African American Resources for Louisiana

Introduction
A list of resources for researching African American ancestors who lived in Louisiana.

Online Resources

 * USGenWeb Project: African American Archives - links to transcriptions and indexes of various African American records in Louisiana
 * Louisiana, Freed Slave Records, 1719-1820
 * Louisiana, Slave Records, 1719-1820
 * New Orleans, Louisiana, Slave Manifests, 1807-1860 Index and images ($)
 * Images Only.
 * Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy 1719-1830 - This website provides a searchable database for African-Americans from the Louisiana area.
 * U.S., Freedmen's Bureau Records of Field Offices, 1863-1878 ($) index and images
 * Slave and Free People of Color Baptismal Records (Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Archives)
 * Louisiana. Parish Court (Orleans Parish), Index to Slave Emancipation Petitions, 1814-1843
 * A Partial Transcription of Inward Slave Manifests, Port of New Orleans (1818 to 1860), index
 * Louisiana Death Records 1911-1956
 * Louisiana African American Griot

History
See these websites to learn more about African Americans in Louisiana history:
 * Historic Pathways. Elizabeth Shown Mills. (An online archives of many peer-reviewed articles and papers relating to Louisiana's Creole history, particular Cane River and the Red River Valley.)
 * Louisiana National Register of Historic Places (Excellent resource with photos and history)
 * USGenWeb Project: History
 * Louisiana Slavery: An Introduction

See these books and articles to learn more about African Americans in Louisiana history:
 * Dunbar-Nelson, Alice. "People of Color in Louisiana: Part I". The Journal of Negro History vol. 1, no. 4 (October 1916): 361-376.
 * Perkins, A. E., ed. Who's Who in Colored Louisiana, 1930. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Douglas Loan CO., 1930].
 * The Large Slaveholder of Louisiana 1860. Joseph Karl Menn. New Orleans: Pelican Publishing Co., 1964.
 * Bonham, Milledge L. Jr. "Reconstruction in Louisiana after 1868". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review Vol. 5, No. 3 (December 1918): 366-368.

Biographies

 * USGenWeb Project: Biography Records
 * Perkins, A.E.Who's Who in Colored Louisiana. Baton Rouge, La.: Douglas Loan Co., 1930.
 * Burkett, Randall K., Nancy Hall, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. eds. Black Biographical Dictionaries. Alexandria, Virginia: Chadwyck-Healy, Inc., 198-.

Cemeteries

 * USGenWeb Project: Cemeteries
 * FindAGrave
 * Bossier Parish Cemeteries

Census Records

 * USGenWeb Project: Census Records

Church Records

 * USGenWeb Project: Church Records
 * Slave and Free People of Color Baptismal Records (Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Archives)

Emancipation Records

 * Louisiana. Parish Court (Orleans Parish), Index to Slave Emancipation Petitions, 1814-1843

Plantation

 * Plantation Records (Caddo and Bossier Parishes)

Military Records

 * USGenWeb Project: Military Records

Newspapers

 * USGenWeb Project: News Records
 * Newspaper Webindex:The Louisiana Newspaper Project

School Records

 * USGenWeb Project: School Records

Slavery Records

 * USGenWeb Project: Slavery Records
 * Records Relating to Slavery, Free People of Color, and Freedmen
 * Index to Slave Emancipation Petitions, 1814-1843 (Orleans Parish Court)
 * Bossier Parish, Louisiana 1860 Slaveholder and 1870 African-Americans
 * A Partial Transcription of Inward Slave Manifests
 * Louisiana, Freed Slave Records, 1719-1820
 * Louisiana, Slave Records, 1719-1820
 * New Orleans, Louisiana, Slave Manifests, 1807-1860 Index and images ($)
 * Slave and Free People of Color Baptismal Records (Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Archives)

Vital Records

 * Alphabetical Birth Indexes for Orleans Parish 1796-1900 by USGenWeb

Marriage

 * USGenWeb Project: Vital Records
 * Marriage Records for Caddo and Bossier Parishes (A-F)

Death

 * USGenWeb Project: Obituaries
 * Louisiana Death Records 1911-1956

Archives and Libraries
The Amistad Research Center Tulane University Tilton Hall 6823 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118 Phone: (504) 862-3222

The Amistad Research Center is the nation's oldest, largest and most comprehensive independent archive specializing in the history of African Americans and other ethnic groups.

New Orleans Public Library 219 Loyola Avenue New Orleans, LA 70112 Phone: (504) 596-2560

The New Orleans Public Library has a large African American collection. See African-American Genealogy Sources for more information.

Louisiana Digital Archives

Societies

 * Forgotten People: Cane River's Creoles of Color - a Facebook page providing resources about a community in Natchitoches (northwestern Louisiana) founded during colonial days by a Creole family.
 * Louisiana Lineage Legacies - a blog dedicated to sharing and exchanging genealogical information concerning Louisiana research