10 Steps to Reclaiming
Your African Roots
A Guide to Navigating African American Genealogy
© 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. A service provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Version: 10/19. PD60010029 000
The desire to navigate one’s identity and
heritage can be easily overwhelmed by an
onslaught of information and resources.
Tackling your family history does not have to
be complicated if you follow the right steps.
This handout is designed to help you follow
a step-by-step process to get started.
Contrary to modern instinct, capturing your family history doesn’t begin online—it begins with
you! Before you head online, write down everything you know about your family. Print out a
pedigree chart to help keep track of everyone. Doing so will help you to easily spot any holes
or gaps in information. At the back of this guide, you will find an example pedigree chart to
use and fill out.
Look for any possible information about your family and ancestors in records you may have
in your home or in a relative’s home. The more information you gather, the easier it will be
to locate and recognize individuals in other records. Records to look for include obituaries,
funeral programs, death records, birth records, journals, diaries, family Bibles, family letters,
and photographs. Though not always easy to access, the cemeteries where relatives are
buried can help you collect useful information as well.
Label and organize the documents and photos you have discovered, and thoroughly review
them for additional information.
1 Write Down What You Know
2 Find Artifacts around the Home
After you have exhausted your own personal knowledge, it’s time to reach out to your parents,
siblings, and extended relatives to document the people and facts that you’ve yet to uncover.
Ask them for your help in filling in the blanks of your pedigree chart or My Family: Stories That
Bring Us Together booklet.
Beyond asking for basic information, conducting interviews with your relatives will help you in
compiling an oral history. Oral histories add an invaluable layer with stories, personalities, and
details that bring your ancestors to life. The FamilySearch Family Tree and the FamilySearch
Memories app can help you to record those interviews.
For tips on how to successfully conduct an interview, head to the FamilySearch wiki page:
familysearch.org/wiki/en/Creating_Oral_Histories
For more information on the FamilySearch Family Tree and FamilySearch Memories app,
check out: familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch-apps-oral-histories/
3 Interview Relatives
Once you’ve laid the proper foundation, now is the time to get online and input the information
you’ve collected. Head to FamilySearch.org and sign up for a free account. You will need an
email address or an SMS phone number in order to create one.
Creating a FamilySearch account will allow you to preserve your family’s information. On
FamilySearch, you can collaborate with others who have common ancestors. With your
permission, others can also access your information to provide you with additional help if needed.
Sign up for a free account here: familysearch.org/register/
4 Create a FamilySearch Account
As you complete the steps to sign up for a FamilySearch account, FamilySearch will direct
you to begin inputting the information you’ve collected on your own and with other family
members. Begin adding the names, dates, and locations as instructed.
OR
Once you’ve created an account, log in, click the “Family Tree” tab, and begin adding names
to your family tree. Input the names, dates, and locations you’ve collected.
You do not need all of an ancestor’s information to add them to the tree. Simply input as much
as you can, and then come back later to add more or correct the information. You can always
edit and update an ancestor’s profile at any time.
For more information on adding names to the tree, head here:
familysearch.org/blog/en/how-to-start-a-family-tree/
5 Create Your Own Family Tree
In all of us there is a
hunger, marrow-deep,
to know our heritage—
to know who we are
and where we have
come from.
Alex Haley
“What Roots Means to Me,” Reader’s Digest, May 1977, 73
Look to see if your ancestors are already in the tree by accessing FamilySearch Family
Tree. With a database of more than 1.2 billion ancestors, the FamilySearch shared tree is a
cooperative public tree where FamilySearch users can see how they connect to each other.
Instead of concentrating eorts on privately constructing individual trees, FamilySearch users
work together to build a single shared tree that helps everyone discover more about their
ancestors and other family members.
In many instances, people are already working on your tree unbeknownst to you. Search the
FamilySearch shared tree to see if ancestors have already been captured on the tree, saving
you a lot of time and unnecessary work.
For instructions on how to search the shared family tree and connect it to your profile, head
here: familysearch.org/blog/en/find-my-ancestors-familysearch-family-tree/
Look for empty spots in your family tree by examining it in various formats. Formats such as the
fan chart can help you to more clearly see where you’re missing family information, giving you a
starting point for where to continue searching. Once you’ve identified blanks, search for additional
information on existing ancestors, or begin searching records as defined in the next step.
To discover the various ways of looking at your family tree, head here:
familysearch.org/blog/en/new-discovery-fan-chart-family-tree/
6 Search for Existing Ancestors
7 Look for Blanks
Census Records
Census records are a great place to start your research. They can quickly tell you where a family
is residing, which is vital information for eectively locating them in other records. United States
census records began in 1790 and were taken (and still are) every 10 years. The most recent
census available is the 1940 census. The first census that lists all African Americans by name is
the 1870 census. Free African Americans were enumerated on earlier censuses.
