African American Heritage Volunteer Projects

Help bridge families to Africa by gathering information from relevant historical records and cemeteries. Select a project below in the location you’re interested in. You don’t have to live there to participate. Some projects may have a project leader and group that may provide additional help and encouragement. Find more information about volunteer roles at Learn How to Volunteer for Reclaiming Our African Roots. If you are interested in a leadership role to rally volunteers around a project, go to Learn How to Lead a Project for Reclaiming Our African Roots.

For historical record projects, you may need to click Join, then scroll down to the Adopted Projects section and click Index Now. For a visual on potential project opportunities and searchable record coverage, go to the Reclaiming Our African Roots map.

Louisiana
Louisiana State Penitentiary Records, 1866-1963

North Carolina
Wake County, North Carolina Death Records, 1900-1909

South Carolina
South Carolina, Charleston City Birth Registers, 1901-1926

Texas
Texas, Voter Registration, 1867-1869

Projects Coming Soon
Alabama County Births, 1870-1958

Florida, Voter Registration, 1867-1905

Georgia, Savannah City Jail Registers, 1855-1873

Georgia, Voter Registration, 1856-1909

Louisiana, New Orleans Interment Registers, 1836-1972

Louisiana, Orleans Parish Birth Records, 1819-1915

Louisiana, Voter Registration, 1867-1905

Maryland, Kent County Voter Registration, 1853-1894

Mississippi, State Censuses, 1818-1880

Mississippi, Voter Registration, 1876-1912

North Carolina, Voter Registration, 1868-1898

South Carolina, State and Territorial Censuses, 1753-1920

South Carolina, Voter Registration, 1882-1895

Virginia Slave Birth Index, 1853-1866

Projects in Publication Process (6-12 weeks)
South Carolina, Colleton County Marriage Licenses, 1911-1951

Completed Projects (Ready to Search)
Louisiana, Ascension Parish, Index of Conveyances, 1770-1957

The Freedmen's Bureau Collections

Request a Missing Historic Record Collection or Cemetery
You are welcome to share any historic record collection or cemetery you feel should be included in the Reclaiming Our African Roots effort to make them searchable online. We cannot guarantee requests will be approved or fulfilled but we do appreciate your local knowledge of what exists.

Cemetery requests are dependent on a project leader willing to organize volunteers around it.

Historic record requests will be evaluated and handled on a case by case basis and may be denied due to:


 * Archival contracts and permissions
 * Digital rights of images
 * Partner priorities and resources

Submit a new request per record collection or cemetery in the Missing Record or Cemetery Request form.