Genealogy and the Black Past
In this chapter, Kathleen Chater, an independent historian, enumerates many of the local history projects and academic efforts that have attempted to collect evidence of black lives in pre-twentieth-century Britain, often resulting in the creation of databases and digitized records. She describes the overlapping incentives and challenges of family historians and scholars who work to illuminate black British experiences, but also the mistrust between these groups as they compete for funding and undervalue aspects of each other’s work. Chater describes her own contribution to this field of study—a database of black people she has amassed using public records as part of her doctorate which she has continued to add to. Finally, Chater makes recommendations for how genealogists and local historians can work better with academic scholars toward their common goal including inviting each other to conferences, sharing knowledge of potential funding sources, and asking academics to share their work at smaller, local venues and via more accessible publications.