Even More Resources to celebrate Black History Month!

Here are some more great resources for researching African-American ancestors in Illinois and beyond!

Freedom On The Move is a joint project of Cornell University and other universities across the country. It is a searchable database of "runaway slave" ads that provides a rich history of "stories of resistance" and a glimpse into the life of fugitive slaves prior to the Civil War. There are over 32,000 ads in the database and growing!

The Legacy Tree Genealogists Blog offers several tips and resources for African American Genealogy Research - and explains how DNA has helped transform African American genealogy research.

Great Books for researching the history of slavery in Illinois- by Local Authors!

Larry McClellan: The Underground Railroad South of Chicago and To The River: The Remarkable Journey of Caroline Quarlls, A Freedom Seeker on the Underground Railroad (with Kimberly Simmons)

Learn about the history of the Underground Railroad in Chicago and NW Indiana, and read about one Freedom Seeker's journey! You can learn much more about the history of the Underground Railroad on Dr. McClellan's website, Illinois Underground Railroad!

Darrel Dexter, Bondage in Egypt: Slavery in Southern Illinois

Dexter's book is the first in over a century dedicated to the study of slavery in Illinois. Although many believe that Illinois was a "free state," slavery legally existed here until 1865. This book is incredibly detailed and includes statistics from Illinois state census records in the early 19th century, which enumerated the number of slaves in each household.

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