shadezofblack.com

What It Is

Shades of Black is an AI tool built for Foundational Black American family-history research. Its core goal is to help break through the “1870 wall”: before the 1870 U.S. Census, many formerly enslaved African Americans were not recorded by name in federal census records. The product uses an AI research agent to combine sources such as Freedmen's Bureau records, Slave Schedules, Dawes Rolls, and Slave Voyages, aiming to uncover ancestral clues that may not surface easily on commercial genealogy websites.

Core Capabilities

The page states that it uses a Claude-powered research loop, can search nine categories of records in parallel, and uses vision models to transcribe handwritten documents. Instead of returning simple search results, it produces PDF reports with confidence scores, source citations, and links to record images. It can also export GEDCOM files for import into Ancestry, FamilySearch, or Gramps. The Standard and Deep tiers cover more generations and additional source types, while Deep also includes a research log.

Pricing and Trial

Pricing is offered as fixed packages: Starter is $99, Standard is $199, with a founder member price of $149, and Deep is $349. The page also offers a free Brick Wall Analysis: users answer ten questions to receive an assessment of research feasibility, with no credit card required. Compared with the $750–3000 cost of human genealogists cited on the page, the fixed pricing is more predictable.

Pros, Cons, and Limitations

Its strengths are its very clear positioning and its focus on the pre-1870 genealogy gap for African Americans, with source selection and report structure designed around that problem. It also supports handwritten OCR, source citations, and GEDCOM export, making it suitable for serious family-history research. The limitations are that genealogical conclusions inherently depend on whether records exist, image quality, and the strength of the evidence chain. The page does not explain whether there is human review, what the refund policy is, how errors are corrected, or how privacy, data retention, and sensitive family information are handled.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is best suited to individuals and genealogy enthusiasts with relevant family leads in the United States who want to trace ancestors from the slavery era. It is not intended for general genealogy searches or Chinese clan genealogy research. Access from mainland China cannot be determined from the page, and payment methods are not disclosed, so it is advisable to try the free analysis first to confirm usability. Alternatives include Ancestry, FamilySearch, HeritageQuest, WikiTree, Gramps, and professional genealogical research services.