Quarter 4 2023 US Black Heritage Project Quarterly Newsletter, Amazing Announcement

Question

The US Black Heritage Project continues to make amazing strides thanks to the help of WikiTreers across the website. We met our goal of 250,000 total profiles early, again! Since we keep smashing goals, we decided it was time to up the ante and we're reaching for 400,000 total profiles by the end of 2024. We believe we can do it, especially with so many people helping us with our 1880 Census Project. 

But we have even bigger news. 

A few weeks ago, a few of us had a sudden realization. When we started this project back in 2020, one of our goals was to create the largest, online, public, free database of connected African American family so we could make family trees easily accessible for descendants with enslaved ancestors. 

The big realization is we have hit that goal already! 

There is nothing out there like what we've built here. There are many research projects with lots of processed data. There are lots of individual trees. But there is no other database that combines all the data and all the trees all in one place. The beauty of what we've built here is document sets only need to be processed once. Once a family has been created on WikiTree, the research doesn't end up getting duplicated over and over again. Instead, we improve upon and add to it. That means we can keep adding to our numbers (Currently 286,711 profiles) instead of spending time repeating what's already been done. 

We make connection a priority in USBH. Even though we are adding profiles at a fast pace, we continue to maintain the same connection rate (connection to the Global Tree). 

Every day we are connecting enslaved ancestors to their descendants. Every day we are connecting descendants to their ancestors. 

Thank you all of WikiTree for helping us make this effort a huge success. With your help and support, we'll only continue to get bigger and better!

Comments

Incredible news!!!  Thank yous and deep gratitude to all the volunteers and members.

Answer 1

I think sometimes about reparations. While government reparations have been ordered in the past, such as to people of Japanese heritage interned during WW2, somehow I feel that reparations to African Americans will never be made in any comprehensive sense during my lifetime.

So what can I contribute as an individual? I have a lot of skill in genealogy built through tracing my large known tree into its deep recesses, where records can get very scarce. (It is a privelege to have such a large tree for practice). I can take that skill and apply it to help build ancestral trees for African Americans, where usually the scarcity of records is far starker than anything I’ve had to work with (even eighteenth-century Ireland, which is very, very tough)

This post reminds me to return to the few projects on African American genealogy I’ve been pursuing. I love WikiTree for many reasons, but the USBH project is one of the very finest parts.

Comments

Thanks, Barry! I began my work with USBH for the very same reason. I was asking myself back in 2020, what could I do as a genealogist to give back to this community America has caused so much hurt and damage to? I realized genealogy could be a powerful tool of reparations. And reparations are beginning to happen at the local level for some people across the county, but many of them will need a tree to prove they are descendants of enslaved ancestors. USBH can help provide that.

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Thank you Barry! We appreciate you and all you do to help connect us to our ancestors! 

Answer 2

This is fantastic news. When I work on USBH profiles, I feel quite proud to be contributing to the its goals, and though the connection part can be quite a challenge, it's not impossible.

As Chris Whitten says, onward and upward!

WTG, WikiTtreers!

Answer 3

What an inspiring post to wake up to on a Monday morning! I am new to the USBH Project community but grateful to be a part of such an important mission. Congratulations on all of the hard work that's come so far. I can't wait to see where we can go together. Thank you all!

Answer 4

The US Black Heritage Project has become a major part of my life. I am proud to be a part of it, and constantly inspired by the other participants and the work they do.  I look forward to working on it everyday. Congrats everyone who has participated.

Comments

Carolyn - I feel the same way.  It is amazing what the US Black Heritage group has been able to create.  All participants should feel the size of their accomplishment. -NGP

Answer 5

Well done!

Answer 6

Wonderful news Emma, what an accomplishment! USBH is an outstanding project, congratulations to all involved and many thanks to you and the exceptional leadership at all levels of the project too!

Answer 7

I'm thrilled about this news, and I love being part of the US Black Heritage Project!

As a testimony to the value of the 1880 Census Project, I'll mention that a WikiTree volunteer working on that project contacted me about the profile of an enslaved man I wrote a short time ago; they wanted my opinion as to whether or not he was a likely match with the man they found in 1880. We talked, and he was!  And so, I had the immense satisfaction of knowing that I gave that much more access to descendants of this formerly enslaved person, breaking the 1870 brick wall and then some, thanks to the collaborative work on WikiTree.

Comments

Your help is greatly appreciated, Sara! Thank you!

Answer 8

I too began collecting slaves in my own tree, documenting them in a file as I found them. When I hit one family member that had over 17 in his Will that turned into 29 by the time the will was finalized years later.

This was a document I found in an archive in Knoxville Tennessee. I knew I had to find a place for them, as the slaves were just being handed down, worked off and sold.

I found WIKI after lots of researching. I joined the USBH and look forward to continued contributions to our Global Tree.

Valorie Rollins

Answer 9

I created a tree of African American Penmans hoping to make a connection back to Scotland but I've had three personal thank you's from descendants and that is good enough for me.

Answer 10

Awesome news!!!

Answer 11

Emma,

You've accomplished that in only four years? That's astonishing! As someone who contends with several brick walls I have been unable to break through despite 40+ years of research I think the USBH Project is the best gift to the Black community that we, as a WikiTree community could give. I may never be able to identify my ancestor by name who was wrenched away from her home in North Carolina in 1713, and sold into slavery, but I identified her son (or grandson), who is my 3x g-grandfather. This project can give people back their sense of identity. Thank you to everyone who participates!

Comments

Yes, isn't it mind blowing how much we've accomplished in just three and a half years? That's the power of WikiTree collaboration!

Answer 12

Congratulations. 280,000 total - that's a lot of typing.

Answer 13

That's truly wonderful news!!!

Answer 14

That is amazing!!!  Way to go everyone who has worked so hard on this!

Answer 15

I enjoy promoting Wikitree when I get a chance.

It feels like this wonderful news is a gift from all the many generous Wikiteers to enable even more promotion of the incredible value that exists in voluntarily building something so worthwhile.
Massive thank you to everyone involved.
Moira

Answer 16

Thank you for the wonderful news Emma! USBH is a great and worthwhile project!

Answer 17

I'm so grateful for this project and all the leaders. I'm one of many descendants of enslavers here. None of us can change the past, but we are doing something to help repair some of the damage done by our ancestors. Our collective action is bigger than anything we could do alone. Let's keep going!