February 26 — After a successful beta period, Afriquest (www.afriquest.com), the free online database for records of African and African American genealogy and history, will officially launch on Saturday, February 28.

The Afriquest database will allow anyone to add records, including both text and images. Furthermore, anyone will be able to access, print and use the records for research purposes – absolutely free. The software is easy to use and has a powerful search engine to help readers quickly find what they are looking for.

Access to the entire content of the Afriquest database will always be free. That’s what Afriquest is all about – keeping records of African and African American genealogy and history free for anyone to access. So every record shared on Afriquest will not only be preserved, it will be free to access, now and for generations to come. As the database grows, Afriquest will become a valuable resource for genealogists, historians and educators.

The database currently contains transcriptions and images of more than 2,000 historical documents of interest to anyone researching African and African American heritage.

Afriquest will also be a place to record and preserve family oral history. Readers will be able to share their family’s history, stories about family traditions, or stories about individual ancestors.

Submitters may also upload a picture to go with their family story. Every record or story shared on Afriquest belongs to the submitter, and submitters may modify or remove their content at any time.

The Afriquest database will launch at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, February 28, 2009.