-
Re: Asterisks In Front of Names In City Directories
I should imagine that there is no single answer to that, as city directories would have been produced at the local level and there would have been no nationwide standard.
-
Re: Asterisks In Front of Names In City Directories
Most of the city directories I am referring to are produced by R.L. Polk City Directories, a company that has been in business since 1870. In any given year, they published directories for multiple cities. I highly recommend this source to all of my genealogy friends. I finally found the answer to my question and I am posting it here in case someone else needs this information.
In a 1911 Directory, after the Abbreviation section, it states, “An asterisk (*) before a name denotes colored.”
As I stated previously, sometimes the asterisk is there and sometimes it is not so I assume that it was subjective and up to the enumerator. I do come across that from time to time.
Happy Researching!
-
Re: Asterisks In Front of Names In City Directories
Becca Simons
Jun 7, 2019 10:17 AM
Dear Ms. Carter,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
The date and location often determines what the asterisks meant. In a number of locations, asterisks usually was used to denote race of African American residents. In other cases, it was used to denote a new resident at a given address. Unfortunately, the directories did not include a key to the symbols used.
We hope this information is helpful.
[Information provided by Elizabeth Burnes, Subject Matter Expert]