Academic articles sometimes depict particular places. This can be particularly useful for genealogists seeking local context for the towns, counties, or even specific plantations where ancestors lived. The following examples come from history journals:
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Georgia, Ogethorpe County
David C. Barrow, Jr., “A Georgia Plantation,” Scribner’s Monthly, Vol. 21, Issue 5, (1881), pages 830-836.
Scribner’s is not an academic journal, of course, but this article is fascinating just the same. Barrow describes the transformation of labor relations on his father’s plantation, Sylls Fork Place, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia, from Emancipation down to 1881. He describes the community, names many of the residents, gives examples of labor contracts, and tells some stories about particular freedmen. The article includes two very interesting maps of Barrow plantation, one showing the location of houses in the slave quarter and “big house” in 1860,
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Many academic articles explore specific aspects of slavery. Genealogists of the slavery period will find many useful articles like these two:
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Slaves’ Naming Practices
John C. Inscoe, Carolina Slave Names: An Index to Acculturation,” The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 49, Issue 4 (November 1983), pages 527-554.
This article discusses personal names of American slaves, and the evolution of naming practices—who named new slaves, and what names they were given—in North and South Carolina from 1670 through 1865. Inscoe analyzes about 11,000 names from the records of 145 Carolina slaveowners, church records, county records, a manumission society, and even three slave traders! He discusses the persistence of African names, the evolution of anglicized African names, weather names (Rainy, Stormy, Eartha, for examples), birthplace names, seaport names, and classical Roman names. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently on the AfriGeneas Slavery Forum, I suggested Academic Journals as a non-traditional source for family research. Over the years I have found several articles in academic and professional history journals that have direct application to our genealogical and historical searches and methods. Yesterday I decided to rummage through my file cabinet and describe a few of the best ones.
Although some are about specific people or places, any family researcher or local historian may learn some useful tips on sources, methods, and interpretations. Footnotes in academic articles show where the author found her or his information; therefore, footnotes (or endnotes) are a great source of ideas for places to look for evidence for your own research project.
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June 4th, 2009 in
Slavery Period Research | tags:
1910 census,
african-american,
black family,
dinwiddie,
john j. hamilton,
reconstruction,
rowanty,
university of iowa,
virginia,
widowhood |
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