Doing Your Own Genealogy – The Augusta Loomis Project

1. Reflect

Reflect on the information you know about your family lineage. What do you know? What’s missing? Explore these questions to develop a sense of direction with your work.

Why I am I interested?
What stories do I know? Whose stories do I know?
Who in my family might know more than me?
Who do I want to learn more about?
What do I want to learn more about?
- e.g. people, place, relationships, stories

2. Connect

Think about people who can help you with your research, whether it be friends, family, or experts.

Family members also interested in exploring their family history
Friends who might make a good research partner
Specialists like instructors, librarians, archivists etc.

3. Explore

Start exploring! Here are some methods and resources to begin doing your own genealogy. More information about how to use these can be located under the resources tab.

Archival Research
Interviews and Outreach
Local Libraries
Ancestry.com
Familysearch.org

About This Site

Belonging: The Augusta Loomis Project is a genealogical research project focused on tracing the descendants of a forgotten member of the Loomis family––a prominent Connecticut family. Augusta was a biracial woman whose lineage was excluded from the family tree and whose life has been erased. The Augusta Loomis Project aims to tell her story through genealogical research, community outreach, and oral history––with the ultimate goal of creating resources for people to research their own genealogy, bridging connections between Black communities, and documenting Black stories.