Marriage certificates. Military records. Census data. Obituaries. Documentation – when mined and mapped from generation to generation – adds up to ancestry.

The University of Toledo Department of History is hosting a free, public event to help members of the African-American community discover their family trees.

“African Americans can experience ‘brick walls’ when tracing their family roots due to slavery and lack of documents and records regarding people of color before 1870,” Dr. Shirley Green, instructor in the UToledo Department of History, said. “Our genealogy workshop is a continuation of Black History Month and reconnecting to the strength of the people who came before you.”

Green, a retired Toledo police officer and director of the Toledo Police Museum, will lead the Workshop in African-American Genealogy 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 20 in University Hall Room 5260.

“We plan to provide a general overview of African-American genealogy and assist individuals to start their own genealogical research,” Green said. “Members of the local African-American group called Journey also will be in attendance to answer questions.”