Societies
- Delaware Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (DEAAHGS)Facebook page for the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Delaware chapter.
African American Newspapers
Comprehensive resources or lists of African-American newspapers are difficult to find. The following information offers useful starting points.
The Colored American (Washington, DC)
Location: Internet (available in Chronicling America) (1899-1904)
The Colored American (New York, NY)
Location: Library Databases (restricted to University of Delaware) (available in Accessible Archives) (1837-1841)
Freeman (Indianapolis, IN)
Location: UD Library Microfilm S 2239 (Lib. has:1888-1916)
Norfolk Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA)
Location :UD Library Microfilm S 154 (Lib. has: 1916-1917, 1921-1966)
Article about the Journal and Guide (PBS).
Pittsburgh Courier
Location: UD Library Microfilm S 182 (Lib. has: 1911-1912,1923-1950)
Article about the Pittsburgh Courier (PBS)
Richmond Planet (Richmond, VA)
Location: Internet (available in Chronicling America) (1883-1938)
The Washington Bee (Washington, DC)
Location: Internet (available in Chronicling America) (1884-1922)
Related Newspaper
The National Era (Washington, DC)
Location: Library Databases (restricted to University of Delaware) (available in Accessible Archives) (1847-1860)
An abolitionist newspaper, not an African American paper. Covered many topics related to slavery and current events.
Library Catalog
Search for subject African American newspapers in DELCAT Discovery.
Guides to African American Newspapers
Pinick, Timothy N. Finding and Using African American Newspapers. Wyandotte, OK: Gregarth Publishing Co., 2008. Not available at the University of Delaware Library.
More Information
ProQuest Historical Newspapers — Black Newspapers collection. Not available at the UD Library.
Provides full text of: Atlanta Daily World (1931–2003); The Baltimore Afro-American (1893–1988); Chicago Defender (1910–1975); Cleveland Call & Post (1934–1991); Los Angeles Sentinel (1934–2005); New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993); The Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921–2003); The Philadelphia Tribune (1912–2001); Pittsburgh Courier (1911–2002).
The Black Press Held By The Library of Congress
Location: Internet
Caution: created in 1991, so the holdings information is not current. Still useful as a list of titles.
- History Commons This link opens in a new windowContains database: African American Newspapers: The 19th Century. Full text searchable database of selected issues of important African American newspapers. Provides digital images of the pages.
Contents: The Christian Recorder, The Colored American (Weekly Advocate), Douglass Monthly, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Freedom’s Journal, Liberator, The National Era, The North Star, Provincial Freeman (Ontario).
- Chicago DefenderIncludes social columns from a large number of small communities, both in Illinois and in other states. Included were some communities as far away as Connecticut and California. Description from Finding and Using African American Newspapers. Pinick, Timothy N.
- Afro-American (Baltimore, MD)Also Microfilm S 151 (Lib. has: 1893-1968)
- California EagleScattered issues available on Internet Archive.
- Colored American (Washington, DC)Also available free in Chronicling America (1899-1904)
Freedmen's Bureau
Highly Recommended: Research Guides
Finding a Place Called Home by A step-by-step guide to finding African-American roots. Valuable information on methods of searching and interpreting records.
Research Guides
Finding Answers in U. S. Census Records by Not available at the University of Delaware Library. Can be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Includes descriptions of the Nonpopulation censuses and a brief listing of federal and non-federal sources for African Americans.- Special Issue on African American Research and Federal Records (National Archives)This issue focuses on the use of federal records in African American historical research. Sixteen articles by NARA staff and other historians explore the depth and breadth of material in the National Archives relative to African Americans. This issue examines the Civil War and Reconstruction, labor issues, civil rights, pictorial records, and research aids.
Special issue of Prologue: The journal of the National Archives Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer 1997).
- African-American (Cyndi's List)See especially, the How To section.
- African American family research on Ancestry.comAlso see other Free Research Guides on Ancestry.com. Excellent overview of resources. Note: some features mentioned as available on the Ancestry.com site are not available on the Ancestry Library Edition site.
- Tracing Your African American Roots (Delaware Public Archives)Examples of the kind of records you can find for researching African American ancestors. Great overview of the research process.
Black Genealogy by Publication Date: 1977The classic work in the area of African American genealogy. Though dated, Black Genealogy is a valuable reference to any researcher. Though many Black family records are lost or incomplete, Blockson shows readers how these lost resources might be found.
Web Resources
- African American Genealogy ExaminerA collection of columns by Michael Hait.
- Records of the Slave Claims Commission (examiner.com)Description of the publication: Records of the Slave Claims Commissions, 1864-1867 (available at the UD Library).
- Slave Girl's Story Revealed Through Rare RecordsArticle appearing in National Geographic News (June 8, 2005).
- African American GatewayA bibliography and webography from the Allen County Public Library Geneology Center.
Includes sections for each state. - Afro-American Historical and Genealogical SocietySee especially the sections on Genealogy, Research and Resources.
- Slave Manifests (National Archives Mid-Atlantic Region)Covering1800 through 1861, these records detail the transportation of enslaved men, women, and children between Philadelphia and southern ports.
