African American Resources for Florida

Introduction
A list of resources for researching African American ancestors in Florida.

Online Resources
Record Collections
 * Discover Freedmen - this site searches all of the Freedmen's Bureau record collections on FamilySearch altogether (and redirects there)
 * Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874
 * Florida, State Census, 1867-1945 ($)
 * Florida, State Census, 1885 ($)
 * Index only
 * Index only
 * Index only
 * Index only
 * Index only
 * Index only


 * Florida African American Cemeteries. Many list tombstones, some do not.
 * Lowcountry Africana(@LCAfricana) is dedicated to documenting the family and cultural heritage of African Americans in the historic rice-growing areas of South Carolina, Georgia and extreme northeastern Florida.
 * Florida African American Heritage
 * Access Genealogy: Florida African American Genealogy
 * Genealogy Center, African American Gateway: Florida, has links to societies, transcriptions of manuscripts, and a good bibliography of Florida books concerning African Americans.
 * Florida African American Griots has links to military, cemeteries, censuses, vital records, etc.
 * The Black Experience (African-American Resources in the Florida State Archives)

History

 * Brown, Canter, Jr. Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924, (Tuscaloosa, Alabama:University of Alabama Press, c1998).
 * Florida Memory, The Black Experience: A Guide to African American Resources in the State Library and Archives of Florida (accessed 6 April 2012).
 * McGriff, Delbra D. The Black Experience: a Guide to Afro-American Resources in the Florida State Archives, (Tallahassee, Florida: Florida Department of State Division of Library and Information Services, 1991). Revised 2002 digitized version.


 * Richardson, Joe Martin. African Americans in the reconstruction of Florida, 1865-1877. ( Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, [2008]). Find at a library near you.

Biographies

 * Access Genealogy. Florida Slave Narratives. (accessed 6 July 2012). Interviews with former slaves done during the 1930s,

Cemeteries

 * Access Genealogy. Florida African American Cemeteries. This is a list of African American cemeteries in many of the counties in Florida. Some have links to transcripts of the tombstones in the cemetery. (accessed 6 July 2012)


 * Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society. Key West African Cemetery. (accessed 6 July 2012).


 * This report details the evidence of an African cemetery at Higgs Beach in Key West, Florida, and describes how it was located. Includes facsimiles of historical records, maps, and photos. In 1860, the U.S. Navy intercepted three American-owned slave ships taking Africans to Cuba. Now refugees, the Africans were taken to Key West before being sent to Liberia. Many died and were buried at Higgs Beach.

Census Records

 * Florida, State Census, 1867-1945 ($) - information usually includes name, residence, age, gender, race, relation to family, marital status, birthplace and parents' birthplace, occupation, and degree of education
 * Florida, State Census, 1885 ($) - lists name, race, gender, age, relationship to head of household, marital status, occupation, health, education, birthplace, and parents' birthplaces

Military Records

 * Documents Relating to the Military and Naval Service of Blacks Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor from the Civil War to the Spanish-American War, (Washington [District of Columbia]:The National Archives, 1973), on 4 microfilm reels.

Freedman’s Bank
An excellent source is the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (visit the African American Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Records page to learn more). This company was created to assist African American soldiers of the Civil War and freed slaves. Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company signature cards or registers from 3 March 1865 to 25 July 1874 may list the name of the depositor, date of entry, age, birthplace, residence, complexion, name of employer or occupation, wife or husband’s name, death information, children’s names, name of father and mother, brothers’ and sisters’ names, remarks, and signature. Early books sometimes contained the name of the former master or mistress and the name of the plantation. Copies of death certificates were sometimes attached to the entries. The collection is organized alphabetically by state, then city where the bank was located, then date the account was established, then account number.

Online collections of Freedman's Bank records:
 * United States, Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874
 * U.S., Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1871 ($)


 * Freedman's Savings and Trust Company (Tallahassee, Florida), Registers of Signatures of Depositors, 1866-1872, (Washington [District of Columbia]: National Archives. Central Plains Region, 1969)..

Freedmen's Bureau
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands was created by the US government in 1865 until 1872 to assist former slaves in the southern United States. The Bureau created a wide variety of records extremely valuable to genealogists. Such documents include censuses, marriage records, and medical records. These records often include full names, former masters and plantations, and current residences. For 1865 and 1866, the section on abandoned and confiscated lands includes the names of the owners of the plantations or homes that were abandoned, confiscated, or leased. It gives the county and location, a description of the house, the number of acres owned, and the number of cabins of former slaves. These films do not appear to contain the names of former slaves.

To find Freedmen's Bureau records:

Other FamilySearch collections not included:
 * DiscoverFreedmen - the search on this site will utilize all of the Freedmen's Bureau records on FamilySearch, including:
 * Images only. These reports primarily contain statistical and historical information.
 * Images only. These reports primarily contain statistical and historical information.
 * Images only. These reports primarily contain statistical and historical information.

Slavery Records

 * Access Genealogy. Florida Slave Narratives. (accessed 6 July 2012). Interviews with former slaves done during the 1930s,

Birth

 * Index only - lists name, gender, birth date and place, race, and parents and their birthplaces

Marriage

 * - information usually includes the bride and groom's name, age, and race and the marriage date and place

Death

 * Index only - lists name, death date and place, gender, and race
 * Index only - lists name, death date and place, burial date and place, gender, race, age, birth date and place, marital status, and parents and their birthplaces
 * Index only - lists name, death date and place, burial date and place, age, birth place and date, occupation, race, marital status, spouse, and parents and their birthplaces

Archives and Libraries

 * The Black Archives Research Center at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). The majority of the archival holdings are records about the history of Africans and African Americans, especially their institutions and organizations, with an impressive holding of manuscripts, rare books, journals, magazines, maps, newspapers, and photographs.


 * Africana Heritage Project at the University of South Florida (USF). Their mission "is to rediscover precious records that document the names and lives of former slaves, freed persons and their descendants, and share those records on this free Internet site."


 * African-American Research Library and Cultural Centerhas branches in various locations. They have resources with information on local history and books from Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America.


 * Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network (FAAHPN) "Its mission is to promote the preservation of African American landmarks and legacies...". It has a directory of Florida African-American museums with links to their web sites.


 * Carol E. Mundy African American Cultural and Diasporic Research Center at the University of Central Florida promotes the study of African American history and research the history that pertains to the central Florida area.


 * State Archives of Florida is the central repository for the state government. It collects historically significant records, including private manuscripts.


 * Florida Memory: Digital Collections at the State Archives of Florida has a section on THE BLACK EXPERIENCE: A Guide to African American Resources in the State Library and Archives of Florida.

Societies

 * Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Central Florida Chapter


 * Lee County Black History Society, has the Williams Academy Black History Museum.