Thanks to those of you who were able to join today’s small group session. We discussed the new documentation projects for US Colored Troops and Navy based out of Natchez, the Black Homesteaders Project, getting prepared for the release of the Freedmen’s Bureau on Ancestry, and more.
Next, we talked about our the assignment from last session: Search out slavery related documents and collections for your ancestral county/parish. You can use WorldCAT, Archive Grid, Google and more. What did you find? Search your DNA matches for locations mentioned in the book, the Ledger and the Chain. What did you find?
Links mentioned during this session:
- Natchez Monument Committee looking to identify descendants of U.S. Colored Troops
- Black Homesteading in America
- Sankofagen (Old Site) (New Site)
- Digital Library on American Slavery (DLAS)
- Bankruptcy Records at the National Archives
- Wayback Machine (Internet Archive)
Our next small group will be held on Saturday, August 21, 2021 at 11am Pacific/1pm Central/2pm Eastern.
Next assignment: Continue reading The Ledger and The Chain by Joshua D. Rothman. Complete reading chapters 5 and 6. Get familiar with larger slave markets in your ancestral area. What were the names of the exchanges that supported the system of enslavement? Were any tied to your slaveholding families, if known? Search newspapers, personal papers, census, maps or anything that can help you round out the operation locally. Be prepared to discuss what you found during the exercise. Continue searching your DNA matches for locations mentioned in the book, such as Natchez, New Orleans, Spotsylvania, etc. What did you find?