For too long, the historical record created by our ancestors has been reinterpreted, renamed, and reassigned — even though Native Black Americans were documenting their lives, land, labor, and communities as early as the 18th and 19th centuries. What we now call “history” was not discovered later — it was written in real time, then filtered through systems that stripped it of its original context.

Trace Thy Roots exists to restore that record.

We are an archival and publishing platform dedicated to preserving Indigenous Black American history as it was documented — through historical newspapers, public records, land deeds, and contemporaneous accounts — and returning it to permanent, protected form. This is not speculative reconstruction. It is the re-centering of original documentation.

To support this work, we established the Community Historian Society — a collaborative publishing partnership that brings together researchers, documenters, and compilers who are actively working with historical records. Through this initiative, contributors assist in organizing and publishing archival materials into hardcover and paperback volumes that preserve history as it was recorded.

Whether you are tracing your own lineage, researching community history, or contributing to the preservation of documented records, Trace Thy Roots provides the structure, standards, and stewardship to ensure that the record remains intact — and in the right hands.