Finding the Forgotten

The Charles F. Heartman Manuscripts of Slavery Collection consists of over 6000 pieces dating from 1724 to 1897, and relate directly to the social, economic, civil, and legal status of enslaved Black people and Free People of Color in Louisiana and especially in New Orleans. The manuscripts are written in French, Spanish, and English. Tulane also provides access to these collections through JSTOR: https://www.jstor.org/site/xavier-university-of-louisiana/charles-f-heartman-manuscripts-of-slavery/

The Slavery & Freedom in Louisiana Collection contains hand-written manuscripts pertaining to a variety of slave records in Louisiana, dating from 1784 to 1860. These rare documents, including freedom papers, wedding certificates, affidavits on runaway slaves, slave revolts, police records, and slave sale receipts, expand the historical knowledge of slavery in Louisiana and surrounding states during this time period. Documents are in French, Spanish, and English. This collection complements the already digitized Charles F. Heartman Manuscripts of Slavery Collection.

This link connects to the registers in FamilySearch.org. These contents are also searchable through Tulane's Ancestry.com subscription.

This link connects to the registers in FamilySearch.org. These contents are also searchable through Tulane's Ancestry.com subscription.

Descriptions of all enslaved people and their manumissions found in documents of all kinds in all jurisdictions of French, Spanish, and early American Lower Louisiana. This updated version merges the originally separate slave database and the free database still downloadable separately from http://www.ibiblio.org/laslave, published with a limited search engine in 2001. These descriptions of the enslaved persons have been entered from many types of documents, but one-half involve sales of the enslaved and about one-third are from inventories of the estates of deceased enslavers. Names of enslaved individuals are linked with names of their changing owners. Slave testimony is mainly from recaptured runaways and those involved in conspiracies and revolts against slavery. Records may also be accessed through Tulane's Ancestry.com subscription at https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/7383/
Sources include: Louisiana Historical Center of Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans Notarial Archives, Pointe Coupee Parish Courthouse, and many others.

This database is a compilation of information on over four thousand enslaved people from Louisiana who were involved in manumission (the formal emancipation from slavery) between 1719 and 1820. The information provided in this database regards the manumissions of these people and was extracted from documents and records located in various places throughout Louisiana, as well as from some archives located in Texas, France, and Spain. This link leads to the Ancestry.com search interface, but the data has been extracted from Prof. Gwendolyn Midlo Hall's work transcribing slave records in Louisiana archives. Her work can also be searched and is freely available at http://www.ibiblio.org/laslave/fields.php

This collection, housed at the National Archives at Fort Worth, contains manifests filed with the customs collector at the port of New Orleans, Louisiana of slaves transported in coastwise trade to or from New Orleans during the period 1807–1860. Each manifest includes the name of the vessel, its ports of departure and arrival, dates of certification by the collector of customs (or surveyor), the Captain or master’s name, and a description of each slave on the vessel, including name, age, sex, height, name of owner or shipper, and race/color.

This collection contains police records from New Orleans, Louisiana between 1805 and 1865. Types of records in the collection will vary, including: admission and discharge registries from the Boys House of Refuge, admission and discharge registries from workhouses, registries of jails, daily reports by jailers, work house registries, and registries of chain gangs. Most records are hand-written, however newer records may have been typed. Records may have been written in English or French. Ancestry.com allows users to browse some subsets of these records digitally.

This collection contains police records from New Orleans, Louisiana between 1881 and 1935. Types of records in the collection will vary, including: admission and discharge registries from the Boys House of Refuge, admission and discharge registries from workhouses, registries of jails, daily reports by jailers, work house registries, and registries of chain gangs. Most records are hand-written, however newer records may have been typed. Records may have been written in English or French. Ancestry.com allows users to browse some subsets of these records digitally.

Created in the wake of the Civil War to help newly formerly enslaved people navigate a new set of circumstances, the Bureau disbursed pension and other payments to Black Union soldiers, monitored labor contracts, helped the sick find medical care, and a number of other things. The National Museum of African American History and Culture has teamed up with The Smithsonian to make the vast documents contained in the National Archives' microfilmed records of the Freedmen's Bureau available digitally. The project is ongoing, and, as of early 2025, only 25% of the contents have been transcribed. A finding aid for all records is available through The Smithsonian: https://sirismm.si.edu/EADpdfs/NMAAHC.FB.M2029.pdf