FROM THE PRESENT TO THE PAST: TRACING AFRICAN AMERICAN GENEALOGY FROM 1940 TO THE 1870 BRICK WALL Presented by: Tamika Strong Librarian, Genealogist Augusta Genealogical Society August 20, 2016
CLASS OBJECTIVE To assist attendees in learning the first steps in tracing their genealogy and documenting their family history. To provide attendees an overview of some challenges that African American researchers face in researching their family history.
STEP #1: PREPARE FOR THE JOURNEY Accept History for what it is. Do not apply a 21 st century mindset to a 19 th or 20 th century situation. Try to keep things in their historical context. Be prepared for the Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and the Unbelievable.
STEP #2: WHAT S YOUR GOAL? Determine what you want to learn about your family. Establish a long term and a short term goal. Write them down the goals. Post them in your workspace. Try to stay focus on them.
RESEARCH GOALS Short Term Example: Find census records for maternal grandmother. Long Term Example: Trace maternal family line to 1870.
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Family Stories / Oral History Family Bibles Family Trees / Genealogies Family Papers Birth Certificates Marriage Certificates or Licenses Divorce Decrees Funeral Programs Obituaries (From Newspapers or Funeral Programs) Death Certificates Cemetery/Burial Information Newspaper Clippings
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Pictures Wills Military Records Land Deeds Yearbooks Organization Memberships School Records Business Records Awards / Certificates Old Personal Phone Books Citizenship Records Court Records Church Information
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Look for Genealogy in Strange places. Tattoos
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Look for Genealogy in Strange places. Memorial T-Shirts
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Look for Genealogy in Strange places. Memorial Car Vinyls
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Determine if your family has a family historian or someone who knows a lot of your family s history. Identify relatives who would have documents and/or information that would be helpful for your research.
STEP #3: START @ HOME COLLECT FAMILY DOCUMENTS Interview relatives, especially the elders Record the interview if possible, audio or video Ask to make copies of pictures, funeral programs, obituaries, etc. Be prepared - some people may be unwilling to share information or materials.
STEP #4: WRITE IT DOWN Write down everything you know. Names Full Names, Nicknames, Abbreviations Parents, Siblings, Children Important Dates Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death Places where the family lived
STEP #4: WRITE IT DOWN Record the information Paper Desktop Publishing Software MS Excel, MS Word, Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc. Create Your Own Forms Genealogy Software Pedigree Charts Family Group Sheets
PEDIGREE CHART Captures your direct ancestors, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, etc. You are #1 on the chart. Your father s line starts with #2. Your mother s line starts with #3. Men are even numbers 2, 4, 6, etc. Women are odd numbers 3, 5, 7, etc. Women are placed on the chart under the maiden name. If unknown then leave blank.
FAMILY GROUP SHEETS Captures the family units parents and children. Create a Family Group Sheet for every couple or parent pair.
OUTSIDE RESOURCES
STEP #5: LEARN THE LINGO Colored C; Col; * African Negro Negress Nigra N****r Mulatto Black Biracial Mixed Quadroon (1/4 th Black) Octaroon (1/8 th Black) Person of Color Afro American Black American African American
STEP #6: REMEMBER THE TIME Gain a general understanding of the history of African Americans during the time periods you are researching. 1619: First Africans arrived at Jamestown 1619 1865: A Time of Enslavement and Freedom 1865 1965: The Fight for Freedom and Civil Rights 1965 present: The Fight Continues This is a over simplification of the History of People of African Descent in America.
STEP #6: REMEMBER THE TIME Learn about the environment in which the ancestors lived. County & Town Histories Coverage in the Local Newspaper Print and online materials about African Americans in the geographic area. Remember! Try to keep the information you learn in its historical context. There is a possibility that a resource may not mention the presence of people of color, i.e. some county histories.
