In the Media
The Last Archivist: Finding Family After Slavery
The Last Archive | August 24, 2022
Jill Lepore talks to Judith Giesberg, co-founder of the Last Seen project, an archive of newspaper ads taken out by formerly enslaved people looking for their loved ones after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. This episode is part of a limited run series of subscriber-only content.
Episode
Black People Are Finding Their Ancestors Through Centuries-Old Newspaper Ads
The Takeaway | August 22, 2022
After the Civil War, thousands of emancipated Black people placed newspaper ads in search of their families. Today, their messages are helping their descendants find their people.
Episode
The Search for a Meaningful Clue to the Mystery of an Enslaved Ancestor
The New York Times | Rachel L. Swarns | August 6, 2022
Old newspaper ads are serving as a window into the hopes and histories of hundreds of individuals who were newly emancipated.
Article
Juneteenth: The fight to find loved ones after emancipation
Beyond Black History Month | June 16, 2022
How do you celebrate emancipation without the people you love? In this episode, host Femi Redwood continues her Juneteenth special. She explores the ways in which families worked to find each other after emancipation. One of the ways they did this was by taking out wanted ads. These ads were forgotten by history until being recently discovered. We speak to Dr. Judith Giesberg, the director of The Last Seen Project. She helped bring these ads to light. We also speak to Reverend Mark Kelly Tyler from Mother Bethel AME church in Philadelphia who has a special connection to the ads. And we meet TikTok influencer Walter English AKA @formerlovepoet to learn why these ads and other ancestry resources are important.
Episode
What is Juneteenth?
First Name Basis with Jamie Bradshaw | June 8, 2020
Listen in to hear the history of Juneteenth and how your family can take part in this powerful celebration.
Episode
Newspaper Ads By Former Slaves Searching For Missing Family To Be Performed Onstage
Essence Magazine | Paula Rogo | February 17, 2019
The newspaper advertisements placed by former slaves that were searching for missing relatives will come to life when they are read onstage in a new theatrical performance set to debut at Philadelphia’s Villanova University.
Article
Newspaper ads placed by former slaves seeking missing relatives to be read on stage at Villanova
Philadelphia Inquirer | Kristin E. Holmes | February 16, 2019
"Here we are, this far away from the Civil War, and we haven’t learned anything," he said. There are "immigrant children at the border who've been taken away from their families and some of them may never see their parents again. I hope we will learn about our history, and that it will speak to our present."
Article
Slave Families Lost and Found
Junior Scholastic | Bryan Brown | December 10, 2018
New research is helping to uncover long-forgotten stories of African-American family members torn apart by slavery—and their attempts to find each other.
Article
'My mother was sold from me': After slavery, the desperate search for loved ones in 'last seen ads'
Washington Post | DeNeen Brown | September 7, 2017
The ads tell real stories of real people with real names, humanizing enslaved people, something slave owners often tried to prevent.
Article
FCC and Me
Pod Save the People | DeRay Mckesson | June 20, 2017
"[W]hat is so powerful about this [site] is that it reminds you of the human aspect and it complicates the notion of freedom. How free are you when all of the people you love are spread across the country?"
Episode
'Information Wanted': Freed slaves' heartbreaking ads tell personal stories of slavery
CBS Evening News | Vladimir Duthiers | April 18, 2017
"I didn’t even know they were there," [Margaret] Jerrido said. "I just said to myself 'oh my God, it’s just a hidden treasure.'" "[T]here are so few opportunities for us to hear enslaved people describe their lives," Giesberg said. "Every one of these ads tells a life story."
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Reconnecting with your roots– new local genealogy project offers hope
The Philadelphia Sunday Sun | Kendall Alexander | March 31, 2017
Black people...have no idea what our original names were, what tongue was original to our throats, who we prayed to, or even our tribal and ritualistic customs — all lost over 400 years. So what happens when you want to look for missing links to your family but don’t want to go the DNA route? Villanova University history professor and graduate program director Judith Giesberg is working on a project of her own to help people find those missing branches to their family trees.
Article
After Slavery, Searching For Loved Ones In Wanted Ads
All Things Considered | Ari Shapiro and Maureen Pao | February 22, 2017
In sometimes spare language, the ads represent the deep family ties that endured through the Civil War and beyond slavery, despite the best effort of slave owners to sever those ties. In some instances, the ads are placed decades after the family members have last been in contact.
Episode
Families torn apart by slavery sought lost loved ones in newly archived ads
Philadelphia Inquirer | Kristin E. Holmes | February 19, 2017
Under the headline “Information Wanted,” the ads appeared in African American publications around the nation as newly freed slaves established their lives and tried to reunite with loved ones. A potential treasure trove for genealogists and others researching family histories, they have been tucked away on microfilm in church basements and scattered across dozens of obscure library archives.
Article