In honor of Black History Month, Fold3 is making the records in its Black History collection available for free through the end of February.
Whether you’re looking for your ancestors or doing broader research, the Black History collection gives you access to more than a million documents, records, and photos that help to capture the African-American experience during five eras of American history:
Examples of interesting finds in the Black History collection include:
- A letter from Thomas Jefferson to the governor of Georgia about slaves running away to Florida
- An 1810 inventory for the estate of Joseph Morton, a “free black man”
- An 1827 inventory for the estate of Thomas Drayton that lists his 160 slaves by family group
- 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
- Documents relating to the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery
- A photograph of 3 members of the original black fighter squadron in WWII
- A photograph of President Eisenhower meeting with civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.
Get started searching Fold3’s Black History records here. Or look for individual collections by name here.
You can also check out two interesting posts about Martin Luther King, Jr., over on the Newspapers.com blog: “The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.,” and “Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”
