Thursday, February 12, 2026 Your ancestors didn’t disappear between census years—records exist to prove they were there If you’ve ever researched Black ancestors in a city, you know the frustration. The census is only conducted every 10 years. Families move. Names change. Neighborhoods disappear. And suddenly, a whole decade of your ancestor’s life feels invisible. That’s where city directories come in. City directories are one of the most overlooked tools in Black genealogy.