Doing research into family history can be especially challenging for Black families. A program presented in Middletown by the Delaware Public Archives looks to help people overcome those hurdles.
Leah Greer, a reference archivist with the archives, presents the program. She says for Black families finding their roots, tracking down enslaved ancestors can be a significant challenge.
“Those records are not going to be recorded under their name specifically,” she explains. “They're often going to be recorded under the name of the enslaver.”
Still, she says, with some diligence and research, budding genealogists can unearth the often-hidden stories of their forebearers.
“Even if the family history research is not as straightforward as we might hope, records do exist and there are stories to be told,” she says.
Those stories, she adds, are important not just to understanding where one’s family comes from, but also in assembling a more complete picture of communities, the state, and the nation.
“Putting names to those stories and giving a voice to the people who maybe otherwise would have been forgotten is really, really valuable,” Greer says.
She notes that doing the research into one’s ancestors is not just good for painting a more accurate historical picture, it can also connect modern life with past generations.
“I think as we delve into that, we see a lot of those really personal narratives come to the fore,” she says. “We can imagine the questions that they had. The struggles that they faced were obviously not so different than our own, and the things that we worry about today were the same things that our ancestors did.”
Greer’s presentation, “Black Family History,” is Friday, June 12 at 1:00 pm at the Appoquinimink Library in Middletown. Admission is free.
