Getting started
The Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library houses extensive research material for genealogists and local historians, including the Deposit Collections of three genealogical societies (Ontario Genealogical Society, Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto, and the Canadian Society of Mayflower Descendants).
Searching the library website
Suggested keywords
- Black Canadians genealogy
- Blacks genealogy
- Black Loyalists
- Blacks Ontario or another province e.g. Blacks Nova Scotia
- Underground railroad Canada
Suggested titles: handbooks and guides
American and Caribbean
- African American genealogy: a bibliograpny and guide to sources
- Black genesis: a resource book for African-American genealogy
- Black roots: a beginner's guide...
- Caribbeana: a re-publishing project for Caribbean genealogy
- Finding Oprah's roots: finding your own
- Genealogist's guide to discovering your African-American ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage
- Jamaican ancestry: how to find out more
- Lineages and linkages: solving Trinidad roots in India
- Tree without roots...tracing British, African and Asian Caribbean ancestry
Canada: Early Black history
- Black Loyalist directory: African Americans in exile after the American revolution
- Blacks in Canada: a history
- Dictionnaire des esclaves et de leurs propriétaires au Canada français
- Ontario's African-Canadian heritage: collected writings
- Spirit of Africville (2nd ed)
- Under the north star: Black communities in Upper Canada before Confederation
Publications on Black settlements in various town and townships in Ontario are also available.
Using online resources
Websites
- Buxton National Historic Site
- Legacies of British Slave-ownership
- Library and Archives Canada -- Black History in Canada
- National Library of Jamaica digital collections
Recommended databases
- Globe and Mail Historical Newspaper Archive (available from outside the library with a valid TPL library card)
- Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive (available from outside the library with a valid TPL library card)
In-library resources
Database
- Ancestry Library Edition (access from any Toronto Public Library computer) e.g. their database "Slave registers of former British colonial dependencies, 1813-1834"
Additional in-library resources
African-Canadian newspapers on microfilm
- Voice of the Fugitive 1851-1852 (Windsor)
- Dawn of Tomorrow 1932-1972 (Canadian League for Advancement of Colored People)
- West Indian News Observer 1967-1969 (Toronto)
- Islander 1973-1975 (Toronto)
- Uhuru 1969-1970 (Montreal)
Other resources
- Canada: a people's history, Episode 3 (on the Loyalists) and Episode 5 (on the Underground Railway), on DVD.
- Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection [at the following TPL branches: Cedarbrae, Maria A. Shchuka, Parkdale and York Woods]
For further assistance contact:
Answerline: 416-393-7131
answerline@torontopubliclibrary.ca
Toronto Reference Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Department, 416-393-7175
