“John Jay College of Criminal Justice today announces the first New York Slavery Records Index, a publicly searchable compilation of records that identify individual enslaved persons and their owners, beginning as early as 1525 and ending during the Civil War. The index will help to deepen the understanding of slavery in the State of New York.
The database can be searched at https://nyslavery.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ and includes
- 30,000 records naming slave owners across New York state
- 1,400 birth certificates of enslaved persons
- New York State Senators who owned slaves in 1790 and 1800
- 550 advertisements seeking the capture and return of enslaved New Yorkers
- 1,681 records of enslaved persons delivered by slave ships to the Port of New York from 1715-1765, including the names of the owners and investors
- Almost 200 “Underground Railroad” fugitives who came to New York after escaping slavery from the South.”
For additional information, click here.