Have You Checked Published Family Histories?

Recently, I was perusing the Library of Congress’ genealogy reading room website. I clicked on the link to “Bibliographies and Guides” and the first PDF file in the list is the guide to African-American Family Histories and Related Works. I realized I hadn’t looked at this list in years so I printed it out & gave it a looksie.

Don’t you know I found one of my ancestral families on there?

Well, not a direct ancestor, but basically the family that one of my ancestors married into, the Crowders of Decatur County, TN. You know I cannot wait to get back down to the LOC in order to look at it.

So, if you haven’t looked at the list lately (or you haven’t ever looked at the list) take a look & see what you found. Many of the items I noticed were programs from family reunions that people submitted. Even that is a great find.

I’m convinced that those of us who have been researching 10 years or more (or just those of us who have researched enough to have a good collection of material) need to have submitted copies of our work for inclusion on this list. That means me too.

And while you’re at it, check the published family histories at your State Archives, local historical societies and libraries. Just like I was amazed to actually find a match, you never know what might turn up.

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