August 5th 2023.
The 10 Million Names Project is an initiative from American Ancestors that seeks to document the stories and names of those who were enslaved in the United States before 1865. Kendra Field, the project's Chief Historian, explains to ABC News: "Before the mid-20th century, data about enslaved Africans and their descendants was extremely hard to come by. Descendants of the Mayflower, however, had access to a different set of tools and documents."
The project aims to collect data from a network of genealogists, historians, cultural organizations, and descendant communities. By doing so, they hope to create a document-based research database that can amplify the voices and stories of those who have been trying to archive their family history for centuries. It is estimated that the 10 million people who were enslaved between the 16th Century and the Civil War have around 44 million descendants who were forcibly separated from their families due to slavery.
At the helm of the project is an advisory board that includes host of the PBS show 'Finding Your Roots' Henry Louis Gates Jr., Paula Williams Madison, Gwill York, Richard Cellini, Kendra Field, and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in an honorary role. The project was inspired by the research from American Ancestors that proved Georgetown University sold enslaved people, and was founded by Cellini, who partnered with the organization to apply this method on a larger scale.
Ryan Woods, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for American Ancestors, explains: "The work done on the Georgetown project demonstrated we could apply a different methodology to help more Americans of African descent recover their family history before 1870—which is often difficult."
ABC News has been chosen as the project's exclusive media partner. For a year, the network will provide programming featuring the findings, research, and work of the project, and will feature stories across all of ABC's platforms. The website is open for public exploration, and offers a number of resources. It also encourages visitors to submit original family materials such as family trees, diaries, records, bible records, and interviews with family members to help build the database.
ABC News President Kim Godwin expresses her enthusiasm for the project: "ABC News is proud to be the exclusive media partner on this historic project to tell the untold stories of familial histories that have been a mystery until now, and we are looking forward to serving our audiences with straightforward reporting that shines a light on this chapter in American history."
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