Quest for Answers

Starting in spring of 2008, African American family historians can give each other a research boost through a free online genealogy database called AfriQuest.

The site’s sponsors, which include genealogy wiki WeRelate <werelate.org> and the University of South Florida’s Africana Heritage Project <www.africanaheritage.com>, aim to make it a central repository for African-American research. It’ll include records already on Africana Heritage, Magnolia Plantation papers being digitized for the Lowcountry Africana <lowcountryafricana.net> Web site, and documents researchers submit (see the Web site for how-tos).

In addition, says project director Toni Carrier, “We’re gathering many records in the public domain: Freedmen’s Bureau records, Freedman’s Bank records, county-level will and probate records, deeds, bills of sale, marriage and death records, court records and more.”