Must Have Genealogy Books

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Permalink Reply by Luckie Daniels on July 12, 2009 at 9:54pm

The Isis Papers by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing was life changing for me! It felt like a gigantic light bulb had been turned on!:-)

Behold a Pale Horse - William Cooper was another "enlightening" read. Alex Haley's Roots was the first time I had been exposed to African lineage.

From that point on... I was hooked!:-)

Luckie

Permalink Reply by George Geder on July 12, 2009 at 10:48pm

My all time favorite is:

Finding A Place Called Home; A Guide To African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor, Ph.D. 1999 Random House; ISBN 0-375-70843-x

From the back cover:

"Two major questions of the ages are: Who am I? and Where am I going? From the moment the first African slaves were dragged onto these shores, these questions have become increasingly harder for African-Americans to answer. To find the answers, you first must discover where you have been, you must go back to your family tree--but you must dig through rocky layers of lost information, of slavery--to find your roots."

Permalink Reply by M. Henson on July 12, 2009 at 11:36pm

I am currently reading "The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation". His research is amazing. Unfortunately plantation records which are that extensive are not usually available. I have found some pertaining to one branch of my family, but don't have the oral history to go along with it so I'm still trying to sort it all out.

Permalink Reply by Margaret McLane de Jovel on July 16, 2009 at 1:48am

wow. This year I learned what where Wessyngton was in England - the original name that became Washington. That was My grandmother's maiden name. She was from Canada - and shared pres. Washington's ggggrandfather, before they came across the water. History says George never had children. . . what does the book say about that?.

My sister's children are of the African diaspora - in Brazil. Mine - of African diaspora in Central America, my brother's from the African diaspora in USA - and all are descendants of slave owners... I've seen a copy of the will documenting this, from approx 1840.

My brother-in-law, Gabriel Marques, (the Brazilian, from Salvador, Bahia) wrote a book called, "From Slavery to Unity" .. in Portugese. Unfortunately, it hasn't been translated into English yet.

So an other issue in identity - which color do the children identify with? and why? And in this society that sees color first, person second, how do they avoid the pressure of having to "choose" one parent over the other?

Permalink Reply by Angela Walton-Raji on July 13, 2009 at 7:26am

How could I forget to mention Dr. Woodtor's book!! She was a true pioneer as well and yes, I do have her book on my shelf! That will make me pull it out. Actually I have both copies her first version of the book as well as the second one.

George Geder said:

My all time favorite is:

Finding A Place Called Home; A Guide To African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor, Ph.D. 1999 Random House; ISBN 0-375-70843-x

From the back cover:

"Two major questions of the ages are: Who am I? and Where am I going? From the moment the first African slaves were dragged onto these shores, these questions have become increasingly harder for African-Americans to answer. To find the answers, you first must discover where you have been, you must go back to your family tree--but you must dig through rocky layers of lost information, of slavery--to find your roots."

Permalink Reply by Angela Walton-Raji on July 13, 2009 at 7:28am

Yes, John Baker's book is an excellent one! His will quickly become a classic of genealogy books, because it covers so many families, and this was a large estate in which so many families are tied.

M. Henson said:

I am currently reading "The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation". His research is amazing. Unfortunately plantation records which are that extensive are not usually available. I have found some pertaining to one branch of my family, but don't have the oral history to go along with it so I'm still trying to sort it all out.

Permalink Reply by Renate Sanders on July 13, 2009 at 8:48am

I have to admit that I haven't spent as much time reading complete works as I should have. .I've read a few of the good ones, but not with the kind of purpose that I should have. My tendancy has been to browse, or to use an index to find exactly what I needed in that moment. This is largely because I didn't realize until a few months ago what a large selection of genealogically-based books were out there, and also because I wasn't really making the connection to how reading other peoples' stories could really help me in my own work. But, trust me, I've got it now (lol) and I have begun reading most fervently. I tend to use the public library, since my funds are quite limited. I am on my way today to return the last set of books I checked out. Here's what I have:

The Hairstons, Henry Wiencek
How To Trace Your African-American Roots, Barbara Thompson Howell
Black Roots, Tony Burroughs
Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs, Maureen A. Taylor
Discovering Your African-American Ancestors, Franklin C. Smith & Emily Anne Croom

Most of these books served to confirm what I've already been doing for over a decade, but would be very helpful to any beginners out there. The Tony Burroughs books was especially good. From now on, I will post any good reads to this site!

Permalink Reply by Sharon Sutton on July 13, 2009 at 11:44am

I am fairly new to genealogy so as with any topic I had to read to find out what I needed to do.

I have the first three books on your list Angela as well as all of Crooms other books and find myself referring to these as well for my Texas research:

An Empire for Slavery The Pecuilar Institution in Texas 1821-1865, Randolph Campbell
I was born in Slavery , Personal Accounts of Slavery in Texas , Andrew Waters
A Short History of the American Nation Volume I to 1877 , John A. Garraty
(really good for those like me who hated history during my formal education so I have to catch up on what happened during the time period I am researching)
Black Texas Women 150 Year of Trial and Triumph and Black Texas Women A Sourcebook, Ruthe Winegarten (two direct surnames documented in these books)
Black Churches in Texas A Guide to Historic Congregations, Clyde McQueen
The Brakenridge Colored School San Antonio Texas 1899-1936 (many educators in family)
Education in Austin County Volume I The Era Prior to 1885, Austin County Historical Commission
Black Genealogy , Charles Blockson

Permalink Reply by Renate Sanders on July 15, 2009 at 1:12pm

I'm just in from the library, and as promised, here are my latest jewels:

The Family Tree Problem Solver: Proven Methods for scaling the inevitable brick wall, Marsha Hoffman Rising
Finding Your People: An African-American Guide to Discovering Your Roots, Sandra Lee Jamison
The Genealogical Sourcebook, Sharon Debartolo Carmack
Finding Your Family History in the Attic - DVD, with Tony Burroughs

Permalink Reply by Mavis Jones on July 15, 2009 at 4:16pm

I need to update / add to my collection, but these were some of my early resources / readings when I first started.

Black Genealogy, Charles L. Blockson
Black Southerner 1619-1869, John B. Boles
The Sweeter the Juice: A Family Memoir in Black and White, Shirlee Taylor Haizlip

Permalink Reply by Khathu on July 15, 2009 at 7:06pm

Finding A Place Called Home; A Guide To African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor
Slave Ancestral Research It's Something Else by Mary L. Jackson Fears
An Empire for Slavery: The Pecular Institution in Texas 1821-1865 by Randolph B. Campbell
The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom 1795-1925 by Herbert Gutman
Black Genealogy by Charles Blockson

Permalink Reply by Sandra Taliaferro on July 16, 2009 at 4:43pm

Here are a few I consider "must have" books:

Finding A Place Called Home; A Guide To African-American Genealogy and Historical Identity by Dee Parmer Woodtor, Ph.D.
Slave Ancestral Research: It's Something Else. by Mary L. Jackson Fears
Black Roots: A Beginners Guide To Tracing The African American Family Tree by Tony Burroughs
The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, Third Edition by Val D. Greenwood
Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills
Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills
Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery: by Randall M. Miller, John David Smith
Slave Genealogy: A Research Guide With Case Studies by David H. Streets
Black Genealogy by CharlesBlockson

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