Professors Ned Benton and Judy-Lynne Peters and a team of graduate students at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City have compiled The New York Slavery Records Index, a public searchable database index of slaves and their owners in New York state.

The index contains over 35,000 records dating to as early as 1525, The New York Post reports.

Carol V. Mason, president of John Jay College said in a statement that the database will serve "as an important research tool that will support information-based scholarship on slavery in New York and across the nation."

#JohnJayCollege Launches First New York State Slavery Records Index https://t.co/izs9wJIn1r
#BlackHistoryMonth
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— John Jay College (@JohnJayCollege) February 2, 2018

The index's goal is to provide information that has been largely difficult to access. Its sources include census records, birth certifications, slave trade transactions, cemetery records, ship inventories, newspaper accounts, private narratives and legal documents.

“The launch of this index marks a significant contribution to understanding and remembering the country’s history of slavery and advances the College’s mission of educating for justice,” Mason said.

John Jay College

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