March 21 …

Frazine K. Taylor was a pioneering librarian, archivist, genealogist, and author whose work helped recover and preserve African American family histories and reshape archival practice in Alabama and beyond.

Born March 21, 1945 in Wetumpka, AL, Taylor grew up in a family of educators, and attended Southern Normal High School before earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Knoxville College. She obtained a Master of Library and Information Science from Atlanta University in 1984.

Following Taylor’s early service with the Peace Corps and work at Tuskegee University, she embarked on a long career at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, where she became co-head of ready reference for genealogy. Her training as a librarian and archivist, combined with her deep connections to Alabama’s Black communities, fueled her lifelong dedication to making records accessible for descendants of enslaved individuals while addressing exclusionary indexing and cataloging practices.

Among her numerous achievements, Taylor authored Researching African American Genealogy in Alabama: A Resource Guide and coordinated the “Researching African American Ancestry” track at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) from 2004 to 2018. She dedicated her work to the Alabama Department of Archives and History from 1985 to 2010.

Taylor later served as an archivist and mentor at the Levi Watkins Learning Center at Alabama State University. There, she helped thousands trace their ancestors, often breaking through the post-1870 “brick wall” in Black research.

Taylor taught workshops across the country and consulted for PBS’s Finding Your Roots. She co-created initiatives like the Beyond Kin Project to document the histories of enslaved people and their slaveholders.

Taylor’s professional network included prominent genealogists and archivists such as Tony Burroughs and Henry Louis Gates Jr., with whom she collaborated and consulted. She mentored countless researchers, librarians, and students through IGHR courses and local workshops. Her mentees include participants from the IGHR African American track and recipients of the Frazine K. Taylor IGHR Scholarship established in her honor.

Taylor found intellectual inspiration in librarianship and community historians committed to primary-source recovery, as well as in the broader movement to amplify marginalized voices in archival records.

Taylor’s contributions have garnered numerous accolades, including her presidency of the Alabama Historical Association in 2019, making her the first African American to hold that position. She received the Virginia Van der Veer Hamilton Award from the AHA and the Dorothy Porter Wesley Award from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

Taylor’s legacy is further cemented by the establishment of the Frazine Taylor Research Grant and an IGHR scholarship in her name, along with widespread remembrance in genealogical and archival circles after her passing on July 24, 2024.

By transforming record indexing and developing teaching methods focused on African American research, Frazine K. Taylor empowered thousands to reclaim their family narratives, influenced archival standards throughout the South. She left behind lasting resources — publications, collections, scholarships, and trained practitioners — that continue to enrich public history and advance social justice efforts.