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Get familiar with the historical African American neighborhoods, institutions, organizations, resources and accomplishments. Neighborhoods historic and current. Springfield & Sand Hills / Elizabethtown U. S. National Park Service African Americans in Augusta https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/augusta/africanamericanaugusta.html Augusta New Georgia Encyclopedia http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/augusta Belair Hills Estates Reflections. A Newsletter for the Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network (pg. 4) http://www.georgiashpo.org/sites/uploads/hpd/pdf/reflections_december_2013.pdf
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Get familiar with the historical African American neighborhoods, institutions, agencies, resources and accomplishments. Institutions Schools Lamar School for Nursing (Reflections. IX.4. March 2011. pg. 5) http://www.georgiashpo.org/sites/uploads/hpd/pdf/reflections_march_2011_revd.pdf Paine College Historically Black College / University Hospitals Jackson Street Hospital Help for the Helpless: Antebellum Healthcare for African Americans in Georgia. Reflections. IX.3. December 2010. pg. 5. http://www.georgiashpo.org/sites/uploads/hpd/pdf/reflections_december_2010.pdf
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Get familiar with the historical African American neighborhoods, institutions, agencies, resources and accomplishments. Institutions Churches Cemeteries Funeral Homes Organizations Businesses / Business District
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Get familiar with the historical African American neighborhoods, institutions, agencies, resources and accomplishments. Books Augusta, Georgia By Sean Joiner and Gerald Smith, foreword by Marva Stewart. ISBN: 9780738516684 Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Date: 07/21/2004 State: Georgia Series: Black America Series Images: 200 Pages: 128
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Get familiar with the historical African American neighborhoods, institutions, agencies, resources and accomplishments. Newspapers Chronicling America chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Identify the clues in the resources. Terms and Abbreviations Colored C Col * B M Neg
Source: Richmond County Marriage Book, 1898 1875. pg. 190. Georgia Virtual Vault.
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Identify the clues in the resources. Changes to the Document Clipped Edges World War I Draft Card (Registration Cards A and B)
Source: United States World War I Draft Records. FamilySearch Wiki. https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/united_states_world_war_i_draft_records. Link to Draft Card A - http://c.ancestry.com/pdf/trees/charts/draftcarda.pdf
STEP #7: KNOW WHERE TO LOOK Find the section of the resources that contain information about African Americans. Table of Contents Check Index Look for terminology used for African Americans, i.e. colored, black, negro, mulatto, slave, etc. Back of the Book Colored Section AJC Example of Colored Obits
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES ARCHIVES & LIBRARIES Georgia Public Libraries Several have genealogy centers / departments. Ladson Genealogical Library (Ohoopee Regional Library System) Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American History and Culture (Atlanta Fulton County Public Library System) Georgia Archives National Archives at Atlanta Family History Library and Centers Salt Lake and local locations Allen Public Library Fort Wayne, Indiana
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES RECORD TYPES Census Records Military Records Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death) School Records Yearbooks City Directories Cemeteries Newspapers County Histories Town Histories Funeral Programs Land and Property Records Business Records Court Records Probate
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES ONLINE FamilySearch https://familysearch.org/ Georgia Virtual Vault http://vault.georgiaarchives.org/ Digital Library of Georgia http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu Digital Public Library of America https://dp.la/ Chronicling America Library of Congress http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Google (Search, Scholar)
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES ONLINE Afrigeneas http://afrigeneas.com/ Reclaiming Kin (Blog) http://www.reclaimingkin.com/ The Root Genealogy Articles http://www.theroot.com/?s=genealogy Lowcountry Africana http://www.lowcountryafricana.com/ Cyndi s List African American Category http://www.cyndislist.com/african-american Umbra Search https://www.umbrasearch.org/
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES ONLINE Library of Congress American Memory Project African American History Collection http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/listsome.php?category=african%2 0American%20History Collections include: Voices from the Days of Slavery Slave Narratives, Federal Writers Project Documenting the American South http://docsouth.unc.edu/browse/collections.html Collections include: The Church in the Southern Black Community First Person Narratives of the American South Oral Histories of the American South
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES DATABASES GALILEO Ancestry Library Edition HeritageQuest FamilySearch Ancestry.com - $$ FindMyPast - $$ MyHeritage - $$
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES -CENSUS RESEARCH Census Records Start from the present and work backwards starting with yourself. Happens every tens years from 1790 1890 Census lost to water damage due to a fire; some parts survived. Information recorded in the census varied from each census year. Special Schedules were included during certain census years, i.e. Slave Schedules in 1850 and 1860 Census. Some states completed a census in between the Federal Census, i.e. 1866 Alabama State Census.
