Since its founding in 1630, the City of Boston has kept records pertaining to its citizens, including several unique resources. Join us to learn what records exist for Boston, tips for using them in your research, and where to find them. Special attention will be given to records from the 17th through 19th centuries.
The military records at the National Archives detail service given between 1775 and 1916. We will discuss how to locate, access, and utilize compiled service records, pension applications, and other resources that detail your veteran ancestor’s service. We will also discuss briefly more recent records available through the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis (WWI–present).
With the release of the 1950 U.S. Federal Census, family historians of all levels are primed to uncover new—or to verify already-known—information about their ancestry. Using new machine learning and optical character recognition technology, this is the first time that a census will be searchable upon its release on the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) website. In this session, Vice President of Library and Research Services Lindsay Fulton will discuss what information is provided, how to search the indexed and non-indexed databases, and provide tips on how the 1950 census can be a springboard to other records.
The US Federal Census is often the go-to resource for family historians researching ancestors from the 19th and 20th centuries. To get the most out of this resource, it’s important to understand the record’s context, specific search tips, and shortcomings. Join us for an overview of the Federal Census and gain valuable search techniques for using this important resource.
Throughout its history, the United States has offered several land incentives to encourage settlement and migration westward. In this class, we will first discuss federal bounty land warrants for military service between 1775 and 1855 and then delve more deeply into homesteading records including land entry case files, patents, and tract books.
Land, Court, and Probate records contain key information that can connect generations, confirm family groups, provide vital data, and build the stories of your ancestors. This online seminar demonstrates how to get the most out of these important resources. This three-session seminar focuses on New England resources from the 17th century to present day, but many of the strategies and methods discussed can be applied to other regions of the country.
With the influx of immigrants to America in the 20th century, many immigrant aid societies were created to assist new arrivals with job placement, medical support, finding lost family, and generally get them acclimated to life in America. Some of these organizations include Traveler’s Aid Society, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), Charitable Irish Society of Boston, the Irish Emigrant Society of New York, St. Raphael’s Society, and many others. The records and case files kept by each society can offer a detailed look into the life of your ancestor. This session will provide a brief history of the immigrant aid society movement in America, how they operated, what information can be found in records, and how to locate them.
Beyond the all-important passenger list, immigration to America resulted in the creation of several other records. This presentation will demonstrate how to utilize several records, including: passports (both those from the origin nation and those later applied for by naturalized US citizens), border crossings, C-Files (naturalization certificates, 1906-1956), AR-2 Files (Alien Registration Forms, 1940-1944), WWI Alien Registrations (1918, gathered by each state), Visa Files (1924-1944), A-Files (1944-1951), and the Arolsen Archive database, which documents European refugee arrivals following Nazi persecution.
Centuries of Irish history were lost as a result of the Four Courts Fire in Dublin in 1922. We will delve into the history leading up to the battle at the Four Courts, discuss the records that were housed in the Public Records Office, and explain why their destruction has made researching in Ireland so difficult. The lecture will also include record alternatives, what survived, records in other repositories and an initiative to recreate a virtual Public Records Office.
Was your ancestor a Freemason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Columbus, or a member of another fraternal organization? In this webinar, we will teach you how to identify different fraternal organizations, provide valuable tools for locating a lodge and its records, and discuss how these records can enrich your family history research.
