Researching African-American family histories may present special challenges for the genealogical researcher. Fort Bend County Libraries’ Genealogy and Local History Department will present a special program, “Family-History Research: African-American Genealogy 101,” on Saturday, September 2, beginning at 10:00 am, in the Computer Lab at George Memorial Library, 1001 Golfview in Richmond.
Daniel Sample, manager of the Genealogy and Local History department, will discuss many of the resources that are available to family-history researchers, with special focus on tools to help individuals who are researching African-American family histories. Get tips on how to extend family-history research into the years before the American Civil War took place.
Learn more about Heritage Quest’s “Freedman’s Bank Records” database, which contains records from 1865-1871. This resource is an index to Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company’s registers of signatures of depositors, and it contains information such as the names of depositors, names of employers and plantations, names of family members, and place of birth.
Other online resources, such as the Ancestry.com database, items that are available on microfilm, and print resources will also be discussed.
The class is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, however, and reservations are required. To register online at the library’s website (www.fortbend.lib.tx.us), click on “Events,” select “George Memorial,” and find the program. Participants may also register by calling the library’s Local History and Genealogy Department at 281-341-2608, or by visiting the department at the library.