When History Channel remade the iconic series ROOTS, the compelling story of an enslaved African family’s struggle to preserve their heritage, we had an idea to reconnect families — in real life.

 

To prevent the names and histories of countless enslaved peoples from vanishing, we teamed up with the Freedman's Bureau Project and introduced Reading for ROOTS, a campaign aimed at transcribing thousands of aging Civil War-era documents through crowd-sourcing.

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As participants unearthed names, dates, and other valuable information from these handwritten records, they were meticulously cataloged within a searchable digital database. Within three weeks, our campaign was pivotal in bringing over 14,000 names. back into the light. These names now offer a potential 22 million African Americans the opportunity to retrace their roots.