Verification
Most business certifications are self-reported. Ours is not. Every descendant certification is reviewed against genealogical evidence by the DOUSCS Research Division.
Who reviews your application
Every lineage review is carried out in-house by the DOUSCS Research Division. The Division is headed by Dr. Randy Short, a historian of African and African American history who holds a doctorate from Howard University, a Master of Divinity from Harvard, and an M.Phil. from the University of Virginia. He has taught history and religion at Bowie State University and Lane College, and is the author of Slavery's Mastery.
Confirm you are who you say you are, through a secure identity check, before any application is reviewed. We store the fact that verification happened and the provider's reference - never the underlying identity documents.
Name your ancestors and the records you hold - census records, vital records, Freedmen's Bureau records, deeds, military records, obituaries, family documents.
You do not need to arrive with a complete tree. Gaps are what the Division is for. What you provide is a starting point for the research, not the finished proof.
Our researchers trace and corroborate your line against the documentary record, working toward a named ancestor living in America in 1870 - the year the federal census first recorded formerly enslaved people by name.
The Division works with federal records held by the National Archives, including Freedmen's Bureau and United States Colored Troops records, alongside digitised newspaper archives, the Library of Congress, the Internet Archive, and the Digital Public Library of America.
The Division commits to a decision within ten business days of an application reaching the review queue.
You receive a decision with reasoning. If your line could not be corroborated, the decision says where it broke and what would close the gap.
If denied, you may appeal with additional evidence within thirty days.
Your documents are not kept. We retain the outcome of the review and a record that it happened - never the family records you entrusted to us.
Why it is done this way
A claim on a form is not evidence. Every descendant certification rests on records a researcher actually examined.
The fee covers verification and research. An applicant who pays can still be denied.
Reviews are traced to a named ancestor in the documentary record, not to a family story, and not to a DNA percentage.
Evidence you upload is destroyed after the decision. The outcome stays; the family records do not.
The waiting list is contacted first when they are, and given the first opportunity to apply.
Join the waiting list