After five wonderful, fun years of helping African Americans find their ancestry on The Root, we are looking forward…
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Records reveal a proud legacy in Mississippi, yet data shows why we should not be all that surprised.
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Sometimes, following the paper trail left by a close relative of the person you’re tracing will yield better results.
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Silence shrouded information about a family’s past, and those who could provide answers are deceased. Fortunately,…
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Families intertwine and seemingly pass back and forth over the color line, complicating efforts to trace their…
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Needing answers after a family was torn asunder by fatal acts of domestic violence.
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A white mother and black daughter encounter the genealogical “brick wall” so many people face while researching…
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Family lore about a great-grandparent’s interracial relationship lines up with clues in census records.
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A message board posting listing “freedmen” kin raises questions.
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The debate over Confederate monuments inspires one woman to find the descendants of people her memorialized ancestor…
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Finding Virginia forebears who lived uncertain lives in the shadow of the Nat Turner rebellion.
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Here’s how to approach an unrecognized or illegible notation, as well as missing information, in a record.
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Differing surnames and living arrangements complicate the search for the parents of an ancestor born during…
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An ancestor identified as black reportedly spoke a language of the Creek people. The family’s paper trail reflects…
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The largest manumission case in U.S. history led to a unique community in Virginia.
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On the trail of a great-great-grandfather from Louisiana who farmed in Texas at the height of Jim Crow.
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A town lost to history and a family fracture are among the factors complicating a search for ancestors.
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A reader wants to know if and how the black and white branches of his family connected during slavery.
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A find in the 1860 census catches a reader by surprise, and points to a possible heritage that is subject to debate.
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Separating fact from fiction in a family’s oral tradition.
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