Book Resources
Useful subject words for searching library catalogs
- Freedmen -- United States -- History
- African American families -- History
- African Americans -- Genealogy
- African American loyalists
- Free African Americans
- Slavery Law
- black indians
- slave records
- Black Family Research: Records of Post-Civil War Federal Agencies at the National Archives
Also: Library Annex U.S. Documents AE 1.124:108/2006
Primary Resources
Maryland and Delaware, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872, Wilmington, Delaware. Image 6 of 19; citing NARA microfilm publication M1906 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). FamilySearch
- Records of the Slave Claims Commissions, 1864-1867
Library has v. 1: Register of claims of Delaware Commission. The Register of Claims of Delaware Commission contains 114 claims entered before the Delaware Slave Claims Commission in 1864 and 1865. Each claim provides at least the name of the claimant/slave-owner and the name of the slave, providing direct evidence of the final slave-owner of each of the slaves thus claimed. Each entry may include additional information including date and place of enlistment of the slave, events in the processing of the claim, and the amount of award, if any. For rejected claims, one might learn that the claimant was considered disloyal, for example, or that the slave being claimed was not a chattel slave but a free black apprentice. Other information may also be found among the claims. This is a transcription of records at National Archives: Register of Claims of Delaware Commission, 1864-1865. Records of the Slave Claims Commission, 1864-1867. Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1762-1984, Record Group 94.
Law and Legislation
Manumission was under the jurisdiction of the Virginia legislature until 1782. During that period governmental action was required for manumission. See article: Ahrens, Toni, and Paul Finkelman. "Emancipation." In Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619–1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass: Oxford University Press, 2006. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195167771.001.0001/acref-9780195167771-e-0184. 
- After 1723, Manumission Takes Careful Planning and Plenty of Savvy (webpage)Article by Linda Rowe. Published in: Colonial Williamsburg Interpreter, Volume 25, No. 2 (2004).
- Wills, Property Tax Rolls, Inventory Lists, Reports (webpages)Selected transcriptions and lists. From Christine's Genealogy Website.
Genealogy Resources at the University of Delaware Library
Although not aimed at genealogy and family history, the collections of the University of Delaware Library (Morris Library) include materials useful to genealogists and family historians.
This Genealogy Research Guide is provided as a service for genealogists. It presents topics and resources to assist researchers.
The UD Library does not specialize in genealogy and does not have staff responsible for genealogy. Library staff cannot conduct research.
For questions about library resources and holdings, use the Ask the Library service.
For questions about getting research assistance, see the suggestions on the home page of this guide or on the topic/resources pages.
1890 Census Fragment for Delaware
- List of selected African Americans from the 1890 and 1900 federal population censuses of Delaware and related census publications: "Agriculture in the State of Delaware" (1901) and "Negroes in the United States" (1904) (Microfilm)Call Number: UD Library - Microforms (no. 6615)The names of African American (“Negro”) farmers in the Twelfth Census of the United States (1900) for Delaware and in the Eleventh Census of the United States (1890) for Delaware. This information was gathered because data was disputed in the draft of a statistical report to be published in 1901. (National Archives microfilm M1919).
It is significant that the1890 list of names survived because the 1890 census schedules for Delaware were subsequently destroyed in a fire in 1921.
The 1890 information is available in Ancestry Library Edition, under the title: Selected African Americans in Delaware.
The report which was questioned in its draft phase was completed and is available online. Agriculture in the State of Delaware (Census Bulletin No. 100; September 30, 1901).
- Selected African Americans in Delaware, 1890, U.S. Census (in Ancestry Library Edition)The names of African American “Negro” farmers in Delaware from the 1890 Census schedules. In Ancestry Library Edition, select “Search” on the home page, select "Card Catalog" then type the title. The database can be searched by name and browsed by location. For the browse option, scroll to the bottom of the page.
This is a very small list, consisting of 29 handwritten pages containing names, the enumeration district number, the county and hundred where the person lived, and their occupation. Since this is an agriculture list, the occupations are mainly farmer or farm laborer. Some females are listed. More than 400 names are included.
- Descriptive Pamphlet for M1919: List of selected African Americans...Description of National Archives collection: microfilm M1919: List of selected African Americans From the 1890 and 1900 Federal Population Censuses of Delaware and Related Census Publications: Agriculture in the State of Delaware (1901) and Negroes In The United States (1904).
Special Topics
- Genealogy Notes: Exodus to KansasArticle by Damani Davis. In Prologue: The journal of the National Archives, vol. 40, no. 2 (Summer 2008), pages 52-58.
- New Orleans Slave Manifests, 1807-60Article by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens in NGS Magazine (National Genealogical Society), Vol. 34, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2008): 43-47.
- Lynching: Ida B. Well-Barnett and the Outrage over the Frazier Baker MurderArticle by Trichita M. Chestnut . In Prologue: The journal of the National Archives. Vol. 40, No. 3 (Fall 2008), pages 20-29.
African American Experience in World War I
- Scott's Official History of The American Negro in the World War byPublication Date: 1919
The American Foreign Legion by Still segregated in World War I, the U.S. Army was reluctant to use its 93d division of black soldiers in combat and instead assigned the division's three National Guard and one draftee regiments to the French Army.
Freedom Struggles by For many of the 200,000 black soldiers sent to Europe with the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, encounters with French civilians and colonial African troops led them to imagine a world beyond Jim Crow.- Race and War in Delaware: The Story of Delaware’s African American Veterans of World War I byMA thesis, University of Delaware (2005).
- "Black WWI Vets Fought Bias, Foes" byThe News Journal, Feb 11, 2005. B.1
There is a growing number of resources on this topic, both in print and on the web. Recommended search term for library catalogs and for internet searching:
african americans "world war i "
The space after "world war i" eliminates "world war ii" from the search
African American Military Research
- Blacks in the Military (National Archives)Articles and guides to research.