Preserving the Past, Empowering the Present

Author positionality: This article was authored by Tabitha C. Hilliard, a contributing writer to EveryLibrary on Medium. Ms. Hilliard identifies as a White, cisgender individual of privilege with a professional background in archaeology and library science. Ms. Hilliard’s experiences in the world have likely cultivated unconscious biases that may or may not influence the writing of this article, which introduces the importance of genealogical research for African-American families and notes historical barriers, and explains why library support is vital. Ms. Hilliard, recognizing the sensitivity of the topic and her own limited experience with African American genealogy research, invited Debra Blacklock‑Sloan — a fifth‑generation Texan and native Houstonian — to share her expertise.

Debra Blacklock-Sloan is a self-employed historical researcher and professional genealogist with thirty years of experience. She is passionate about her genealogy business and loves helping her clients discover their lineage. She believes “finding one’s ancestors leads to finding yourself.”

She has presented several workshops on African American genealogy research over the years. She has also been featured in several newspapers and publications, including African-American News & Issues, Houston Chronicle, Houston Defender, Tre Magazine, the Texas Historical Commission's Medallion magazine, and the Texas Historical Foundation's Texas HERITAGE Magazine, as well as TV segments.

Blacklock-Sloan has been involved with genealogy since the 1990s, when she founded her company, Ebony Ancestry. Her primary focus is on finding the last slaveholder in African American families, a person who held enslaved people. This is no easy task, given that many records are unavailable due to historic courthouse fires, deterioration, or damage.

When asked, “Why is genealogical research especially important for Black families?” Blacklock-Sloan responded, “I subscribe to Alex Haley’s ‘The family is the link to our past’ because it explains everything about us—who we are, what we are, where we originated, and how we came to be. Knowing the history of your family is very important in finding a sense of identity.”

She says that the African Diaspora has created migratory patterns that cause descendants of enslaved individuals to live closer to each other than previously realized. Amused, Blacklock-Sloan says, “I can’t tell you how many times I have encountered strangers who remark how I strongly resemble one of their relatives. I could be a millionaire by now!”

She goes on to say, “Our African ancestors were taken captive, sold, forced into slavery, and brought to America. They built the economy of this country. For over four hundred years, their invaluable talents and skills from the Motherland influenced architecture, religion, art, cuisine, dance, and even inventions in America. Those contributions shaped our heritage and culture.” 

There is no doubt that enslaved Africans and their descendants have made tremendous contributions to our nation’s history and culture. Genealogy can help descendants track these achievements within their own familial lines, reilluminating family legacies that may have been lost to time. Libraries can bridge the gap between researchers and these ancestral stories.

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Libraries Support Genealogy Research

Libraries provide access to specialized databases and archives that may otherwise be cost-prohibitive.

Ancestry

Blacklock-Sloan recommends using the Ancestry Library Edition available at most public libraries, which grants free access to Ancestry, a platform that normally comes with a hefty subscription fee for individual users. She reports that Ancestry allows users to search over eight hundred yearbooks and catalogs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), dating from the late 1800s to the 1900s.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch is another useful resource that provides an image search function for researchers. FamilySearch Images houses a collection of digitized record sets that are not fully indexed, but can be browsed from the comfort of home. It also offers full-text search capabilities for Freedmen’s Bureau and court records.

Old newspapers can be used to search for enslaved ancestors, who are sometimes mentioned in probate or plantation sales. After the Civil War, many enslaved people who were separated from family members before the war posted ads in the paper in an attempt to find lost loved ones.

HeritageQuest

HeritageQuest—a robust genealogy database powered by Ancestry—offers census records, immigration and military records, local and family history books, and other resources, including Freedman’s Bank records. This database is primarily available through libraries via subscription, removing the financial barrier imposed by a personal subscription fee.

Additionally, libraries often preserve oral histories and community records, helping fill any gaps left by official documents. Library-hosted workshops and genealogy clubs can empower patrons to share research strategies and discoveries. Libraries may also partner with local historical societies and national projects to digitize and make accessible records tied to Black history.

Pratt Library, Cornell University Library, Duke University Libraries, Jefferson College Library, and the Library of Congress all have free research guides covering this subject area. The National Archives has an entire web portal devoted to African American heritage.

