The Homestead Act and Southern Black Homesteaders 

Do you know if you are a Homestead Descendant? How can you find out? This course will provide the tools to determine answers to a question many do not know to ask. Learn how the National Park Service along with descendants of black homesteaders are revealing a relatively unknown historical narrative, Black Homesteading in the South. Learn about research tools great for beginners as well as black history research tips and tricks from Park Rangers, Descendants, and NPS Volunteers involved with the Black Homesteaders Project. Match family stories passed down through the generations with historic documents. Begin your homestead research in this class! Could you be the next contributor to the repository of homestead stories at Homestead National Historical park? Learn how to draft and submit a homestead story to the National Park Service generated from homestead Land Entry Case Files. These stories will be published and shared on the National Park Service website - share your research and benefit future generations! This course will use the lens of American Black History to interpret southern homesteading through Homestead Land Entry case files, tract books, plat maps, oral histories, and other genealogical resources. The course can easily be applied to a diverse range of homestead descendants with origins from across the world.