City Directories list individuals and their address and also list advertisements for various businesses. Sometimes city directories were published through subscription so not everyone was included. New Orleans has a city directory starting in 1805 which is more like a partial census of the city. Heads of households are listed with aggregate age and sex categories for non-head of household members. There are also age and sex categories for slaves living in the household. During the ante-bellum period (pre-1862), city directories included some free persons of color but they were not always listed as such. After the Civil War, African Americans were included in the City Directory along with their occupation and address. Again, business men and women could pay for an advertisement page or a partial ad or have their businesses highlighted in the alphabetical listing. City directories are very important for urban research because they give occupational and residential information on individuals for the years between the decennial state and Federal censuses.

The City of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana had one of the largest free populations of people of African descent in the United States. Most slaves were emancipated during the Spanish Colonial period of Louisiana (1769-1803) and the early years of the American Territorial period (1803-1812). During the Spanish Colonial Period, slaves could buy their freedom, be loaned money to purchase their freedom, have their freedom purchased by a relative or friend or be given their freedom. After the territorial period, the Louisiana State Legislature began to make emancipation of slaves more difficult. By the 1830's an owner of a slave had to publicly announce his or her intention to free a slave, the slave had to be at least 30 years old, and had to be of good character and good conduct. By the 1850's, emancipation was so restrictive that a slave could be only freed by an act of the state legislature.

Most descendants of Louisiana's Creole or Free People of Color population can trace their freedom to the Spanish Period. Only a few individuals can trace their lineage to the French Colonial Period (1718-1763) where approximately 150 slaves were emancipated. This figure does not include the small number of free blacks who immigrated to Louisiana from France, the Caribbean, Africa, and other places during the French Colonial Period.

Some slaves were freed for saving the lives of their owners or for showing faithful service to them. A significant group of female slaves gained their freedom because they were the lovers, common-law wives, or mistresses of white men, who were not always their owners. Their children often became free or were born free through such relationships.

Regardless of the method of emancipation, there exist numerous records of these acts either in wills, intervivos donations, or by legal suit before the court where a slave could sue to be free if he or she had the money for self-purchase.

For African Americans who were enslaved in Louisiana prior to the Civil War, the search for ancestry is difficult, but not impossible. When conducting research in this period, a crucial part of your research will be the name or names of the family or families who owned your ancestors and relatives. Once you have identified such families, look up legal and financial information on them such as wills, marriage contracts, power of attorney, inventories of estates, and slave sales and purchases. Comb through this information for references on family-owned slaves. Information such as name of the enslaved, age, color, occupation, and family relations can be found in these documents. These records can be found in the parish courthouses in places where your ancestors and their owners lived as well as various archives and libraries. Many of these records have been microfilmed and can be found in the Louisiana Division of the NOPL.

Probate or succession records, wills and inventories of estates, usually lists slaves as property. NOPL's Louisiana Division has microfilm copies of estate inventories and some wills from 1805-1895 (Estate inventories and sales after 1865 do not include slave property.)

Conveyance records are written instruments in which property is bought, sold, conveyed, etc. Slaves were considered property and slave sales were indexed just like real property. These records are indexed by vendor (seller) and vendee (buyer). The slave sale usually contains the names of the slave buyer, seller, and the name, age, and color of the slave. Sometimes the previous owner or owners and occupation is listed. These conveyance records can be found in the basement of the Civil Courts building.

Across the hall from the conveyance offices is the Notarial Archives, the repository for all notarial records for Orleans Parish from 1769-present. The Notarial Archives contains wills, property transactions, slave sales, emancipation records of slaves, marriage contracts, partnerships, power of attorney, etc. Usually the conveyance books will indicate the notarial act of the slave sale, which is the original record.

The Port of New Orleans was a bustling shipping base for slaves being sent to Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, parts of Alabama, and Texas. In the event that you locate a slave imported or exported from Louisiana, further information may be obtained from the United States Customs for the Port of New Orleans: Outward slave manifests (1812-1856) and Inward slave manifests (1807-1860). The information contained in these records provide vital information on the transporting of slaves through the Port of New Orleans. These records offer the researcher extensive information on the movement of African and African-American slaves to and from the port of New Orleans for the early American and ante-bellum periods. Information such as date of arrival or departure, ship captain, name and size of vessel; name, age, height, and color of slave or slaves transported; name and residence of owner or shipper of slave/s are included in these records.

In the Outward rolls, port of destination is usually included and conversely for the Inward rolls port of origin is usually stated. This microfilm collection is located in the African American Resource Center, a new division of the NOPL. Researchers interested in the domestic slave trade of the United States as well as the genealogist in search of slave ancestors will find these microfilm rolls invaluable.

