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Access the Black History Records

Black History Month

Recontruction and Jim Crow Laws
In recognition of Black History Month, Fold3 wants to remind you to access all publications in its Black History Collection.

In order to make browsing these records easier, Fold3 has divided them into the categories of Slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction & Jim Crow Laws, the World Wars, and the Civil Rights Movement. Just select the era you’re interested in to start looking through the associated photos and documents.

Black History in the Civil War
Some of the records contained in our Black History collection are the Danish West Indies Slave Records, Suppression of Slave Trade and Colonization records, Amistad Federal Court records, Amistad Supreme Court records, American Colonization Society records, Court Slave Records for DC, records of the Emancipation of Slaves in DC, US Colored Troops records, Negro Subversion records of the Military Intelligence Division—and many, many more.

Interesting finds in the Black History records include:

  • A letter from Thomas Jefferson to the governor of Georgia about slaves running away to Florida
  • A Civil War–era photograph of black laborers
  • The service record of Christian A. Fleetwood of the US Colored Infantry, who earned the Medal of Honor during the Civil War
  • A copy of the 13th Amendment
  • A 1914 newspaper article about a black man who disappeared after being taken from his bed by a group of white men
  • A copy of a 1919 newspaper article about a “fiery” anti-lynching address given by a black pastor
  • A photograph of 3 members of the original black fighter squadron in WWII
  • A photograph of President Eisenhower meeting with black leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.
  • A program from the March on Washington

Get started searching Fold3’s Black History records here. Or look for individual collections by name here.

3 Comments

  1. Mary Jackson says:

    Looking for princes that came to America as slaves looking relative that name was Prince Robinson

  2. Mary Jackson says:

    Looking for Prince Robinson his name was changed to that he was a Prince but came here on a slave ship don’t know name before it was changed

  3. […] Fold3 is a private, subscription-based archive service and, as such, it does not share the same open-source, not-for-profit philosophy of History Leaks. Every February, however, the site opens its Black History Collection to the huddled masses for free. Although the site focuses on military records, there are diverse sources on slavery, emancipation, and civil rights. Many of the collections consist of public domain documents scanned from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC. Users are encouraged to take advantage of this month-long offer to download as much as they can. More information can be found here. […]