| Finding Enslaved Ancestors Using Enslaved.org |
| We have more access to records documenting enslaved people than ever before, thanks in large part to digital initiatives like Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade (Enslaved.org). Kristina E. Poznan is the managing editor of Enslaved.org’s Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation, and she was kind enough to shed some light on this impressive resource. What is Enslaved.org? How does it differ from other sites? Enslaved.org launched in 2019 and has been serving the needs of genealogists, students, and members of the public interested in named individuals who were part of the historical trade in enslaved people of African descent. Enslaved.org is a discovery hub that helps users to search and find information from a large and growing number of datasets and digital projects simultaneously. There is no fee and no log-in, just a free search tool. What sources are in Enslaved.org? How are they different from other sites? The historians, archives, libraries, and museums that submit records about enslaved and emancipated people to Enslaved.org are generally gathering information from records more obscure than those found on other genealogical resource sites. These include probate inventories, runaway advertisements in newspapers, plantation registries, baptisms, coroners’ reports, and sale receipts. Getting information from these kinds of records is time-consuming, but they often provide a greater variety of details than a census. Why can I only sometimes see the original source? Access to the original records is through the website of the project or institution that hosts the records. When they are available, we provide links to digitized sources, but in some cases the sources have not been digitized yet. Does data on Enslaved.org contain other kinds of information, too? Yes, in addition to information about enslaved and emancipated peoples, Enslaved.org also contains some information about free people of color as well as some slave owners. How can I contribute information to Enslaved.org? If you know of an archival record collection in which enslaved people are named and/or otherwise documented, let us know at enslaved.org@gmail.com and we will try to work with that institution to integrate it into our resources. |
| Kristina E. Poznan, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor of History at the University of Maryland Managing Editor of Enslaved.org’s Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation |
