Center for Family History at the International African American Museum

08/26/2026

NMAAHC's Freedmen's Bureau Project invites you to help commemorate a decade of expanding access to the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Transcribe records that document the lives of formerly enslaved men, women, and children and support scholars, genealogists, and communities researching the Reconstruction era. Join us in person or virtually.

Saturday, September 19, 2026
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4340 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008

Whether you're a seasoned volunteer or new to transcription, join us as we celebrate 10 years of the project and contribute to making these important records more accessible for future generations.

Come celebrate, learn, and transcribe with us!

Register to attend in-person: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/019fb9dc0a247e518da598255e41f3d4

Register to attend virtually: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/vST6TtdKSbynHZT98CK_SA #/registration

Join us to commemorate a decade of expanding access to the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Help transcribe records that document the lives of formerly enslaved men, women, and children and support scholars, genealogists, and communities researching the Reconstruction era. (This registration form...

08/15/2026

African American genealogy and DNA can do more than help you discover your ancestors. They can help you tell their stories. What if the missing pieces of your family’s story are already waiting in an undiscovered document, newspaper article, or your DNA?

In this inspiring episode, host Shelley Murphy sits down with acclaimed authors Melvin Collier, Michael Willis, Kathy Marshall, and Orice Jenkins to explore how African American genealogy and DNA testing are transforming family history into powerful, published narratives - documentaries, stage plays, books, blog and vlog videos, video reels, and other formats.

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn research into storytelling, this episode gives you the roadmap.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How to use DNA testing to uncover African American ancestry
Ways to turn genealogical research into compelling stories
Tools for writing or digitally publishing your family history
Why reclaiming Black stories is essential for future generations

Your family’s legacy deserves to be told - not just discovered and not shared.

👉 Join the conversation, share this episode, and start writing your family’s story today.

08/13/2026

African American genealogy and DNA can do more than help you discov...

08/11/2026

Saturday, 15 August at 1 pm EST
Live link: https://youtube.com/live/fAktSOltdRM

African American genealogy and DNA can do more than help you discover your ancestors. They can help you tell their stories. What if the missing pieces of your family’s story are already waiting in an undiscovered document, newspaper article, or your DNA?

In this inspiring episode, host Shelley Murphy sits down with acclaimed authors Melvin Collier, Michael Willis, Kathy Marshall, and Orice Jenkins to explore how African American genealogy and DNA testing are transforming family history into powerful, published narratives - documentaries, stage plays, books, blog and vlog videos, video reels, and other formats.

If you’ve ever wondered how to turn research into storytelling, this episode gives you the roadmap.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How to use DNA testing to uncover African American ancestry
Ways to turn genealogical research into compelling stories
Tools for writing or digitally publishing your family history
Why reclaiming Black stories is essential for future generations

Your family’s legacy deserves to be told - not just discovered and not shared.

👉 Join the conversation, share this episode, and start writing your family’s story today.

African American genealogy and DNA can do more than help you discov...

08/01/2026

The Bureau of Indian Affairs' archive is in Chicago. In addition to holding all of the Mid-West Immigration and Naturalization records.

08/01/2026

NARA's archival Chicago and San Berno (CA) locations will be permanently closed. This follows the pending closure of its Seattle location. No one knows where the records will be relocated to. This is barely receiving any media coverage.

07/21/2026

We've added hundreds of newly donated African American funeral programs to the Center for Family History's Digital Archive, including significant collections from Freestone County and the surrounding area in Texas, as well as Shelby and Knox Counties in Tennessee.

Funeral programs are more than keepsakes. They are enduring tributes that often preserve family stories, relationships, photographs, and details that may not appear in any official record.

The Center for Family History's African American Funeral Programs & Obituaries Collection offers researchers another pathway to uncovering family connections, enriching family histories, and honoring the lives of those who came before us.

Someone you've been searching for may already be waiting for you to discover them in the collection.

Explore the collection:
https://tinyurl.com/CFHFuneralPrograms

07/18/2026

CFH is BSUY busy today!

07/09/2026

Live Stream URL: https://youtube.com/live/3JC-H6hdBZk
Saturday, 18 July @ 1 pm EST

Hollywood showed us John Wayne. History shows us something very different.

Did you know that as many as 1 in 4 cowboys in the American Southwest were Black?

In the latest episode of "Untold African American Stories," Larry Callies—founder of the Black Cowboy Museum in Texas—joins the IAAM Center for Family History to reclaim a legacy that was deliberately erased.

From the cattle trails of post-Civil War Texas to the ranchlands of New Mexico and Oklahoma, Black men and women built the American West. Their names were stripped from the myth. Their labor built the industry. Their descendants are still searching for their stories.

This episode is essential listening for:
✅ Genealogists tracing Southwestern roots
✅ Anyone who thought the "Old West" was all white
✅ Families with cowboy, ranch hand, or cattle trail ancestors
✅ History lovers ready to unlearn the Hollywood version

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Untold African American Stories is made possible in part by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, TD Bank, New York Life, and South Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield — and by the generous support of listeners like you.

Please consider making a gift today at http://iaamuseum.org/support.

Hollywood showed us John Wayne. History shows us something very dif...