1
Syl Woolford
71 New London Road
Newark, DE 19711
302-290-3060
SylWlf@aol.com
Bio
Syl Woolford is a native Delawarean and he currently resides in Newark,
Delaware. He has two adult sons who live in Charlotte, NC.
Mr. Woolford is a graduate of Delaware State University with a BS Degree in
Business Administration /Accounting and a graduate of Rutgers University with an MBA
in Marketing.
He has recently retired from a career in accounting and sales with such firms as
Campbell Soup, IBM, Pacific Telesis and Sun Information Services. Most recently he
worked for and retired from AAA MidAtantic in Wilmington.
Mr. Woolford’s interest in history began with the researching of his own family
history. He traced his mother’s family, the Saunders Family, for 200 years in the city of
Newark, Delaware.
Most recently, Mr. Woolford has traced the Woolford side of his family back to
Dorchester County, Maryland and made a connection with Harriet Tubman’s legendary
efforts in free slaves in Dorchester County
Mr. Woolford is a very active lecturer in the area having lectured for:
Delaware Public Archives
Delaware Genealogical Society
Sussex County Genealogical Society
Wilmington Civil War Roundtable
Central Delaware Civil War Roundtable
Delaware Military Heritage and Education Foundation
2
American Legion Post #25 in Middletown
Underground Railroad Coalition of Delaware
United American Methodist Episcopal - 200th Annual Conference
Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
Prince Georges County Chapter.
Newark Historical Society
Star Hill Museum
Howard High School Alumni Association
Newark Arts Alliance
Newark High School – Brothers and Sisters Student Union
Shue-Medill Middle School – African-American History Program
Friends of Mount Harmon Plantation
University of Delaware - Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
University of Delaware – English Language Institute
Delaware State University – Historic Preservation Department
New Castle County Library System
Wilmington Public Library
Dover Public Library
Cecil County Library System
Cable TV Channel 28 – Community Crossfire with Norman Oliver
WILM – Charles Brittingham Show
WVUD – Radio Alchemy – Tony Maxwell host.
Mr. Woolford currently serves on the board of the:
FODA (Friends of the Delaware Public Archives)
Mr. Woolford has put together an impressive catalog of African-American history
research projects on which he lectures. They include:
Delaware Topics:
1. Introduction to Delaware’s African-American History
2. The Legacy and Legends of Howard High School
3. Slaves, Indentures and Apprentices – The Lewis Family Papers
4. Slavery in Newark Delaware
5. Early Delaware Newspapers – Advertisements for the sale of slaves and
advertisements offering rewards for runaway slaves
6. Death Certificates of African-Americans in Wilmington from 1861-1862
General Topic:
1. Early Black Methodism
2. The Four Horsemen of the AME Church
3. The Dover Eight
4. The Underground Railroad - Volume 2
5. The Underground Railroad on the Mississippi River
6. American Colonization Society
7. Freeman’s Savings Bank
3
8. Freedom’s Journal – The First African-American newspaper
9. Early Black Newspapers
10. The Black Codes in Delaware
Military Topics:
1. United States Colored Troops during the Civil War
2. Uncle Tom’s Cabin – The book that started the Civil War
3. Black Patriots, Black Loyalist and the War of 1812
4. Bloody Kansas - The First Battle of the Civil War
Genealogy:
1. African-American Genealogy Research Strategies
2. Origins of the African-American Communities in Newark DE
3. The Iron Hill Community Genealogy Project
4. The 1940 census of the Eastside of Wilmington