The legacy of slavery, prejudice, and institutional racism has significantly impacted the availability and completeness of records related to African American genealogy. Prior to the 1870 U.S. Census, which was the first to include African Americans by name, tracing ancestry can be particularly challenging due to the lack of comprehensive documentation and the dehumanizing treatment of enslaved individuals, often recorded as property rather than people. As a result, researchers often encounter obstacles when attempting to trace their family histories beyond this point.
Much has been written on how to access primary source documents. Locating and accessing digitized documents, newspapers, images, maps, graves, genealogy, books etc. has become easier with time, but the work remains challenging.
With time we will add to the list of resources which we find helpful in locating the bits and pieces of our shared history in Montgomery County.
Gathering African American History 