Who We Are

Our mission is to fill the void created where the history of Black Kentuckians have been omitted or inadequately researched and recorded.

The African American Genealogy Group of Kentucky is an organization dedicated to researching, preserving, and sharing African American family histories. These groups provide resources, workshops, and networking opportunities for individuals interested in tracing their ancestry, overcoming challenges like slavery-era records, and connecting with historical archives.

There are multiple genealogy groups across the U.S., including the African American Genealogy Group of Kentucky (AAGGKY) and other local chapters. We offer:

Guidance on researching African American ancestry
Access to historical records and DNA testing insights
Workshops, seminars, and guest speakers
Community support for sharing genealogical findings

Our Logo...in Others' Words

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey

“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history” – Carter G. Woodson

“They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” Dinos Christianopoulos.

“Like branches on a tree we grow in different directions but our roots remain as one.” – Chinese Proverb

“I take with me Kentucky, embedded in my brain and heart, in my flesh and bone and blood. Since I am Kentucky, and Kentucky is part of me.” – Jesse Stuart

“I too am of the hills, my folks have corn-rowed tobacco, laid track, strip-mined, worshipped and whiskied from Harlan to Maysville, old Dunbar to Central…We put the heat in the hot brown and gave it color. Indeed some of the bluegrass is black.” – Frank X. Walker from Kentucke – Kentucky 2013 – 2015 and AAGGKY 2024

Our History

The African-American Genealogy Group of Kentucky was formed in January 2011 by eleven researchers interested in preserving the history of Kentucky’s African American generations and telling the “other” side of the story. We incorporated in April 2011. The rest is history.

The group as initially conceived grew out of the frustrating exceptions encountered when researching Black history. Traditional research was roadblocked by slavery. Record-keeping bowed to the whimsies of Jim Crow. Simply finding the hiding records was and is a major undertaking.

Who knew that a whole race of people could be filed under ‘a’ for African, ‘b’ for black, ‘c’ for colored, ‘n’ for negro, n*****, or none of the above; occasionally in the back of the book, un-indexed, and sometimes not there at all.

And then, who to tell when you finally unlocked the key, found the missing piece of the puzzle? Who to share with?

Along the way we met like-minded travelers. This is how the AAGGKY came to be, the first of its kind in Kentucky, by sharing.

Our Mission

Our stories are often hidden in unindexed volumes, forgotten on dusty shelves and omitted from the traditional history books of our country. With every passing minute we are losing our histories to death, memory loss, and record destruction.

The AAGGKY is attempting to minimize this loss. By focusing on aspects of research unique to the Black Community, the AAGGKY provides a venue for researchers and historians, both black and white, to share their strategies and findings.

To facilitate sharing, the AAGGKY meets monthly on the Third Saturday. The meetings are held in varying sites in and around Central Kentucky to maximize involvement.

Our mission is to save our history and pass it on.