Established 2008 · Birmingham, Alabama
The Birmingham African American Genealogy Group is a community of researchers, family historians, and storytellers committed to uncovering and honoring our shared heritage.
Our Mission
BAAG empowers African American families across Birmingham and central Alabama to discover their ancestry through research education, archival access, and the preservation of oral and written histories. We believe every family deserves to know its story.
Curated guides to census records, Freedmen's Bureau files, slave schedules, church and cemetery records across Jefferson County.
Learn moreJoin a welcoming community of beginners and experienced genealogists. Members get monthly workshops and one-on-one research help.
Learn moreMonthly meetings at the Birmingham Public Library, annual heritage symposium, and DNA interpretation roundtables.
Learn more
Community
For more than fifteen years, BAAG members have helped one another break through brick walls — from antebellum plantation records to Great Migration paper trails. Whether you're just starting with a family Bible or you've been researching for decades, there's a place for you here.
News & Updates
Join us September 12 at the Carver Theatre for keynote speaker Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., three breakout tracks, and free archivist consultations. Early-bird member pricing through July 1.
Read moreOur volunteer team has now photographed and transcribed 612 headstones at Grace Hill, with full records uploaded to our public BillionGraves project. Next workday: October 18.
Read moreAfter two years in our beginner cohort, member Cheryl Mosley pieced together five generations using probate inventories and oral history — and shared her workflow at last month's meeting.
Read moreSupport Our Work
The Birmingham African American Genealogy Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 86-1099545). Donations are tax-deductible and fund scholarship memberships, cemetery preservation projects, and archival digitization — helping families across Alabama recover their stories.
"BAAG helped me trace my family back to a Tallapoosa County plantation and then forward to the Bessemer steel mills. They gave me my great- grandmother's name. I can never repay that gift."
— Cheryl M., Member since 2019
