Kinfolkology x Community: Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C.

See our workshop itinerary .

In essence of Kinfolkology’s commitment to structural parity with descendants of enslaved ancestors, Kinfolkology x Community workshops are devoted to collaboration and co-visioning with Descendant communities. We have three goals for these gatherings:

One, we want to get to know you.

Kinfolkology x Community events allow our team to meet individuals, families and organizations from various Descendant communities and learn how to support their work.

Two, we’d like to introduce ourselves.

Kinfolkology x Community events provide an opportunity for our team to share what we do and why we do it. We will also give a behind-the-scenes introduction to four databases hosted by Kinfolkology:

is a database of the coastwise traffic of enslaved people in the antebellum United States. Oceans of Kinfolk currently includes the names of more than 63,000 enslaved men, women and children trafficked to New Orleans from domestic ports between 1818 and 1860. More than half of those individuals departed from Virginia. Oceans of Kinfolk was constructed by Kinfolkology Co-Founder Jennie K. Williams.

is a developing Kinfolkology database and digital archive of enslaved people who were sold in New Orleans, the largest market for the buying and selling of human beings in antebellum America.

is a database of individuals & families enslaved by the Carrolls of Maryland between 1689-1864.

is a database of enslaved individuals whose names appear in Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, a microfilm collection edited by the historian Kenneth M. Stampp.

And three, let’s talk: about data sovereignty, genealogy, ancestral memory, reparations, and much more.

How does Kinfolkology define “Descendant?”

Kinfolkology uses the term “Descendant” to refer to individuals with ancestors whose names appear in Kinfolkology databases as well as individuals who feel connected to enslaved ancestors through memory and/or kinship, whether or not they found those ancestors’ names on historical documents or in databases produced from historical records. We also understand “Descendant” to refer to anyone who feels connected to Kinfolkology’s work, whether or not they have a genealogical connection to it. This definition is adapted from the Montpelier Descendants’ Committee’s guide to Descendant engagement (also known as “the Rubric”).

While we have chosen to define “Descendant” in these ways, we acknowledge and respect that the term means different things to different people, places, and communities.

Host or Publisher Eola Lewis Dance & Jennie K. Williams