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES -CENSUS RESEARCH Census Records 1870 Census first time most African Americans were listed by name. 1880 Census showed family relationships for the first time. 1900 Census included birth month and date 1940 Census Released April 2012 Fully indexed by August of 2012 Denotes informant with an asterisk.
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES -CENSUS RESEARCH Census Search Tips Start from the latest census and work backwards. Use multiple sites to search the census. Always look at the original document, not just the transcription. Remember to look at the neighbors; sometimes they are family members. Ages may not be accurate.
STEP #8: USE YOUR RESOURCES -CENSUS RESEARCH Census Search Tips (cont.) Be mindful of Nicknames or name abbreviations, i.e. Jno John, Maggie Margaret; Mag Maggie Be creative with the spellings of names, i.e. Calloway/Callaway. Use wildcards for searching Asterisk (*) for multiple letters, i.e. Cal* Question mark (?) for a single letter, i.e. Call?way
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: CASE STUDY
MAGGIE BELL PRINTUP SWINGER MADDOX 1928-2000 Maternal Grandmother Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia Oldest of 5 children Different Father from her 4 siblings Married twice Mother of Nine Children, 7 boys, 2 girls 5 Still living
STEP #9: CASE STUDY MAGGIE BELL MADDOX Look at the individual s birth date. That will determine which censuses the person should be included. Example: Maggie Bell Printup (1928 2000) Should be able to find her in the 1940 Census 1930 Census
STEP #9: CASE STUDY MAGGIE BELL MADDOX Example: Maggie Bell Printup (1928 2000) 1940 Census
STEP #9: CASE STUDY MAGGIE BELL MADDOX Example: Maggie Bell Printup (1928 2000) 1930 Census
1950 Atlanta City Directory; Page: 1348; Ancestry.com
CASE STUDY: MAGGIE B. MADDOX NEXT STEPS Compile all of the documents I ve gathered. Review them and updated information on Pedigree Chart and Family Group Sheet. Create/Update her timeline. Create a list of tasks to complete, based on missing information. Get copies of the following documents: First Marriage License Original Birth Certificate Obituary School Records Death Certificate City Directories
REVIEW Prepare for the Journey What s Your Goal? Start @ Home Collect Family Documents Write It Down Learn the Lingo Remember the Time Know Where to Look Use Your Resources
RESEARCH TIPS Select a single surname, individual, or family unit to focus on. Set a research goal. Complete and update Pedigree Charts and Family Group Sheets to reflect new information. Create and keep a research log or journal to track your progress. Get organized and stay organized. Make copies, either paper or electronic, of the original documents so you will have a copy.
RESEARCH TIPS CONT. Evaluate and interpret the information you have collected. Take small steps don t overwhelm yourself. Genealogy is a lifelong hobby! Get organized and stay organized!!!! Learn as you go using webinars, classes, attending genealogy group meetings, etc. Remember to have fun!!!
HAVE FUN!!!!! Source: http://www.roadkilltshirts.com/assets/productimages/ps_1081_shook_tree.jpg
PHOTO CREDITS Slide 8: RIP Tattoo - http://creativefan.com/rip-tattoos/ Kids Name Tattoo - https://www.pinterest.com/meltons1/nametattoos/ Slide 9: Whitney Houston T-Shirt - https://dreams2things.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index&c Path=11_57_69 Andre Fulgiam T-Shirt - http://norwaypresscorp.com/samplesmemorialtees.htm Slide 10: Car Memorial Vinyl - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/114771490478646867/
PRESENTER INFORMATION Tamika Maddox Strong Genealogist and Librarian gagenealogy2011@gmail.com