This New Project Aims to Trace the Descendants of Freed Slaves
Katherine Pendrill — June 29, 2015 — Social Good
References: discoverfreedmen.org & magazine.good.is
The 'Freedmen’s Bureau Project' is a digital genealogy project that aims to trace the descendants of freed slaves. The project involves publishing a number of documents that will help provide African Americans with a vital resource for researching and tracing their family history.
The project consists of digitizing nearly two million documents that detail African American family records from the era of slavery. The documents were collected by the US government near the end of the Civil War and have now been drawn up by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Many of these records are handwritten documents detailing the histories of over four million freed slaves in the 1860s. The project is being handled by volunteers who are helping to transcribe the massive amount of records.
The digital genealogy project is the first of its kind and marks a major effort to help American Americans connect their Civil War-era ancestors to their current family trees.
The project consists of digitizing nearly two million documents that detail African American family records from the era of slavery. The documents were collected by the US government near the end of the Civil War and have now been drawn up by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Many of these records are handwritten documents detailing the histories of over four million freed slaves in the 1860s. The project is being handled by volunteers who are helping to transcribe the massive amount of records.
The digital genealogy project is the first of its kind and marks a major effort to help American Americans connect their Civil War-era ancestors to their current family trees.
Trend Themes
1. Digital Genealogy - The digitization of historical records presents an opportunity for innovative genealogy services to emerge, providing easy access to valuable historical information for individuals tracing their family history.
2. Descendant Tracing - The emergence of projects aiming to trace the descendants of freed slaves opens up opportunities for genealogy service providers to leverage their expertise and technology to help individuals uncover their ancestral roots.
3. Volunteer Transcription - The use of volunteers to transcribe large amounts of historical records for the digital genealogy project highlights the potential for crowdsourcing techniques to complement traditional archival work and accelerate the digitization of historical records.
Industry Implications
1. Genealogy Services - The digital genealogy project presents an opportunity for genealogy service providers to capitalize on the demand for tracing ancestral roots and offer innovative solutions to help individuals explore their family history.
2. Technology - The digitization process and development of digital genealogy platforms require advancements in technology, paving the way for opportunities in areas such as data management, artificial intelligence, and online collaboration tools.
3. Archiving and Preservation - The preservation and digitization of historical documents for the digital genealogy project create opportunities for organizations specializing in archival services to contribute their expertise and innovative preservation techniques.
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