Census records are helpful in estimating dates and events such as death, marriage, birth, and
migration. Locate your ancestor in every possible census, as well as their parents and all their
siblings. This is especially helpful if your ancestor disappears from the censuses. They may
have been living with other family members.
To begin searching the census records, head here:
familysearch.org/blog/en/us-census-records/#uscensusrecords
There are a host of records available to search on both the federal and state levels. While we
are unable to review every kind of record in this guide, here are the following record types
that will best help you as you get started:
8 Search for Historical Records
Vital Records
Vital records include birth registers and certificates, marriage licenses and certificates, and death
registers and certificates. These are called “vital” records because they contain essential
information about our ancestors’ lives, which can help link us to them. Such records may be
dicult to locate but are among the most helpful.
Search the collection here:
familysearch.org/search/collection list?fcs=recordType%3AVITAL&ec=recordType%3AVITAL
Military Records
World War I Draft Registration Cards
All males born between September 13, 1873, and September 12, 1900, were required to
register for the World War I draft. There were three dierent registrations for dierent ages,
all asking for dierent information. A registration card may include the registrant’s birth
date, birthplace, and next of kin. These cards are valuable because they were filled out
by the registrants—and sometimes this is all the information we have that they completed
themselves.
Search the collection here: familysearch.org/search/collection/1968530
World War II Draft Registration Cards
Nicknamed the “old man’s draft,” this registration was taken in April 1942 for men born
between April 27, 1877, and February 16, 1897. These cards can be found in Familysearch.org’s
historical records.
Search the collection here: familysearch.org/search/collection/1861144
For additional military records, search our complete collection here:
familysearch.org/search/collectionlist?fcs=recordType%3AMILITARY
Unique African American Records after 1865
Freedman’s Bank Records
The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (often called the Freedman’s Bank) was created
to assist newly freed slaves and African American soldiers at the end of the Civil War. The
bank failed in 1874 and many depositors lost their savings, but the records of the bank
remain. Among the records are the registers of signatures of depositors. The registers from
29 branches from 1864 to 1871 show the name, residence, and description of each depositor.
They may also include the depositor’s genealogical information, birth date, birthplace, former
owner, employer, occupation, relatives, and so on.
The registers of signatures of depositors have several easy-to-use indexes that include about
480,000 personal names (61,131 depositors and their relatives). They cover a time period when
many African Americans were newlyfreed, and they oer information about people’s transition
from slavery to freedom.
Search the collection here: familysearch.org/searchcollection/1417695
Freedmen’s Bureau Records
The ocial government title of this record set is “The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands.” The Bureau was created during Reconstruction to help with relief eorts
for freed slaves and poor whites. It was active from 1865 to 1872, and its records contain a
wide variety of data about the African American experience in both slavery and freedom.
The collection contains 1.5 million digital images of items such as labor contracts, education
records, and court and marriage records.
Similar to the Freedman’s Bank records, the Freedmen’s Bureau Records can provide a critical
link in finding ancestors who were once enslaved, thus breaking the infamous 1870 “wall.”
Search for names within FamilySearch’s collection of Freedmen’s Bureau records here:
discoverfreedmen.org
For an in-depth webinar reviewing the importance of the Freedmen’s Bureau records, as well
as a tutorial to search the records, head here:
familysearch.org/ask/learningViewer/1001
U.S. Colored Troops
The United States Army began to organize African Americans into regimental units known as
the United States Colored Troops (USCT) in 1863. The enlistment of free blacks and slaves
was considered a key to winning the war. Approximately 186,000 African Americans served in
the USCT volunteer units during the Civil War.
Search the collection here: familysearch.org/search/collection/1932431
All these record collections are critical for researching African American ancestors, and many
more collections are available as well.
For more information, head to the FamilySearch wiki page dedicated to African American
genealogy: familysearch.org/wiki/en/African_American_Genealogy
Breathe life and personality into your genealogy by uploading photos and adding stories in the
Memories section of FamilySearch. This is a perfect way to preserve artifacts, photos, stories,
and oral interviews in a location where all of your family members can access it for free.
Begin adding your memories here: familysearch.org/photos/
Throughout your entire journey, lean on the support of your family. Enlist your immediate and
extended family in searching for names, collecting artifacts, and adding people to the family
tree. Doing so will bring you joy and strengthen your family ties.
9 Add Photos and Stories
10 Work Together as a Family
Fill in this family tree.
