One potential obstacle to tracing African-American lineage is slavery, an institution that broke family bonds and made record keeping nearly impossible. Because African-American slaves were ...

According to Nicka Sewell-Smith, Ancestry’s Senior Story Producer and a genealogist, “The truth is, family history research can be challenging for African Americans because of U.S. slavery and ...

Conversely, parents and those experiencing significant material hardship felt less close ... The research sheds light on the evolving dynamics of friendships within the African American community, ...