Genealogy

The study of family ancestries and histories

Ancestry.com
The largest collection of family records on the web. Genealogy records inclued the U.S. Immigration Collection, Birth, Marriage, and Death Records (SSDI), Historical Newspapers (1786-2001) and the U.K. Census Collection.

Cyndi’s List
A categorized and cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet, 261,000+ links for family history! (as of 9/1/06)

Geneaology Spot
Genealogy portals are good starting places from which to expand your search. Included at these sites are sections on how to get started in genealogy research and on mistakes to avoid.

Iowa Genealogical Society
IGS is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create and foster an interest in genealogy and to aid others in researching their family history. IGS was founded in 1965 by a small group of dedicated genealogists who met in members' houses and carried the original collection in an orange crate. Today our 3,000+ members are worldwide and the book collection alone spans the length of over five football fields.

National Archives: Genealogists/Family Historians
A great starting place for genealogical research, how-to tips for beginners and experts, links to primary sources world-wide, and databases of family trees.

National Archives: State Archives
Genealogists may need to get information from state archives and historical societies. Here is contact information as of January, 2006

Repository of Primary Sources
A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar. Please note: As of January 2015 the list will no longer be updated or maintained.

Roots Web
The oldest and largest free genealogy site

Society of American Archivists
Organizations, associations and groups related to or of interest to the archival profession.

State Historical Society of Iowa
A main repository of Iowa historical and genealogical information.

Home Advisor: Guide to Genealogy/Links

EllisIsland.org
Some 40 percent of Americans have an ancestor who arrived at Ellis Island, the nation’s busiest immigration port, between 1892 and 1954. You can search digitized Ellis Island passenger lists from 1892 to 1924 (when quota laws began restricting immigration) for free. The database covers more than 22 million passengers and crew, including an estimated 17 million immigrants. To access, register for a free account.

Finding your Family from Ship Passenger Lists
When exploring genealogy, research may include poring over ship passenger lists to find names of ancestors who immigrated to the United States generations ago. Passenger arrival lists are an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn about family history. These records often included valuable information such as the name of the ship, full names of people on board, their ages, occupations, date of arrival, ports of both departure and arrival, and their country of origin. More recent passenger lists can be even more extensive, also providing physical descriptions of passengers and information about their relatives.

FamilySearch.org
This free site has passenger list collections from large and small ports including New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, North Carolina, New Orleans, San Francisco and others. Many of these collections are indexed and searchable; some aren’t yet indexed and must be browsed by arrival date. Results for passengers arriving at Ellis Island link you to EllisIsland.org. To see what’s available here, click the Search tab on the home page, scroll down and click United States, and type passenger lists in the Filter by Collection Name box. Click on the database you want to search. If you’re not sure of the arrival port, you can search all the FamilySearch.org databases at once, then use the Filter Your Search options on the left to view results only from immigration databases.