Capitol News

Michigan State University's Enslaved.org, a project documenting the lives of enslaved individuals of African descent, has published its latest dataset. This release makes information on two million named Black Americans born before emancipation in the 1900 census available for discovery and download.

The project is a collaborative effort involving FamilySearch International, Brigham Young University (BYU), and other organizations. It aims to enhance academic research by providing detailed records of formerly enslaved individuals and their families.

The collaboration began with MSU-FamilySearch meetings in 2018, leading to the identification of approximately two million named people in the 1900 U.S. census collection who were born before emancipation. This includes both enslaved and free Blacks. The data links to original census images and Family Tree records, offering a comprehensive resource for researchers.

Walter Hawthorne, professor at MSU’s Department of History and head of Enslaved.org, expressed excitement about FamilySearch's contribution: “FamilySearch is the premier genealogical website in the world...Enslaved.org is excited and honored that FamilySearch is publishing a complete dataset through our project.”

Stephen Valentine from FamilySearch emphasized the importance of this collaboration: “We’re honored to contribute to this important project that brings greater visibility to the lives and legacies of formerly enslaved individuals.”

Funded by donors including the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Enslaved.org was created through Matrix: Center for Digital Humanities and Social Sciences at MSU.

Hawthorne noted that tracing people from enslavement into post-emancipation generations presents unique challenges. Joseph Price from BYU highlighted how crowdsourcing capabilities have enhanced record-linking projects: “These contributions by descendants...strengthen scholarly research that integrates the Family Tree into its methodology.”

This initiative addresses challenges faced by archives organizing enslavement records while ensuring accessibility for both scholars and the public.