NORFOLK, Va. — There is an ambitious project underway to recover 10 million names of enslaved people of African descent.
These slaves connect to some 44 million descendants. Unfortunately, finding their names is a huge challenge.
A team of scholars and genealogists with the Boston-based American Ancestors is working to create a searchable database where people can go and find the names and information about their forebears.
It's a collaborative effort that even involves working with several genealogical groups across the country, including in Hampton Roads. They're working with researchers, families, and data partners across the country to catalog this documented history that will live in an online database for anyone to access for free.
Tufts University's Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Dr. Kendra Field serves as the chief historian for the "10 Million Names" project.
"As a historian, I come across the names of formerly enslaved people every day in the course of my research," Dr. Field said. "But even for me, I never quite imagined there could be one place where all this information would live together: one database that might be searchable."
The 10 Million Names website serves as a hub for African American genealogy resources. It's where families that have already embarked on their own research journey can share their stories. Research newcomers will find instructions on getting started, with organizational tools, family charts, and research templates.
On Friday, February 23, 13News Now will air the hour-long documentary "Roots Recovered: Reclaiming Our Names". You can watch it at 8 p.m. on-air, online, and on our free streaming app, 13News Now+.