Trace, document, record, and write your family's history with this easy-to-read, step-by-step authoritative guide. Finally, here is the fun, easy-to-use guide that African Americans have been waiting for since Alex Haley published Roots more than twenty-five years ago. Written by the leading African American professional genealogist in the United States who teaches and lectures widely, Black Roots highlights some of the special problems, solutions, and sources unique to African Americans. Based on solid genealogical principles and designed for those who have little or no experience researching their family's past, but valuable to any genealogist, this book explains everything you need to get started, including: where to search close to home, where to write for records, how to make the best use of libraries and the Internet, and how to organize research, analyze historical documents, and write the family history. This guide also includes: -real case histories that illustrate the unique challenges posed to African Americans and how they were solved -more than 100 illustrations and photographs of actual documents and records you're likely to encounter when tracing your family tree -samples of all the worksheets and forms you'll need to keep your research in order -a list of the traps even experienced researchers often fall into that hamper their research And more.