On Wednesday I was at the kick-off party for the new web site: African-American Ancestors, a collaboration between the NEHGS, the AAHGS, and the African American History Museum. I got a chance to hear some great stories about genealogical research and what must be the greatest brick wall of them all: slavery. If your ancestors have two names, you've got no complaining to do. We forget that slavery was legal in New England up to the end of the American Revolution and my soul withers knowing that some of my colonial ancestors owned slaves. But, it's right there in their wills.
However, there is an amazing collection of African-American resources collected by the NEHGS over the last 150 years for New England and beyond and this web site will begin to help bring those resources to a wider audience. Please check it out. If you want to see the inside of the NEHGS building in Boston, watch the PBS series (starting next Wednesday, February 10th) with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, called Faces of America. Many scenes were filmed at the NEHGS library.
The new website will certainly provide more information to a wider section of the audience. I always get excited when technology is used to make information more accessible and adds more value to your research work. Thanks for this information and congratulations to African American Ancestors for launching the website.
Posted by: Sanjay Maharaj | 02/05/2010 at 01:53 PM