US Black Heritage: Heritage Exchange Portal
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This is a landing page for the Heritage Exchange Program and will lead WikiTree members to the help pages they need for each situation.
What is the Heritage Exchange Program?
- It's a process to standardize and categorize information and profiles in a way that makes connecting enslaved ancestors to their descendants easier.
- It's a way for descendants of slave owners to share information to help the US Black Heritage Project connect enslaved ancestors to their family.
If you have questions not addressed here or if you want to discuss this process, go to our Heritage Exchange 
post and click the answer button.
For instructional videos to learn the Heritage Exchange system, see: USBH Instructional Videos.
How Do I Share Information With You?
Please email the information you have to the project's Heritage Exchange Program at wikitrees-usbh-exchange at googlegroups.com (replace the word at with the @ symbol and smush the address together). Please include as much information as you can about what you are sending us. If you have a profile you wish to reference, please tell us the Wiki-ID so we can quickly find it.
I have a Document Listing Slaves. What Do I Do With It?
We would love if you would create profiles for the slaves listed.
When documents list the slaves by name, you can use this help page to create profiles: Documenting Enslaved People in WikiTree
If the slaves are only listed by age or description, please see this help page: Documenting Unnamed Enslaved Persons
If you would prefer to simply pass the information along to the Heritage Exchange Program for them to make use of, please email us at wikitrees-usbh-exchange at googlegroups.com (replace the word at with the @ symbol and smush the address together). Please include as much information as you know and attach the document in your email.
How Do I Create Profiles for Slaves/Slave Owners?
Please read this help page for instructions on how to create the profiles: Documenting Enslaved People in WikiTree.
You need at least a first name before creating slave profiles.
What Last Name Do I Use For Slaves?
We don't use the last name of Unknown for those enslaved in the United States of America at WikiTree. Please read the help page Naming Conventions for Slaves for how to choose a placeholder surname until a documented name can be found.
If you have additional questions about these instructions or how to name people who were enslaved, please post your question in g2g and tag your question with black_heritage and slavery so project members will see it.
What Terms are Most Respectful?
The US Black Heritage Project uses the preferred terms of Slave Owner and Enslaved Ancestors on our documentation. We use Slave Owner/Slave for documentation headings.
The Project talks about this topic on a regular basis and we have created a help page with terms we would not like to see on profiles and others where there is a choice. This page was written with the help of descendants of enslaved ancestors based on what terms they prefer. This page will be updated as terminology evolves.
What if I Need A Workspace For My Slavery Research?
At WikiTree, we have workspaces called Space Pages. For documenting slavery by Slave Owner, please see Creating Slave Owner Space Pages for how to set them up. You can also create personal space pages, but these won't be part of the Heritage Exchange system.
Do I Need to Manage all New Profiles I Create?
No. If you create new slave owner and slave profiles and wish to orphan them, please do so. As long as they have the standard categories we've asked for, they'll be seen by the project. Please add the African-American Sticker using this code: {{African-American Sticker}} to all African-American and enslaved ancestor profiles before orphaning.
To orphan a profile, go to the privacy tab and click the "Remove Yourself" button.
How is Heritage Exchange Different From the Beyond Kin Method?
See Translating Beyond Kin to the WikiTree Method for the answer to this question.
Can the Project Assist Me With This Process?
The Heritage Exchange Team will be happy to help you learn the process of creating profiles and processing documents. Please message us at wikitrees-usbh-exchange at googlegroups.com
If you just have a question or two, please ask on our post.
I Need a New Slavery Category Created
If you are a project member please ask in the USBH Project Google group or in the project's Discord channel. If you are not a project member, please ask on this post.
I'm Looking for Enslaved Ancestors
There are a few ways to see if your enslaved ancestor is on WikiTree
- Search for their name using the WikiTree search bar using their first name and slave owner's last name. If they had multiple slave owners, try under each last name.
- Check the category USBH Heritage Exchange, Linked to see if they are listed.
- If you know their slave owner, search for that person's profile and see if they are listed by name and if a profile is linked.
General guidance for your search:
I Want To Help Connect Enslaved Ancestors
The US Black Heritage Project would love to have you join us in our quest to create the largest online public database of connected enslaved ancestors. Please visit our Project page for a link to the most recent g2g join post. Ask to join the Heritage Exchange Team.
