Black Homesteaders of the South (On-Demand Webinar)

The Homestead Act of 1862, the Emancipation Proclamation, and subsequent Reconstruction amendments didn’t just abolish slavery-they gave African Americans a chance to earn a living and become landowners.

Even though their names don’t appear alongside the other rugged heroes of frontier lore, a startling number of homesteaders were Black men and women in the South, worked and cultivated the land as landowners. For many of these Black pioneers, this meant risking their lives to achieve this American promise of freedom.

Our panelists have set out to change the narrative about the largely unknown Black homesteaders in the South. They shared some of the stories and history they have researched and written about, as well as the various records they accessed to tell this chapter of Black U.S. history.

For more information about IAAM’s Center for Family History webinars, please visit: https://iaamuseum.org/center-for-family-history.

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