A New Ancestry Newspaper Collection Sheds Light on Enslaved People in US Pre-1870
Content provided by Ancestry.com
Ancestry announced the publication of approximately 38,000 newspaper articles related to enslaved people in the US from 1788 to 1867. Featuring details on over 183,000 formerly enslaved people, the free collection could help millions discover more about their families. The collection is the latest step in Ancestry’s commitment to making culturally significant history available to everyone at no cost.
To help contextualize the African American experience during enslavement, Ancestry turned to experts, academics, and historians like Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Morehouse College.
“Greater access to these records on Ancestry will enhance understanding of how chattel slavery and the forced movement of enslaved people became normalized in the United States,” shared Dr. Sims-Alvarado. “This collection is invaluable for providing descendants of enslaved individuals with insights into their ancestral histories and their forebears’ acts of resistance and resilience, despite the Emancipation Proclamation being largely ignored by enslavers, newspaper publishers, and lawmakers. By piecing together individual stories, researchers can construct a more detailed picture of the lived experiences of Black Americans, enriching our collective understanding of history.”
This collection features crucial details about enslaved people, including names, ages, physical descriptions, and locations. Many of these original newspaper articles contain never-before-seen information about enslaved individuals before 1870. In these communities, many courthouse and community records were destroyed or lost.
The newspaper articles within the collection contain sensitive content related to the buying and selling of enslaved people. The content may be distressing or traumatic for some audiences.
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“Family history research can be challenging for Black Americans due to the long history of slavery in the United States and the lack of documentation about those who were enslaved,” said Nicka Sewell-Smith, professional genealogist and Senior Story Producer at Ancestry. “Exploring the articles in the context of their original publication can help us understand more about how slavery shaped everyday life in the United States and can help descendants of previously enslaved people unearth key discoveries about their family history.”
This collection complements the more than 18 million records already available for free on Ancestry. The records document the lives of formerly enslaved or newly emancipated individuals. This includes Freedmen’s Bureau and Freedman’s Bank records, select US Federal Census records, and other records of the enslaved.
Go back in time to follow the lives of over 100,000 enslaved people in 19th-century North America. Search thousands of free newspaper articles and get a rare glimpse into a community on the brink of freedom. Explore the new Articles of Enslavement collection for free below.
Navigating the New Articles of Enslavement Collection
Bethany Bell, a history PhD student at the University of Virginia, wrote the following blog post. It highlights strategies for critically reading and navigating these often-traumatizing materials. It also encourages researchers to prioritize their mental and emotional well-being throughout the research process.
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