Begin with what you know
Search using a person's name and, when available, a year, state, relatives, or other family details that can help narrow the search.
A GOOGLE CLOUD RESEARCH PROTOTYPE
Every name
holds a story.
AncestorIQ is a genealogy research assistant I’m building to help explore African American family history through historical records, from slavery and Reconstruction through the Great Migration.
IN DEVELOPMENT · HISTORICAL RECORD SEARCH
ANCESTORIQ / RESEARCH VIEW
AncestorIQEVERY NAME HOLDS A STORY
FAMILY HISTORY / HISTORICAL RECORDS / GOOGLE CLOUD
01 / HOW THE RESEARCH WORKS
Start with a name.
Follow the records.
AncestorIQ is designed to help researchers turn a family question into a path through historical evidence.
Look across historical sources
Search digitized records and historical datasets for possible matches. Names and details can vary from one record to another, so results need careful review.
Find a useful next step
Use promising record matches to build a timeline, explore migration connections, and identify other records that may help continue the research.
02 / WHY I’M BUILDING IT
Make the search
feel a little less
like searching alone.
African American genealogy research can mean piecing together fragments across scattered archives, changing surnames, and records with gaps. AncestorIQ is my effort to make those clues easier to explore and connect.
Historical context matters
Records sit within a longer history. AncestorIQ focuses on sources that can illuminate family connections and movement across major periods in African American history.
Matches are a starting point
A name match is not proof by itself. Place, age, relatives, dates, and surrounding evidence all matter when deciding whether a record may refer to your ancestor.
Keep the research moving
The aim is to help surface related evidence and practical next records to check, so each useful clue can lead to a more informed search.
03 / BUILT ON GOOGLE CLOUD
A real research prototype.
Designed to grow with the work.
I built the application with cloud services to bring historical data, search, and a web experience together.
RECORD DATABigQuery
APPLICATION APIFastAPI
CONTAINERDocker
APPLICATION HOSTINGCloud Run
Explore the public source code
View AncestorIQ on GitHub ↗See the AncestorIQ repository, project files, and ongoing development on GitHub.
AncestorIQ is an evolving research prototype. Search results are leads for further investigation and should be verified against the original records and other evidence.
04 / CONTINUE THE JOURNEY
Curious about AncestorIQ?
Explore the project or return to my portfolio to see the other systems I’m building.