In honor of Black History Month this month, today brings you a special African-American history-themed news roundup:
- The National Archives is celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Lincoln issued on Jan. 1, 1863 to free slaves in states that had seceded. You can go online to watch a video about what the proclamation meant and how the document is being preserved, see images of it, and find out about upcoming programs. Also learn about the Emancipation Proclamations history at the National Archives; Featured Documents website.
- An interactive online mapa companion to the PBS “American Experience” documentary The Abolitionistslets you explore the story of the abolitionist movement in America. Powered by History Pin, the Abolitionist Map of America has images, documents and videos from dozens of libraries, museums and other institutions.
Cincinnati, located on the boundary of free and slave states, was a major Underground Railroad stop. Our Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County Genealogy Local History Department selected images and recordings on subjects such as the site of local antislavery newspaper the Philanthropist, the focus of two anti-abolitionist riots in 1836; and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, where the Uncle Toms Cabin author lived with her family for various periods of time from 1833 to 1836.
- Subscription genealogy site Ancestry.com has added collections to its African-American history records including Danish West Indies Slave Records 1672-1917 (these are also part of Fold3’s Black History Collection, which is free in February) and U.S., Buffalo Soldiers, Returns from Regular Army Cavalry Regiments, 18661916. Explore Ancestry.com’s African-American history records here.
- The Cincinnati library’s Genealogy and Local History Department also is one of many libraries offering African-American history and genealogy workshops this month, including a seminar (Feb. 9) and a class on Searching for Descendants of African American Civil War Soldiers (Feb. 23).Learn more here.
- The African-American Genealogical Society of Northern California in Oakland has a Black Family History Day on Feb. 10, with classes, one-on-one consultations and more. Learn more here.
- The African American Genealogical and Historical Society of Tennessee in Nashville is holding a research workshop Feb. 16. Learn more here.
To find African-American genealogy events near you, check with your local genealogical or historical society, or public library.