank records on CD at the local centers.)
In the comment space below, tell us your family-history stories and your own experiences researching your family tree.
Karin D. Berry is a newspaper journalist and freelance writer who has been researching her family history since 1987. Her articles, book reviews and op-ed articles have been published in Essence, Black Enterprise, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Macon Telegraph, the Baltimore Sun, the Evening Sun, Emerge and the Philadelphia Daily News.