Genealogy Website Shines New Light on African-American
Ties to Liberia
While most emigrants were
from Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland, some left Northern states
like Illinois, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) -- The stories of
15,000+ African-Americans who emigrated to Liberia between 1820 and 1904
are now only a mouse click away, thanks to a just launched website.
"Liberianrepatriates.com should prove a boon to scholars and
genealogists on both sides of the Atlantic," according to its founder,
Prof. C. Patrick Burrowes of Pennsylvania State University at
Harrisburg.
The database lists many individuals who were born in the 1700s - a rare
find in black genealogy, Burrowes said. "Even The New York Times - with
all its resources and investigative prowess - could only trace the
genealogy of First Lady Michelle Obama back to the early 1800s."
The website also provides answers to other questions: When were they
born? Where were they from? When did they leave? Where did they go? What
were their family connections?
Burrowes said those blacks who left the United States in the nineteenth
century have long been stereotyped as ex-slaves dumped in Africa against
their will. "That image will be difficult to sustain," he noted, "in
the face of data showing their motives and sheer diversity."
While most emigrants were from Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland, he
noted, some left Northern states like Illinois, Connecticut and
Pennsylvania, where they were not enslaved.
"In their number were scores of accomplished individuals who were
committed to black emancipation, including A. M. E. Church founder
Daniel Coker, newspaper pioneer John B. Russwurm, Classical music
composer Newport Gardiner and celebrated poet George Moses Horton."
Although access to Liberianrepatriates.com is free of charge, first-time
users are required to submit an email address to register.
Liberianrepatriates.com's Founder Journalist and scholar C. Patrick
Burrowes is the author of Power and Press Freedom in Liberia (Trenton,
N. J.: African World Press, 2004) and co-author, The Historical
Dictionary of Liberia (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001). His
commentaries, articles and other writings have appeared in a variety of
media, including Crisis, Essence and Emerge magazines. He can be reached
at cpburrowes(at)mac(dot)com.
http://www.liberianrepatriates.com
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