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Celebrating Black History at MSU Libraries

Celebrating Black History: MSU Libraries to Digitize Records of Enslaved Mississippians for the First Time

Mississippi State University Libraries is helping create the state’s first institutionally supported digital database intended to give greater access to legal records identifying victims of slavery.

Mississippi State University Libraries is helping create the state’s first institutionally supported digital database intended to give greater access to legal records identifying victims of slavery. — MSU Libraries Coordinator of Manuscripts Jennifer McGillan, program director for the Lantern Project, evaluates one of many historical documents for prospective digitization. If selected, a copy of the record will be made available to the public for free upon project completion. (Photo by Megan Bean)

The Lantern Project is one of only a few in the South and is funded by a $340,424 grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Committee, a branch of the National Archives. In addition to MSU Libraries, the University of Mississippi Libraries, Delta State University, the Historic Natchez Foundation, Columbus-Lowndes County Public Library and the Montgomery County (Alabama) Archives also are participating.

This undertaking compiles a wealth of 19th-century documents from across the South and, upon completion, will provide a fully text-searchable, indexed collection containing digital images of original documents that include individuals’ names and detailed physical descriptions. Primarily inspired by patron need, the project is based on a similar effort at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture called “Unknown No Longer.”

The database will utilize records created or used by slave owners or the legal system to track enslaved persons, such as inventories, bills of sale, and probate and other court records, which will allow scholars and genealogists to trace victims’ movements and empower descendants to uncover their ancestries and reconstruct family trees impacted by slavery.

Emily D. Harrison, left, works with Jenifer Ishee to digitize a document for the Lantern Project. — MSU Digital Projects Specialist Emily D. Harrison, left, works with Library Professor and Digital Archivist Jenifer Ishee to digitize a document for the Lantern Project. In addition to Harrison and Ishee, who serve as co-principal investigators for the grant, MSU graduate students and faculty are helping to compile the extensive collection of 19th-century records over the next three years. (Photo by Megan Bean)

Previously, records of this nature have been identified and transcribed by African American genealogist-led projects such as www.afrigeneas.comand www.ourblackancestry.com.

Additionally, the three-year project will illustrate the realities and operations of the Deep South’s slave economy, including the mechanics of slave owners buying and selling human beings as an accepted practice during that time.

Read on for the full article on Celebrating Black History: MSU Libraries to Digitize Records of Enslaved Mississippians for the First Time on MSU.