Build an Institution Packet
A field note for researching churches, schools, cemeteries, lodges, mutual aid groups, and newspapers as community infrastructure.
Methods
Methods
Methods
Read Freedman’s Bank as a Relationship Map
A field note on extracting relatives, places, branches, occupations, and follow-up sources from bank records.
Methods
Search the Black Press Around the Institution
A field note for using Black newspapers to find churches, schools, lodges, businesses, cemeteries, and mutual aid.
Methods
Build an Address Timeline From Directories
A field note on using city directories to track addresses, occupations, spouses, businesses, and institution clues carefully.
Methods
Read an Occupation as a Clue, Not a Class Label
A field note on occupations, employment, gendered work, business claims, and source limits.
Methods
Labor Contracts Need Power Context
A Reconstruction note on contracts, apprenticeship, complaint records, coercion, and careful reader framing.
Methods
Business Ads Are Evidence of Public Representation
A field note on reading ads, notices, directories, licenses, and business profiles without overclaiming ownership.
Methods
Run the Courthouse Loop Before Publishing
A local-records note on checking deeds, probate, tax, marriage, court, and newspaper leads before a claim goes public.
Methods
How to Use Video Field Tours Responsibly
A methods note on embedding expert field videos without treating camera views as proof.
Methods
Build a Source Table Before You Write the Paragraph
A field note on turning aggressive research intake into careful, reviewable public copy.