For people of African descent, records have not been prioritized for centuries. As a result, many have been unable to trace their genealogy past a couple of generations. But now, modern technologies are turning the tide.

Eden Cemetery in Philadelphia is one of the oldest Black-owned cemeteries in America. Eden is “like walking through a book of Philadelphia's Black history,” an archive of human experience. Historians and researchers there are in a race against time to preserve African American genealogy, turning analog records into searchable digital images.

For Jennifer Rencher, a multi-racial Black woman and Ancestry user, Eden’s research uncovered a major surprise in her family tree: an almost forgotten hero of civil rights. Learn more about her incredible discovery here: https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/forgotten-hero-how-ancestry-helped-one-woman-find-her-civil-rights-activist-ancestor