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      Genealogy    Family History    African American Genealogy  This curriculum is still in progress but will be designed as a 6- or 8-part training course for high schoolers interested in genealogy. The goal is to provide introductory training and also familiarize them with primary resources that are specific to African American genealogy.

      9-12  I selected this topic because studies have shown that knowing one's family history makes one more successful overall--in any field.  And in a world in which resilience is lacking, this is one way to change the narrative and help kids navigate the world with much more resilience.

    • Analyze historical newspapers in Chronicling America
    • Analyze the DC "state" collection of resources
    • Reviewing the WPA slave narratives
    6 comments 108 views
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    Hello Gigi,

    Great topic, but may be a little challenging with the Library collection.  Census records and the lists of enslaved are housed at the National Archives. 

    The Library has this Resource Guide that may be helpful. 

    Here's a PDF from the National Archives that may be helpful.

    Edited

    Thank you, Michelle. These links are very good tips. The Center for Family History at the International African American Museum has a large collection of digital sources.

    Thanks!  I took the Gen-Fed Institute course at the National Archives in 2023.  It is indeed a great resource. Actually the LOC is also a great resource.  While it doesn't have census-type information, it does have a lot of collections that are extremely helpful for African American genealogists. The most important of these is probably the "Chronicling America" series of historical newspapers.  This collection includes Black-owned newspapers which are a critical source of information for that time. A lot of information and data that would never appear in official sources are in newspapers. 

    This post from the Timeless Stories from the Library of Congress blog is probably only marginally related to your project,   Gigi Nelson , but it is such a fun read! Titled Genealogy Research: Fact and Fiction, it tells the story of a Library staff member who chose her career path after her "heart leapt" at seeing the diagrams of two family trees in the novel Wuthering Heights when she was only 14 years old! I didn't even know there was such a thing as "genealogy fiction." Anyway, I loved the story, and I think it would be fun to retell during your high school training course in African American genealogy. 

    Edited

    Hello Mary Johnson and thank you for sharing!  I don't know that I've ever heard that exact phrase, but I've read a lot of books where family trees are included in the front matter. Now I have a word for it!

       Gigi, Mary’s post reminded me that Candice Buchanan, a Waynesburg University graduate and Greene County resident, has written over 20 blogs in the last 4 years for different departments at the Library, including the Teachers Blog and Timeless. The two listed below relate directly to your project, and I encourage you to browse through the Google Site search results list for (Candice Buchanan at site:blogs.loc.gov) and glean some additional ideas.  I have admired Candice’s work since I first met her in 2004 when TPS ER first began our primary source journey.

    Black History Month: Family Health, Hidden in DNA (Timeless)

    Explore the History of Your Family and Community (TPS Teachers)

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