I received an interesting question this morning. How do I find articles on Blacks in GenealogyBank?

I have read thousands of articles on Blacks in the old newspapers, books and documents. But, what would be the best search strategies to focus on just those articles?

It would be to look for specific names and keyword search terms associated with Blacks over the past 300 years.

Search for individuals by name like “Martin Luther King”. Click here to read the Dallas Morning News 5 April 1968 when he was killed.

TIP: Put names in quotes – “Martin Luther King” – so that your search will focus in on just articles where the person you are searching for is mentioned.

When former slave John Wiley died in 1918 it was a banner headline and a front page story in the Belleville News Democrat (20 May 1918). Click here to read the article.

You should also use keyword search terms that were used over the past 300 years. For example terms like: slave, slavery, African-American, NAACP, AME Church; and Civil Rights Movement will generate millions of hits in GenealogyBank.

Since funerals are often held at churches – a search term like “AME Church” brings up tens of thousands of obituaries for funerals held at one of the many African-Methodist Episcopal churches across the country.

You will then want to narrow down your search results by state, specific newspaper or by date range.

Whether you are searching for your ancestor’s in today’s newspaper or the last century you will depend on GenealogyBank to get the job done.

Over 3,800 newspapers, all 50 States, 1690-Today

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