The Hopeful, Heartbreaking Ads Placed by Formerly Enslaved People in Search of Lost Family

After emancipation, many freedpeople used newspaper advertisements to try to contact their family members. The Historic New Orleans Collection has made available a digital collection of more than 300 "Lost Friends" advertisements that appeared in the city's Methodist Southwestern Christian Advocate newspaper between November 1879 and December 1880. The collection is searchable by name or...