Heritage Exchange Links Summary
- Information about setting up profiles for enslaved ancestors and/or documenting them on a slave owner profile, please refer to: Documenting Enslaved People in WikiTree.
- Instructions to list unnamed enslaved ancestors in WikiTree are outlined in: Documenting Unnamed Enslaved Persons.
- USBH Project Guidelines for naming enslaved ancestors in WikiTree Profiles: US Black Heritage: Naming Conventions for Slaves
- Creating: Create the Slave Owner Profile
- Creating: Creating Slave Owner Space Pages
- Creating: Plantation Space Pages
- Finding Enslaved Ancestors: How to Find Enslaved Ancestors
US Black Heritage Project Home Page
- Do you need a new USBH or Heritage Exchange Category? Apr 27, 2022.
- Adding Enslaved Ancestors Aug 10, 2021.
- Announcing the USBH Heritage Exchange Program Apr 17, 2021.
- Login to request to the join the Trusted List so that you can edit and add images.
- Private Messages: Contact the Profile Managers privately: Elaine Martzen, Emma MacBeath, and US Black Heritage Project WikiTree. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
- Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)
- Public Q&A: These will appear above and in the Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum. (Best for anything directed to the wider genealogy community.)
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~higginbotham/genealogy/va/vadatabases/slaves.htm
I match several Higginbothams: Moses, Joseph, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin, Aaron, and James. They are the sons of John Joseph Higginbotham and Frances Riley however, no direct link yet.
Only some of the slaves are mentioned on the Wikitree pages but not all.
I'm seeking advice/recommendations on the best ways to relate to the US Black Heritage Project in support of your objectives. I'm personally Team Leader for the Province of Maryland in the Southern Colonies Project.
Example categorization of Free People of Color:
For enslaved persons, a highly detailed project page can be found at Documenting Enslaved People in WikiTree.
For advanced users, the key items to add would be... Within the newly created person's profile: 5. Add a = Slave Owner = heading and list the name(s) of the slave owner below it. 6. Add a = Research Notes = heading to place notes regarding any estimated birth dates, locations, and the use of the slave owner's names as well as anything else you might know about the person.
... Please add the following categories:
"USBH Heritage Exchange" "County, State, Slaves" (if they were enslaved in more than one location, add a category for each location)
These are the major ways that enslaved or Free Persons of Color persons can be incorporated into this project.
Best of luck to you in leveraging this important work.
Kind regards,
Porter
edited by Porter Fann
The State of Maryland has a fantastic online archive of state original documents that date from 1637 on. Part of that site is a section called "Legacy of Slavery in Maryland". Here's the link that that specific page. — http://slavery2.msa.maryland.gov/pages/Search.aspx
NOTE: You have to click the "Browse Collections" link at the top to see the collections available.
edited by Carole (Kirch) Bannes
Another resource. There was a requirement for Catholics to have their slaves baptized. These records are in the diocese archives for the area where you are researching. There are records for Southeast Texas in the Galveston-Houston Catholic Diocese offices. These have the names of the owners, where they lived, names of the priest doing the sacrament, the sponsors for the person baptized, and even some names and birthdates of the slaves.
Also, some library archives or church archives will have files on other denominations. In Galveston, the Rosenburg Library Archives have files with letters from local slave owners to the churches with permission for that slave to be allowed to go to church services. These have names of the slaves and are signed by the owners. Avenue L Baptist Church had several of these letters.
Interesting note: There was a plantation owner, Farnifala and Laura Green, who had a 35-acre plantation on the island that had over 20 slaves. This land was located between the gulf shore and Green's Bayou west of the city of Galveston. The family was Catholic and that record is in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston archives. The husband died and Laura sold the plantation to Bishop Claude Dubuis Catholic Church in 1874 and the home was changed to an orphanage. This was the orphanage, that 26 years later, was completely washed away by the 1900 storm, killing all the nuns and children with the exception of two boys who clung to a tree during the storm.
edited by Barbara (Brown) Denney
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/K85C-XLP
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Some_families_in_Berkshire_County_who_weren%27t_white
I found Charles Augustus Frye. According to his obituary, born in Columbia County, Maryland, a slave to Mr. Dalam. He's on Family Search, https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/LDS3-XGR
edited by Joyce Vander Bogart
https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Frye-2809&public=1