The Louisiana Division has microfilm records for most New Orleans Cemeteries that show pertinent burial information. Researcher should also avail themselves to a New Orleans Cemetery survey at The Louisiana Historical Center of the Louisiana State Museum that is a WPA card catalogue index of St. Louis Cemeteries I, II, & III, Lafayette I & II, St. Joseph I & II, St. Vincent De Paul I & II, St. Roch I & II, St. Patrick, Holt, Masonic, Odd Fellow's Rest, St. John, St. Bernard, Charity Hospital, Fireman's, Girod St., Greenwood/Cypress Grove, Hebrew, and Carrollton. The Historic New Orleans Cemetery Survey conducted in 1981 indexed and photographed all extant inscriptions and tombs in St. Louis Cemeteries I & II, Lafayette I & II, Cypress Grove, Odd Fellow's Rest, and St. Joseph I & II.

Almost all of the New Orleans Cemeteries had entombments and burials of people of African descent, however, some cemeteries are almost exclusively utilized by African Americans. Cemeteries such as St. Louis Cemetery # 2, Square 3 (1823-present) on Claiborne Ave., Mt. Olivet (1920-present) in Gentilly, Providence in Metairie (1954-present), Holt (1881-present) in Mid City, and Resthaven (1958-present) on Old Gentilly Rd. are almost exclusively African American in use and ownership of tombs. Although not predominately African American, St. Louis # 1 & # 3, both have a significant number of tombs and burials owned or occupied by Louisianians of African Descent.

For cemeteries in other areas, check the NOPL's patron terminals and search under "cemeteries in Louisiana" or under a particular parish. There are several books and guides which give histories of some cemeteries as well as list all tomb inscriptions for certain cemeteries. If your ancestors were Catholic refer to the church in the area in which your ancestor lived or died. Many small African American Baptist Churches have small cemeteries next to the church. Also check death certificates and church death and burial records, most of these records state place of burial or entombment.

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, more widely known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was created by Congress in 1865 as a division of the War Department. The organization was responsible for administering to refugees and freedmen after the war's end and was directly responsible for helping former slaves adjust to freedom. The bureau issued rations and clothing to needy freedmen, operated hospitals and relocation camps, found jobs for freed slaves, established schools, and leased or supervised the working of abandoned lands. It also legalized marriages entered into during slavery and reunited families spilt through slave sales.

The African American Resource Center has microfilm copies of Freedmen Bureau records for several southern states and the Louisiana Division has Freedmen Bureau records for the state of Louisiana. Besides the administrative records of the Freedmen's Bureau there are also the records of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Co. (1865-1874). These records contain the name of the depositor, the depositor's account number, age, complexion, place of birth, place raised, name of former owner, former residence, occupation, names of spouses, parents, children, and siblings, remarks, and signatures.

Many slaves and free men of color fought in the various wars during the French and Spanish periods. During the Spanish period, there were several units of Free Men of Color in the state militia. During the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815, about 600 soldiers of color, mostly free men and some slaves, fought under General Andrew Jackson in the defense of the city against the British. The Louisiana Division has a microfilm index of all men, black and white, who fought in the Battle of New Orleans.

During the Civil War, Louisiana boasted the most Colored Troops with approximately 24,000 men in 40 separate units. Some of these units were the first to see action against Confederate forces. If your ancestor or relative fought in the Civil War, their pension records may provide invaluable biographical data about their lives especially if they were enslaved before the War. The index to the pension records filed for both white and African American veterans who fought in the Union Army during the Civil War is available in the African American Resource Center of the New Orleans Public Library.

The Louisiana Division has a microfilm copy of the "Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers" who served in organizations from the state of Louisiana. This list is arranged alphabetically by the soldier's last name. However, this is only a partial listing of black soldiers.

If your ancestors fought in the Native Guards, you should find them in Andrew Bradford Booth's Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands, which is located in the Louisiana Division. The Native Guards were primarily composed of free men of color who were under the auspices of the Confederacy but who later became part of the Union forces after the capture of New Orleans in 1862. In William Gladstone's United States Colored Troops, 1863-1867, the author lists all the Black units for Louisiana and the several other states which provided soldiers.

With the advent of the computer age, many genealogists are surfing the Internet to correspond and network with other genealogists around the world. These links and connections are extremely important to the African American researcher since there are so few published family histories for Louisianians of African descent. If you have access to the Internet, there are several genealogical bulletin boards to send out queries for those seeking information on families which they are researching. Make sure you use the general genealogical bulletin boards as well as those geared especially towards African Americans. There are "websites" which can put you into a "webpage" specifically for African American genealogy.

Computers and software are also important for storing your family information. There are several computer software programs which you can use to store information on your family. This will help you to organize your research and can cut down on copies of documents and related material.

As the title indicates, this guide is only an introduction to conducting African American Genealogical research in the New Orleans area and in South Louisiana. Remember to be systematic in your research and stay organized, this will help you down the line. This introduction will get you started but remember that it takes years of painstaking research to fully trace any family, so have patience but try to have fun in the process.

Consider joining one or a few genealogy societies in the area or areas where your ancestors lived. These organizations can be very helpful when you run into stumbling blocks or dead-ends. Finding out more about your ancestors may give you a better appreciation of not just your own history but for a particular area, state, and country.

For Parish records outside of Orleans Parish write to the clerk of court for the Parish where your ancestor/s lived.