National Archives and Ancestry.com Partner to Make Millions of Historical Documents Available Online
Media Alert · Thursday, May 15, 2008

Washington, DC

WHAT:  To celebrate Memorial Day and honor all who have served our country, Ancestry.com – the world’s largest online resource for family history – is teaming up with the National Archives and Records Administration – the nation’s record keeper – to kick off a new agreement that makes millions of historical records more easily available to the public.

WHO:  Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein,
Tim Sullivan, CEO, Ancestry.com

WHEN:  10 a.m., Tuesday, May 20, 2008

WHERE:  Washington Room, National Archives Building
Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets NW, Washington, DC.

Press should use the Special Events entrance at Constitution and 7th Street NW.

MEDIA OPPS: Visuals of historical records including a passenger list of the U.S. Army Transport USS Grant arriving at the San Francisco port in November 1929, the military service record for William James, a Washington, DC, native who enlisted in the Union Army’s 1st Colored Infantry in 1863, and the death record of Judy Garland.

One-on-one interviews with Professor Allen Weinstein and Tim Sullivan, CEO, Ancestry.com, to learn more about the agreement and how Ancestry.com and the National Archives are working to preserve America’s heritage and provide access to important historical documents to Americans.

Background

For more than a decade, Ancestry.com and the National Archives have collaborated to make important historical records available to the public, demonstrating their commitment to preserving America’s heritage. Ancestry.com currently has the largest online collection of digitized and indexed National Archives content, including passenger lists from 1820-1960, and WWI and WWII draft registration cards. This new agreement provides critical access to these important historical records at a faster rate than ever before due to the placement of Ancestry.com technicians and scanning machines at the National Archives to continually digitize content for online access.

For more information about Ancestry.com and its offer of free public access to its U.S. Military Collection, visit www.ancestry.com/military. For more information on the new agreement between Ancestry.com and NARA, visit www.ancestry.com/nara.

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Media Contacts:
National Archives Public Affairs staff at: (202) 357-5300
Ancestry.com, Sara Black at:  (213) 996-3812; sblack@painepr.com.

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