For Libraries Interested in Supporting This Research

There are several things libraries can do to further support researchers. Blacklock-Sloan recommends hosting workshops on genealogy, inviting professional genealogists to discuss the latest trends, and creating simple finding aids for researchers with various levels of experience. Library professionals can attend training that will strengthen their knowledge base in African American genealogical discovery.

For example, the Free Library of Philadelphia offers The Legacy Lab, a new Black genealogy club in West Philly. The club meets regularly and covers topics such as laying the foundations for genealogical research, learning digital discovery skills, and finding genealogical records.

The New York Public Library offers the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. This Harlem-based research center is one of NYPL’s renowned research libraries, with a collection of more than eleven million items documenting African American history, the African Diaspora, and African experiences. 

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Additional Free Resources

Blacklock-Sloan recommends using these additional resources to conduct genealogical research for African Americans:

The Slave Voyages Project and Databases

Rice University Special Collections manages the Trans-Atlantic and Intra-American slave trade databases. These databases are part of the Slave Voyages project, a comprehensive, free online research site that compiles detailed historical records of the trans-Atlantic and intra-American slave trades, documenting more than 30,000 voyages that forcibly transported millions of Africans between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The Slave Voyages website allows users to explore time-lapse maps, interactive maps, timelines, databases of enslaved people and slaving vessels, and visualizations that illuminate the routes and human impact of the slave trades. It serves as a major scholarly and educational resource developed through decades of international research collaboration among historians and academic institutions.

WikiTree

WikiTree is a free collaborative genealogy website where users create and edit individual profiles to help build and connect a single, shared worldwide family tree. It uses a wiki-style system that encourages collaboration and consolidates data from many contributors, with tools to link traditional research and DNA data. WikiTree also has a large African American research project, which is accessible to any WikiTree user.

Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade

Launched in 2018, Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade is a digital history project that brings together records about enslaved individuals from across the Atlantic and American slave trades into a single searchable platform. It focuses on the lives, identities, and experiences of enslaved people by linking names, events, and sources from multiple archives. 

The project helps researchers, educators, and families better understand and recover the histories of people affected by slavery. Although this resource is based in Louisiana, it is not Louisiana-specific. It is a broad, open-source digital database that brings together records from many regions and historical contexts related to the slave trade and enslaved people globally, including Africa, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, covering the early modern period through the nineteenth century.

Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy 1719–1820

For researchers seeking information from persons from Louisiana, Blacklock-Sloan directs researchers to Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy 1719–1820. This resource was created by Dr. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall, professor emerita of history at Rutgers University, where she taught Latin American and Caribbean history.

In her research, Dr. Hall uncovered the lives of 100,000 slaves who were brought to Louisiana in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This data is freely accessible thanks to the conjoined efforts of Dr. Hall, the Center for the Public Domain, and the creators of the Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy 1719–1820 database.

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Advice for the Would-Be Researcher

The institution of slavery created immense trauma for Black families and forced enslaved individuals to endure painful and shame-filled lives. It is important that the researcher keep this reality in mind as they progress along their research journey.

Blacklock-Sloan advises first setting research goals and keeping a research journal. She recommends interviewing the oldest relatives in the family and attending training workshops and online training sessions that focus on genealogical research. She warns that “beginning family research can be a monumental, time-consuming task, that is challenging and frustrating.” It is not uncommon to encounter obstacles, but remain persistent, patient, and determined because “our ancestors want us to find them!”

Blacklock-Sloan recommends reading books about African civilization, African/Black Diaspora, slavery in the Americas, free Blacks in America, emancipation, Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and Black Native American Ancestry. This will help provide context for understanding the landscapes that African and African American ancestors lived in. Blacklock-Sloan also advises taking a DNA test; AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage, and Living DNA all focus on genealogy and regional ancestry. 

The library provides an excellent starting point for genealogical research by connecting patrons with free resources. Librarians guide patrons as they navigate complex genealogical tools and interpret historical documents. In addition to subscription services, libraries often have their own census record data, oral history archives, local newspaper collections, and church registries that can fill the gaps in research. Visit your local library to begin your genealogy journey today!

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, you can reach Debra Blacklock-Sloan via email: [email protected]. 

The commentary in this article was gathered via an email interview with Ms. Blacklock-Sloan, conducted on January 10, 2025. Ms. Hilliard has used a combination of direct quotes and paraphrasing to share Blacklock-Sloan’s commentary with EveryLibrary readers.

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