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Surnames/tags: black_heritage slavery
US Black Heritage Project Home Page
For more information on how to document slavery at WikiTree, please see Heritage Exchange Portal
The purpose of this page is to help people who are used to the Beyond Kin Method to migrate their research to WikiTree using the methods designed by the US Black Heritage Project. The portion of the project that documents slavery is called Heritage Exchange.
Why add your research to WikiTree?
- Because WikiTree is a one-world tree, there is one profile for every person who ever existed. This allows multiple people to collaborate and share information for each profile.
- Unlike other collaborative websites, WikiTree has oversight.
- That means people cannot simply come along and delete or alter your work as they please. Yes, others can edit, but they are required to do so only if they are adding value based on sources. If someone is destroying work (this is rare), we have a Problems With Members System that puts a stop to this.
- With the click of a button, any bad edits can be reverted.
- As long as you stay as the profile manager of any profiles you are creating and working on, you will receive email notifications of any edits. (Go the the settings under the "My WikiTree" tab in the menu and make sure your notifications are turned on)
- The US Black Heritage Project plans to be a single depository of information. This means instead of needing to go to separate websites for information, we will be processing all documents such as Freedmen's Bureau, ship manifests, and plantation archives, and translating them all into ancestor profiles here on WikiTree.
- WikiTree has a unique system of categories (similar to tags) and space pages that makes documenting slavery much easier.
- WikiTree is a free and public website. All information added here will be freely available to all descendants of the ancestors we are researching. If these descendants choose to become members of WikiTree, they can add their family tree information and connect to the existing ancestor research done by WikiTree members.
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Terminology
The Beyond Kin Method uses the terms EP (Enslaved Person) and SH (Slave Holder). The US Black Heritage Project uses a mix of terminology based on the feedback of descendants. You will see the project use the terms Slaves, Enslaved Ancestors, and Slave Owners. However, you are welcome to continue with the Beyond Kin terms. Please see Preferred Terminology for more information on this topic.
Beyond Kin
The Beyond Kin Method does the following on Ancestry:
- Adds a false spouse to a Slave Owner called "Beyond Kin."
- Then adds a false spouse to that spouse that is the name of the plantation or slave population.
- Then adds a false child (children) to that child for each set of documents.
- Finally adds the enslaved ancestors named or enumerated in each document.
WikiTree
Our method can start with either a document OR a Slave Owner. By using WikiTree's unique system of Categories, we can start with whatever information we have in front of us to work with.
Starting With the Slave Owner
- Create the Slave Owner profile (search by name first to see if it already exists. If so, edit the existing profile).
- Add headings and categories as shown on this page: Creating the Slave Owner Profile
- List the named slaves on the profile under the "Slaves" heading. (for 10 or more enslaved ancestors, please create a space page and list them there instead. See Creating Slave Owner Space Pages for more information on how to set these up. These space pages are used as workspaces to collect all slavery information for that owner and to identify unnamed slaves--such as those found on Slave Schedules.
Starting With a Document
- As long as the document names those enslaved by at least a first name, you can create their profiles. See Documenting Enslaved People in WikiTree for what items to include on their profiles.
- Categories detailed on that page are very important because this is what puts the profiles into the Heritage Exchange system.
Starting With a Plantation
If you are working with a location instead of a Slave Owner, we have a Plantation Index and we use space pages for this documentation.
Please first check the Index of Plantations to see if your plantation exists. If not, then follow the instructions on How to Create a Plantation Page.
Tips
- Please do not add enslaved ancestors as children of slave owners unless they are the biological children. WikiTree's global tree must be biologically accurate.
- Please do not use Beyond Kin or plantation names as profile names. People profiles must represent actual living people based on documents.
- We have a special naming system for enslaved ancestors which you can read about here: Naming Conventions for Slaves
- You are welcome to create personal Beyond Kin free space pages to use as your own workspaces as you do research. These will not be part of the Heritage Exchange system. However, we ask that you process documents using the above mentioned WikiTree methods so that they will be part of Heritage Exchange.
And that's it! You can continue to add information to the Slave Owner or Slave Profiles, and the Slave Owner and Plantation Space Pages as it becomes available. If you have questions, please ask on this post.
US Black Heritage Project Home Page
- Login to request to the join the Trusted List so that you can edit and add images.
- Private Messages: Contact the Profile Managers privately: Emma MacBeath and US Black Heritage Project WikiTree. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
- Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)
- Public Q&A: These will appear above and in the Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum. (Best for anything directed to the wider genealogy community.)