Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh LibAnswers: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh FAQs

African-American Genealogy: An Online Interactive Beginner's Guide (free, no login required) 

For genealogists just getting started, check out the interactive beginner guide on Afrigeneas.com. The full Afrigeneas site is an excellent resource, but the beginner guide helps untangle what researchers will – and will not – find online as they start their project. The guide was created by Dee Parmer Woodtor, who also wrote Finding a Place Called Home: A Guide to African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity.
 

Freedman's Bureau Records (requires a free account on FamilySearch.org) 

The Freedman’s Bureau was set up to help formerly enslaved people access medical care, housing, work permits, schools and more after the Civil War. In doing that, the bureau collected their names and asked about their backgrounds, creating valuable records that genealogists can use to trace where their ancestors were enslaved (and who their owners were, allowing further research). To research families that have been here in Western Pennsylvania for a while, FamilySearch is also a great way to research Allegheny County births and deaths prior to 1906.

Digital Library on American Slavery (free, no login required) 

This resource, hosted by the University of North Carolina, compiles information from across the 15 slave-holding states and Washington, D.C. It includes information about slaves, slave-holders, and free people of color. Collections include the Race and Slavery Petitions Project, NC Runaway Slave Advertisements, and Voyages: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, and more.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspaper Collection (available from CLP) 

This new resource at CLP includes African American newspapers from 10 cities around the country, including the Pittsburgh Courier. (We’ve had the Courier available online before, but this adds papers from around the country to one search.) Newspapers are valuable sources of genealogical information such as births, deaths, and marriages; and if your ancestor was prominent in their church or community, there may be additional news stories about them.

Ancestry.com (available free through the library's web site with any Allegheny County library card) 

In addition to finding ancestors in post-Civil War censuses and other records in Ancestry, this site has collections of slave manifests, emancipation records, African American funeral programs and other records specific to the Black community. We recommend  searching the catalog for keywords (ie. slave, emancipation) to locate the records, rather than searching the entire database. Ancestry is available remotely through March 31, 2021. If you don't have a card, you can get one from our website. The temporary card number will get you immediate access to Ancestry (and other resources), and you can change it to a permanent card at any branch during curbside service hours. 

And a bonus recommendation for all genealogists: FamilySearch’s Wiki page!

Use this page to identify any state/county in the United States to see when civil record-keeping started, where surviving records are housed, and what libraries and archives are located where you may need to do research. Local organizations are always your best starting point for any new research region as they can quickly point you in the right direction for the records you need. 

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