"On the first day of January, in the year
 of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
 and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves
 within any State, or designated part of a State,
 the people Whereof shall then be in rebellion
 against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward,  and forever free."
Emancipation Proclamation

Slavery was outlawed in the
 District of Columbia on April 16, 1862.

African American Genealogical Research

The District of Columbia has, percentage-wise, the highest African American population in the US and many DC genealogical  researchers may find the following links and research helps useful.

African American genealogy is a growing specialist field, involving hundreds of thousands of amateur genealogists as well as professionals.
 

Notable African-Americans of Early Washington, DC:


General / How To:

African American Genealogy Bibliography for Beginners

Family Tree Maker 's African-American How-To

List of African American Genealogical Societies (from Everton's)


DC Resources:

DC GenWeb's list of some of the most historic black churches and cemeteries in DC

DC GenWeb's list of some books relevant to DC  African American Genealogy

DC GenWeb's list of DC African-American records in the National Archives

 Martin Luther King Library  (main library, DC Public Libraries. Has extensive African-American history  section in addition to Washingtoniana Section on local history/genealogy)

District of Columbia Emancipation Act

African-American Mosaic

Black American Resources at Ancestry (variety of  resources and organizations related to Black American research)


African American Genealogy E-Mail List:

A mailing list for exchanging resources, help, surnames lists, data, etc. among African American  genealogical researchers. Mailing address for postings is afrigeneas@msstate.edu. To subscribe, send email to listproc@msstate.edu with the following message: subscribe afrigeneas firstname lastnameAFRIGENEAS. (This should be in the body of the message, not subject line).


Links to Lists of Links.....

AFRIGENEAS (Great Website of on-line African American Genealogical group, see above)

Christine Charity's African American Genealogy Page  (LOTS of great links)

Cyndi's List -- African American Genealogy Links (Cyndi's is all-round tops in most subjects)

On Line Searches:

African-American Civil War Soldiers: National Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System. This will eventually contain data on all troops, North and South. Currently, the data is limited to those who served in  Union Army "Colored" Regiments.


African American History Links:

Underground Railroad (an important part of DC's history)

AAHPF (African American Heritage Preservation Foundation)

 Library of Congress - African American History Resources

Maryland State Archives includes a section for African American research--definitely worth a look! 

First Colored Baptist Church of Washington

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