'Black Families of the Ozarks'
The full text of "Black Families of the Ozarks" is now available online. There has been very little written or compiled about this significant community that has always been present in the region. This collection of records in a 10-book set has many items not only for Greene County but throughout the Ozarks. Some of the counties included are Greene, Wright, Dallas, Newton, Taney, Polk, Cedar and Webster.
This collection has slave records from census and probate records. It also includes records from military service, church records, marriage records, school records and city and county directories. You can read an interview with Rosetta Clarida titled Growing up in Springfield During the Depression as I Remember it (volume 3-A, page 224) or check the Rosters of the 1st and 2nd Kansas Regiments Colored Infantry of Kansas (volume 1, page 253).
The printed volumes were put together by the Greene County Archives and Record Center with help from county clerks, archives and volunteers throughout the Ozarks and some in other states. The collection was converted to electronic format by several individuals and programs at Missouri State University and is hosted online by the Springfield-Greene County Library.
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