As a child, Adele Logan Alexander, a writer in Washington, D.C., heard stories of a white judge and his daughter Mariah, her great-grandmother. Not until recently was she able to piece together the lives of her ancestors - free people of color in Georgia's plantation belt. (See American Visions, October 1991.)
In no small measure, genealogy and family history help to forge a positive identity with the struggles and the persistence of African Americans that began when they set foot on the shores of the Americas. Though subtle, the distinction between genealogy and family history needs to be made. Genealogy is the documentation of a lineage traceable to a common set of ancestors, generally a couple. It follows a specific format that documents bloodlines from one generation to the next and as far back in time as possible. Family history is the study of one or several lineages in the context of history, and it tells the story of a family in the same way that author Alex Haley did in Roots. Genealogy is, in a sense, the skeleton, and family history is the body.
All over the country, African Americans are using the tools of historical and genealogical research to explore their roots. This rise in consciousness is due, in part, to the Roots saga that first appeared on television in 1977. The popularization of Alex Haley's family story lent credibility to the millions of stories that had been passed down from one generation to the next, stories that had been heard only within African-American families and stories that had been given little historical legitimacy until Roots was televised.
Haley's research, however, was not designed as a guide for others to follow. African-American genealogists had to create an organizational structure of genealogical societies before the fledgling movement, which gained momentum in the late 1970s, came to fruition.
No beginning researcher should have to work alone anymore. Those starting now should first join a local society, then a national society, and eventually a statewide genealogical society in the state of research. Membership in one of these societies generally includes a free subscription to the society's journal or newsletter, which offers helpful hints on researching. Feel free to ask questions of professional genealogists, both black and white, particularly at the beginning stages.
The title of professional genealogist does not imply certification, although a certification program is available nationally. It does imply some knowledge of history, and possibly genealogy, and years of experience. Professional genealogists make the study of genealogy their living, whereas amateur genealogists are mainly interested in tracing their family history or pursuing the study as a hobby. In a field that doesn't require certification to practice, it's not unusual to find amateurs who are much better than professionals (and vice versa, of course).
Since its establishment in 1977, the national Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society in Washington, D.C., has grown from one chapter to 14 affiliate chapters throughout the United States. Its founder, James Dent Walker, known as the dean of African-American genealogy, recently passed away, and the society is run by his wife, Barbara. In addition to the affiliate chapters, there are several independent societies in major cities across the United States and in Canada. (See sidebar, "Genealogical Societies.")
Your first step into the past is not into a library (unless it is to find a book about genealogy); your first step is to find out what all of your family members know about the family's past. The focus should be on the oldest individuals, gradually expanding to relatives in the parents' generation. Only after both sides of the family's oral history have been collected should the beginning researcher decide which side of the family to research.
Interviewing family members is a skill that can only be developed with guidance and extensive practice. Interviews take time. They should always be recorded, and they should be transcribed immediately, while details are fresh in your mind. Also, you should allow ample time to review the interviews and possibly schedule more. One interview is seldom sufficient. Key family members, especially, should be interviewed more than once, including in-laws and longtime family friends.
The kinds of questions to ask vary, from the specifics of an individual's life, such as birth, schooling, marriage and children, to broader and more remote questions about an individual's childhood memories of his or her parents and grandparents. At the minimum, an interview should focus on basic facts, but it should also cover key turning points in the family's history - migration, family separation, marriages, divorces and deaths - as well as family traditions.
Interviews chart the course of your research; they lead you to specific neighborhoods, cemeteries and other sources of information that may not be attainable elsewhere. Then you rely on records: census records; vital documents, such as birth, marriage and death certificates; funeral home and cemetery records; obituaries, church records; military service records and pension applications; and records left by slave owners.
There are plentiful records on individual African Americans in national and state archives, county courthouses, private libraries and similar institutions throughout the country. African Americans have occupied a pivotal role in the creation and evolution of this country, and there are, of course, records to document this experience.
Amateur genealogists should follow a sequence in their record searching. Once all documents from family members have been copied or collected, the next step, as indicated above, is to collect vital records and information. This information can often be obtained from state and city bureaus of vital statistics for the 20th century.
Researchers should not fail to identify relevant African-American church, cemetery and school records. It is these records, however, that are often the most difficult to find intact, particularly for the period between the end of the Civil War and the 1920s. At this stage, researchers become astounded at the amount of information that has been lost.
Imagine Thelma Eldridge's surprise when, while visiting a retired church secretary at her home in Arkansas, the secretary reached into her files and handed Eldridge the church's record books dating back to the year the church was founded - 1866. This is no small matter; many African-American church records are difficult to locate because they have been similarly "misplaced."
Facing such obstacles, genealogists often initiate recovery missions of their own. Dorothy Spruill Redford became enraged at the exclusion of references to her ancestors on the Somerset plantation in North Carolina, except for a decaying sign that read, "Site of former slave quarters." (See American Visions, December 1987.)
During a decade-long search, she made innumerable trips, visited relatives, talked to historians and took a month-long leave from her job to beat the bushes of North Carolina's eastern shore. Her research led her to a North Carolina planter's diary and account books that partially documented her African ancestry.
After family records and vital records have been collected, researchers should turn to census records, which represent a national treasure. From 1790 on, free people of color were enumerated by name, whereas slaves were counted by slave owner. This constitutional dictate rendered slaves anonymous in government records, but not entirely so - the names of slave owners constitute useful information.
Since 1870, African and members of their households have been enumerated by name in every decennial census. Those censuses currently available for research cover a critical period, 1870 to 1920, from which African-American vital records are less available. Census records can be used at any of the 12 National Archives regional centers.
Microfilmed copies of the alphabetical index to United States Colored Troops compiled military service records are also readily available at the National Archives as well as from many libraries throughout the country. But research doesn't end there - a good 80 percent of these servicemen applied for pensions, and it is in the person records that researchers can find specifics about a serviceman's family members or how he or she escaped to join the Army or run behind Union lines. Even the names of past slave owners can be identified in the pension records.
