African-American Residential and Business Directories

Do you have African roots? Then you'll be pleased to discover there are many city directories that can help you in your genealogical research. Many cities and large communities had either a section of the city directory, or a separate directory altogether, dedicated to listing African-American residents and businesses. In the 1800s and early 1900s, these were often called Colored Directories or Negro Business Directories.

To find these on my site, use the search engine located in the upper right-hand corner on any page. Search for colored or negro. To find these on the directory websites themselves, even in directories that don't prominently display a separate section for African-Americans, do a directory-wide search, again for the words colored or negro. Sometimes the compiler would list one of these words after a resident's name in the directory. Although this was a racist act, it does help those today who are tracing their African roots.