The House of Representatives has passed legislation by Congressman Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo, San Francisco) to ensure that many of the genealogical records involving the families of former slaves in this country will be preserved, digitized and cataloged.
"The federal and local records covered by this legislation are not only of personal importance to the families involved," Lantos said in a speech on the House floor. "They are also historically significant to us all. They document the reuniting of our nation and the historic moment of transition for slaves from the status of property to citizens, a time when our country finally began to right a horrible moral wrong. We need to take the process another step now, by ensuring that those records and the lessons they hold are preserved for all eternity."
You can read more about this important legislation on the USF Africana Heritage Project at http://www.africanaheritage.com/Lantos_Preservation_Act.asp
