Black and White Southern Families in Antebellum Plantation Records

Ari Wilkins

The Southern Antebellum Plantation Records are an invaluable resource to Southern and African American researchers. This extensive collection encompasses business and personal papers from numerous slaveholding families of the South. For white Southern families, the collection can uncover decades of genealogical history along with details such as the dynamics of personal relationships, communication, and the entanglements of associated families. For African American research, these records can potentially list enslaved persons by name and include other significant information such as family relationships, dates of birth and death, and bills of sale. This presentation will demonstrate the breadth of the collection, and how to navigate and apply the records to personal research.