Reparative Genealogy Resources
US-focused Resources
Coming to the Table
Coming to the Table provides leadership, resources, and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism that is rooted in the United States’ history of slavery. Membership is free.
Linked Descendants, a National Working Group of Coming to the Table. Linked descendants want to know the truth about their ancestors, discover their connections, maybe even heal a bit of the wounded past. This group also has a curated Resources Page.
10 Million Names Project | Daughters of the American Revolution
DAR is proud to be one of the founding collaborating institutions supporting the 10 Million Names project, which aims to recover the names of up to 10 million people enslaved in America between the 1500s and 1865. This collaboration is part of the DAR’s ongoing E Pluribus Unum Initiative to increase awareness of often underrepresented Revolutionary War Patriots and support new scholarship, educational programming, and research tools.
Decolonial Dames of America by Morgan Curtis | a publication of The Constellation Project
DECOLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA is a pocket-sized exploration of the repair work required of white descendants of colonial settlers and enslavers in North America. In this personal narrative and family story, Morgan Curtis reimagines the “sacred obligation” of those whose genealogies are intimately tied with the founding of the United States.
New Netherland Settlers | New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
The NYG&B is pleased to announce the launch of New Netherland Settlers — a groundbreaking, multiyear project to develop detailed, peer-reviewed sketches of all the people residing in New Netherland prior to 1664. Its aim is to document all residents of the colony, including settlers, those who did not settle, free and enslaved individuals, Indigenous people, and the many others who contributed to the diverse, multilingual dynamics of New Netherland.
US Black Heritage Project
Over 200 volunteer professional genealogists and amateur family historians with one mission: Make it easy for descendants of enslaved ancestors to discover their roots and connect with family members. Hosted on WikiTree, it is the largest free database of connected African-American families, with more than 450,000 profiles created as of the end of 2024. The project aims to add 175,000 profiles for a total of 625,000 by the end of 2025. See WikiTree’s February 2024 announcement here for more background and to get involved.
Internationally-focused Resources
Connecting Roots
Connecting Roots is a U.S. non-profit organization whose goal is to reunite adoptees with their biological Chilean families. The organization donates MyHeritage DNA testing kits at no cost to confirm genetic matches between Chile-born adoptees and their birth families.
Uncovering Our Complex History
Reckoning with Lancaster Project
Launched in the fall of 2024, this project involves my alma mater, Franklin & Marshall College, which was founded in 1787 as Franklin College by Benjamin Franklin. It merged in 1863 with Marshall College, founded in 1836 and named for the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, John Marshall.
From the Project’s website:
“From its two namesakes to its Lancaster context, Franklin & Marshall College played an unexpected role in the settlement and assimilation that our [project’s] research is bringing to light.
This project brings faculty researchers, students, and community leaders together to reckon: how do we read our region’s history of welcome against the grain? What does meaningful community outreach look like from an institution built in the forge of the American colony? What kinds of futures can we imagine together?”
From F&M’s website:
“We propose to reckon with Lancaster: to come to grips with the city’s complex history and the College’s role in it; to account for and be accountable to its communities, authentically telling the stories of our paths to the city, and our interconnected lives within it; and to forge new partnerships of learning and creation, shaping a future together.”
At long last, the ‘Dinah’ memorial will be unveiled in Philadelphia’s Logan neighborhood | The Philadelphia Inquirer
by Valerie Russ
Award-winning Philadelphia artist and Temple University professor of sculpture Karyn Olivier’s memorial to Dinah, a woman enslaved by James Logan (secretary to William Penn), was finally unveiled in 2024. Dinah was enslaved at Stenton (the home Logan built) by his daughter-in-law Hannah Emlen Logan when James’ son William Logan was the proprietor of Stenton. Dinah requested her freedom, was emancipated on April 15, 1776, and chose to remain there as a paid caretaker. While Dinah has historically been known for saving Stenton from being burned by the British in 1777, the stewards of the historic home intend to tell a fuller version of Dinah’s story. “We want to talk about her life in totality,” said Dennis Pickeral, Stenton’s executive director. “She gained her own freedom by requesting it.”
Learn more at https://www.stenton.org/dinah
”Tampa woman, one of Chile’s stolen children, to reunite with birth mom” | Axios.com
By Selene San Felice, Reporter
The story of Maria Hastings, one of an estimated 20,000 children stolen from low-income mothers between 1973 and 1990 under Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, whose solution for child poverty was sending kids abroad to be adopted under false pretenses. Maria was reunited with her birth family with the help of the non-profit Connecting Roots.
”When kin of slaves and owner meet” | originally published by CNN.com
By Wayne Drash, about Betty Kilby Baldwin and Phoebe Kilby, authors of Cousins
May 20, 2010 (PDF courtesy of Coming to the Table)
Interviews and Appearances
Friday Goddess Talk: Meet Your Ancestors with Martha Runnette | Goddess Living
March 15, 2024
”Repairing the Knowledge Tree: Making our orchards grow” | PasadenaWeekly.com
By Ellen Snortland, from our interview in January 2024
February 8, 2024