An analysis of the intergenerational patterns in two African-American families

This study has three purposes: (a) to examine the culture found in two rural average African-American families as they were reconstructed for genealogical charts to determine generational patterns, (b) to study the interaction between economic/political institutions and the two families, and (c) finally, to analyze families in order to ascertain the degree of retention of African cultural remnants. One family resided in rural North Carolina, an area with considerable contact with the dominant American culture. The other family lived in the Sea Islands, an area relatively isolated from the dominant culture. A biography of each family was written within the context of an ethnographic/historical community study. Genealogical charts were reconstructed representing six generations of each family and served as the source for respondents. Twenty-four respondents, ages 16-93, were interviewed and data collected about generational patterns