Our largest database lists approximately 15,000 African-American immigrants to Liberia, 1820-1904.

In addition to full names, it includes, where available, information on family position, sex, education, legal status prior to emigration, manumitter, town or county of origin, ship on which they travelled, month and year of voyage and destination in Liberia.

The rich details provided here counter the stereotypical image of Liberian repatriates as elite mimics of Euro-American heritage.  In contrast, hundreds of them were born in Africa or bore African names. Many others had purchased themselves and immediate relatives, at the cost of hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars, prior to immigration.

This database should prove useful to genealogists, both in the United States and Liberia. It will also be of interest to a variety of scholars:

*specialists in social, nineteenth-century and African-American history
*geographers, especially those interested in migrations
*sociologists concerned with family patterns