Have you heard about the latest Ethnicity Estimate tool called SideView™? AncestryDNA launched this new feature on 13 April 2022, and it has features that I think you will really like! SideView™ uses your DNA matches to help assign ethnicity estimates to two profiles representing your father and your mother. This is exciting news! This new feature, found in the “Ethnicity Estimates” section of AncestryDNA, shows you the ethnicities you inherited from each side of your family. The SideView report displays images representing the DNA from specific countries or regions that both of your parents inherited from many generations of...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Suzanne Campbell Lowe. In 2005, Suzanne learned from a white cousin about her Campbell family’s connection — through slavery — to a black man named James Meredith. Over the course of the next several years, Suzanne’s white and black families have built their relationships and explored their descendancy from their common ancestor: a prominent white leader of the Confederacy named J.A.P. Campbell. Join us as we discuss Suzanne’s journey getting to know her black cousins and learning about African American research. Transcript Links Coming to the Table...
February is Black History Month and for genealogists, a chance to reflect on how we can help researchers with African American heritage discover their ancestors. As a southern researcher, I come in contact with many records naming enslaved individuals and have wondered how best to share those with others. I’ve written previously about the Slave Name Roll Project and the Beyond Kin Project. In this guest post by genealogist, Connie Davis, we learn about another excellent way to share records naming enslaved individuals -the US Black Heritage project at WikiTree. Guest Blog by Connie Davis Have you searched for a...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about books that Diana has been reading to help her with African American Research. She discusses general reference books as well as locality specific references.There are an abundance of materials available to guide our research these days, and some of those materials are only available in printed books. It’s great to take advantage of the writings of fellow genealogists and historians to help us along the way. Transcript Links Print Resources for African American Research by Diana at Family Locket https://familylocket.com/print-resources-for-african-american-research/ The One and Only Me: A Book About Genes by...
When working on an African American research project, what resources can help you? Genealogy research in the 21st century certainly has its perks and one of those is an abundance of material to guide us. Although online resources abound, sometimes, a book that can be digested in small chunks provides the best learning experience. Here are titles from my bookshelf. General Reference Books Finding A Place Called Home: A Guide to African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor Although Woodtor wrote Finding A Place Called Home in the pre-internet era, the methodology for African American research remains the same....
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the Record Linking Lab (RLL) at Brigham Young University. Professor Joseph P. Price talks with us about how his background in economics and interest in his personal family history led to the creation of the RLL. By using machine learning and making connections across data, the RLL hopes to provide better family history experiences for others whether they are using FamilySearch’s Family Tree or visiting a museum. We discuss several of the RLL’s projects, including the Census Tree, African-American Families, Automated Indexing, and Families of the 1918 Pandemic. Links Joseph P....
In Part 1 of this series, we learned how two volunteers are making a difference for anyone researching their African American ancestors in Liberty County, Georgia. Together they have documented almost 30,000 names of enslaved people using all available records. By transcribing the Southern Claims Commission Case (SCC) files, additional connections are coming to light. In part 2 of this series, Stacy Cole shares her methodology for researching the SCC records and provides examples for us to learn from. – Diana Stacy’s story After the recent “Research Like A Pro” podcast episode (#124) on the Southern Claims Commission, I contacted...
Have you wondered how you could make a difference in the genealogy world? Your research may be fairly straightforward or have many challenges. For those researching African American ancestors, the brick wall appears relatively soon – generally prior to 1870. Dealing with the lack of surnames in the antebellum era, forced separation of families, and record loss requires a focused approach and pouring through many record collections. Fortunately, more useful records are becoming available and efforts by volunteers to index these records can make all the difference. In this guest blog post, we learn how two researchers, Stacy Cole and...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the Southern Claims Commission. This record set was created for loyal southerners to seek redress for supplies seized by the Union Army during the Civil War. Many free people of color filed claims. Many witness and personal statements of former slave owners and the formerly enslaved are included. To access the records, use the index at Ancestry.com and follow the ideas at the FamilySearch Wiki article about the Southern Claims Commission. Links Researching African American Ancestors in Government Documents Part 4: Southern Claims Commission To The Letter DNA Southern Claims Commission...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about records created during the New Deal in the 1930s that can help research African American ancestors. This is the third part in our series on researching African Americans in federal government documents. Diana shares more record groups she learned about during her IGHR course, including the 1940 census, WPA Personnel records, CCC Enrollee Records, the American Guide Series, Slave Narratives, and the Historical Records Survey. Links Researching African American Ancestors in Government Documents Part 3 : WPA Projects and Slave Narratives RLP 121: African American Research Part 1 The Living New...
