Genealogy Path

On Feb 14 the Star Ledger newspaper ran an article with the following headline “Cash-strapped NJ Historical Society to slash hours, staffing.” As of 2/16, the Historical Society has eliminated its public hours in a “cost-cutting measure” that impacts genealogists in and out of NJ. Some staff members are being indefinitely furloughed, as well, to further cut their expenses.

They plan to continue their educational programs – including some lecture series and much of their children’s programming. My understanding is that some access to the Historical Society “by appointment” will continue to be available. It is unclear (at least to me) whether or not this will include access to their library. I hope it will – but if you’re planning a trip to the Newark area this spring or summer – better call ahead to find out…

(If you are planning a trip and hope to use the library – please be sure to explore their online information and catalog ahead of time. That way, if things need to be brought in from their off site storage you might be able to get it on your first visit and you will be able to make better use of the limited time you will have there.)

The society’s phone number listed in the article is 973-596-8500. Their website is: www.jerseyhistory.org

Tags: historical, historical society, new jersey historical society, njhs, societies
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Over 106 Million Articles Now Available for Family History Research

NAPLES, FL–(Marketwire – November 16, 2007) – GenealogyBank, a leading online provider of historical and recent newspapers for family history research, announced today the addition of 100 fully searchable historical newspapers. These newspapers will add 3 million new articles filled with significant genealogical content. GenealogyBank now has over 106 million historical newspaper articles available online for family history research.

Next month, GenealogyBank will add another 100 newspapers including over 2 million new articles. Now complementing more than 210 million family history records, this latest addition will expand coverage to over 2,200 U.S. newspapers in all 50 states.

“With over 300 years of historical newspapers at your fingertips, you can easily discover a breadth of information about your ancestors’ across generations,” says Genealogy Director for NewsBank, inc., Tom Kemp.

The addition features big city dailies and regional weeklies including:

Trenton(NJ) State Gazette (1863-1888), Arkansas (AK) Intelligencer, (1845-1858)

Tucson (AZ) Daily Citizen, (1900-1922), Augusta (GA) Herald, (1799-1815)

Portland (OR) Oregonian, (1911-1916) and many others. View entire list.

“I use GenealogyBank and have subscribed for about six months,” says Melinde Sanborn, F.A.S.G., Secretary of the American Society of Genealogists. “I find the historical newspapers collection absolutely invaluable. For a client who had searched in vain for 20 years, with one mouse click, I found a death notice in a 2-year-run of an obscure newspaper that I’d never have looked in without this search capability.”

Kemp adds, “Everyday we hear from visitors who have learned something new about their ancestors. Recently John Murphy of Elon, N.C. wrote to tell us within an hour of joining he discovered his 4th Great Grand Father, Thomas C. Donn, who happened to be a justice of the peace in Washington D.C. It’s exciting helping families discover new details about their ancestors’ lives.”

GenealogyBank, celebrating its first anniversary online, continues to add millions of new documents a month to its constantly growing collection of newspapers and other valuable family history records.

About GenealogyBank:

GenealogyBank, a division of NewsBank, inc., supplies individuals interested in family history research with over 300 years of U.S. newspapers, government documents and other historical records in all 50 states. GenealogyBank contains millions of obituaries, birth, marriage, and death notices and much more. GenealogyBank can be found at: www.genealogybank.com.

Tags: articles, GenealogyBank, historical, historical newspaper, historical newspaper articles, newspaper articles, newspapers
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