Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Finding Free African Americans in the South

If you are searching for free African Americans in the colonial South, we have two valuable volumes
in our collection:

Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to about 1820
Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: From the Colonial Period to 1810 

Both books are by Paul Heinegg. While working on his own genealogy, Heinegg became interested in the history of free black families in the South. Many free African Americans were freed in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. They often formed relationships with white servants or Native Americans and owned land and property. With the spread of plantations in the mid-1700s, legal restrictions on miscegenation and manumissions and increasing racism, caused free people of color to migrate elsewhere or to begin "passing" as white. Some freed African Americans were even forced back into slavery. Heinegg's work is indispensable for understanding and following the lives and genealogies of free people of color in the colonial period.      

Heinegg tells the story of free African Americans through family histories. Heinegg provides detailed information including marriages and births as well as land and court transactions and even physical descriptions when those details are available. He pulls this information from census records, tax lists, wills, deeds, marriage bonds, parish registers, Revolutionary War pensions and "free Negro registers."

This is an important volume for researching African Americans in the colonial era.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Chicago Genealogy Class

Do you have Chicago or Cook County ancestors? On Wednesday, February 22 at 10 AM, discover local resources to help you with your research.

Register online or call the Reference Desk at 847-725-7500.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

The Chicago 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

Beautiful Scenes of the White City
Join us this Saturday at 1 PM for The Chicago 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition: What Remains & New Links to H.H. Holmes. Local historian and former criminal investigator Ray Johnson discusses the legacy of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, including relics that remain and previously undiscovered links to “The Devil” Dr. H.H. Holmes. This program is presented in partnership with the North Suburban Genealogical Society.
Great Yerkes Telescope, Manufactures Building from
Beautiful Scenes of the White City


Register online or call the Reference Desk at 847-729-7500 .

Our Genealogy & Local History Room contains two books that were published in 1893 and 1894 to commemorate the Exposition.

The Dream City
A beautiful over-sized book of photographs and descriptions of the architecture and attendees of the fair. The editors discuss the creation of the exposition and the people involved in turning the fair into reality.

Beautiful Scenes of the White City
The photographs here are largely focused on individual exhibits and attractions. Lovely interior images evoke an idea of what it would have been like to attend the fair.

Also, look for Chicago: The Wonder City published in 1893 to promote the city and the fair. This book focuses more on the city of Chicago itself.
"The Columbian Illuminations" from The Dream City