Caldwell House History

--Mr. Damani Davis, Reference Archivist at NARA (National Archives and Records Administration), wrote this important essay: Slavery and Emancipation in the Nation's Capital: Using Federal Records to Explore the Lives of African American Ancestors

--Ancestry.com

--African American historical records resources

--Census Slave Schedules Historical Background

--Records resources to help identify former slaves and slave owners

--District of Columbia Archives. (--review the strict guidelines for D.C. Archives genealogy research).

-- National Museum of African American History and Culture - Freedman Bureau Records. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/initiatives/freedmens-bureau-records  

--Freedmen's Bureau Bank Records are also located on familysearch.org

DC History Center

Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library

--Civil War Confederate Slave Payroll Records Video describing the content, availability and how to research. These records are located in the NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) catalog.

-- Is it possible that the owner or ancestors were in the military?  You may find military service records  or pension files online for USCT soldiers during the Civil War or other wars on Fold3.com. Some families have voluntarily scanned many USCT soldiers into the NARA catalog. You can search by name.

--Here is another useful location to look for or ask for support with African American research. It is an independent online group but they use our records substantially. International African American Museum-Center for Family Research. 

--NARA has DC court records relating to slavery that are not online. When NARA reopens, you may consider visiting NARA in D.C. to review those records. Or, email Archives1Reference@nara.gov with specific dockets, dates, or other information to see if the records are applicable to your research.

--The White House Historical Association has initiated a compelling overview of slavery in the White House and other Lafayette Square buildings. Lafayette Square, 4 blocks from Caldwell House, was the site of one of the busiest slave markets in the country. When importation of slaves from Africa was abolished, the heavy demand for labor in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Arkansas created slave markets throughout Washington, DC. Slavery in the President's Neighborhood

--The Octagon House, also blocks from Caldwell House, was owned by the Tayloe family, who owned 800 slaves that rotated from Octagon House to the Tayloe plantation in Virginia. An article about slavery at Octagon House is HERE

Ball, Edward--Slaves in the Family Journalist Edward Ball investigates the history of his family as slave owners, going back to the mid 17th century

Berlin, Ira--Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America A seminal history of slavery in America, this book examines the complex social, political, economic and personal web of slavery from 1620 to 1865 from New England to Mississippi.

Johnson, Paul--African-American ChristianityThese essays offer a surprising summary of the complex development of religion among the enslaved in North America

Arnebeck, Bob--Slave Labor in the Capital In 1791, President George Washington appointed a commission to build the future capital of the nation. The commission found paying masters of faraway Maryland plantations sixty dollars a year for their slaves made it easier to keep wages low for free workers who flocked to the city. In 1798, half of the two hundred workers building the two most iconic Washington landmarks, the Capitol and the White House, were slaves.

The Arts Club of Washington during segregation : 1916 to 1964

But the deeper picture is presented by Howard University Professor Alain Locke in "The New Negro, An Interpretation", (1925) the collection of essays by two dozen writers on the emergence of the modern African American, viewed as the clarion call for the Harlem Renaissance. These essays touch on every issue still present today, and foretell much of what has taken place in the arts, an optimistic view of the depth and potential of the Black artist, writer, and cultural force.

"Modern Negro Art", (1943) by Howard Professor James A. Porter offers an elaborate study of African American art and artists from the 18th century to modern times. Howard University was indeed the vortex of much of what took place in Washington in the visual and literary arts.

"The Guide to Black Washington" (1990) is a block-by-block anecdotal review of the people, neighborhoods, and movements going back to the origins of the city in 1790.