Former Slave’s Story: ‘I Bought My Freedom’
By Thomas Jay Kemp on February 21, 2018
An article by Thomas Jay Kemp about researching the life of Lewis Hathaway, a former slave born in Kentucky in 1824 who bought his own freedom... (Read More)
Tag: African American History and Genealogy
Slaves’ Lives: Biographical Sketches from America’s Newspapers
By Thomas Jay Kemp on February 16, 2018
An article by Thomas Jay Kemp about researching old newspapers to find the stories of freed slaves... (Read More)
On This Day: African American Fights Exclusion from Univ. of Alabama
By Tony Pettinato on February 7, 2018
An article about Autherine Lucy, who in February 1956 became the first African American student to attend a white university or public school in Alabama... (Read More)
On This Day: Free Blacks Left U.S. to Form New African Colony
By Tony Pettinato on February 6, 2018
An article about the American Colonization Society’s 1820 voyage of freed blacks going to Africa from the U.S.A.; the new colony became Liberia in 1847... (Read More)
President Lincoln Issues the Emancipation Proclamation
By Tony Pettinato on September 22, 2017
An article about President Abraham Lincoln issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on 22 September 1862, to free the Confederacy’s slaves... (Read More)
First African American Congressman Elected: Newspapers React
By Tony Pettinato on December 12, 2016
An article about Joseph Hayne Rainey becoming the first African American ever elected to Congress, on 12 December 1870... (Read More)
Slavery Abolished with Ratification of the 13th Amendment
By Tony Pettinato on December 6, 2016
An article about the 13th Amendment being ratified on 6 December 1865, permanently banning slavery everywhere in the United States... (Read More)
Resources to Trace African American Slave Ancestry
By Thomas Jay Kemp on August 31, 2015
An article about two sources for information about ex-slaves: stories in old newspapers; and Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project... (Read More)
Anniversary of the Birthday of Ida B. Wells, Civil & Women’s Rights Activist
By Tony Pettinato on July 16, 2015
An article about African American journalist, civil rights activist and suffragist Ida Bell Wells, born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on 16 July 1862... (Read More)
