Archives Library Information Center (ALIC)

Genealogy: Ethnic Heritage Links

A selection of links to websites that are useful for ethnic genealogical research.

African-American

African American Family History Step by Step
Five steps for researching African American genealogy, compiled by Kimberly Powell.

African American Genealogy
Research guidelines from the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

African American Genealogy
Resources for African American genealogists provided by FamilySearch.

African American History & Federal Records
A special edition of NARA’s magazine, Prologue that focuses on the use of federal records in African American historical research. Many of the articles are of genealogical interest.

Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
"The Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. (AAHGS) strives to preserve African-ancestored family history, genealogy, and cultural diversity by teaching research techniques and disseminating information throughout the community. Our primary goals are to promote scholarly research, provide resources for historical and genealogical studies, create a network of persons with similar interests, and assist members in documenting their histories."

Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy: 1719-1820
This web site provides a searchable database for African-Americans from the Louisiana area.

Alabama African American Genealogy Research
A comprehensive list of all Alabama genealogy resources. This web site provides a complete and easily navigable list of important records and databases.

Black Family Research: Using the Records of Post-Civil War Federal Agencies at the National Archives
NARA Reference Information Paper 108, by Reginald Washington.

Black Genealogy
This website by Access Genealogy provides links to information valuable to the study of African American genealogy, including records by state, slave owners by state, online books, and more.

Christine’s Genealogy Website
This site provides genealogy links, a genealogy forum and informative blog posts.

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
This National Park Service web site includes information on the more than 230,000 African-American troops who served in the Civil War.

Living with the Hydra: Documentation of Slavery and the Slave Trade in Federal Records
An article by Walter Hill in the Winter 2000 issue of NARA’s magazine, Prologue.

Marriage Registers of Freedmen
Elaine Everly, NARA staff member, wrote this article on Freedman's marriage registers, an invaluable source of family history, for the Fall 1973 issue of Prologue.

Register of Free Blacks: Augusta County, Virginia
A complete register of the sightings of black men freed in Augusta County, Virginia. Each registration entry includes proof of the man's freedom, where he was spotted, and a thorough physical description.

The Rost Home Colony, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
This article by Michael Knight on the Freedmen's Bureau appeared in the Fall 2001 issue of NARA's magazine Prologue.

Asian

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Angel Island immigrant research guide from the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.

Chinese Immigration and Chinese in the United States
National Archives Reference Information Paper No. 99. A good starting point for Chinese-American researchers.

Chinese in California, 1850-1925
This collection from the Bancroft Library of the University of California Berkeley illustrates 19th and early 20th century Chinese immigration to California through about 8000 images and pages of primary source materials.

Densho
"The Densho Family History Program’s mission is to help members of the Japanese American community connect with their history through education, training, access to genealogical tools, and preservation of historical materials."

Japan GenWeb
This web site contains links to Japanese genealogical web sites in English, Spanish and Japanese. Research on Japanese family heritage can also be done according to Japanese prefecture.

Online Databases & Records for Research in British India
Resources compiled by Kimberly Powell.

Australia and New Zealand

Archives New Zealand Research Resources
The National Archives of New Zealand provides information and research advice on important genealogical resources. Arranged by category, including Citizenship, Personal Identity, Migration, and Deeds Indexes.

Australian family history and genealogy selected websites
The National Library of Australia has compiled this listing of resources containing a variety of information relating to Australian family history and genealogy.

Family History
The National Archives of Australia has created this web site, which provides guidance on how to do family history research. It also provides guides to researching immigration, armed services, and indigenous records.

Kintalk
A blog presented by the Auckland City Libraries. It describes resources available at the libraries and beyond.

Society of Australian Genealogists
"The SAG has been helping people trace family history for over 80 years."

British Isles

DistantCousin.com
Links to web sites with information on census records, cemeteries, military records, and other useful sources for English genealogy.

Electric Scotland: Scottish and Irish Clans & Families
A guide to Scottish clans and families.

GENUKI: UK & Ireland Genealogical Information Service
This hubsite for accessing records in the British Isles is a quick and handy resource for genealogists.

Irish Genealogical Society International
Non-profit organization claims over 800 members in six countries. Offers resources and assistance to members researching their Irish heritage.

National Archives of Ireland: Genealogy
A guide to using the records of the Irish National Archives, including census returns, parish records and marriage licences, and wills and testamentary records.

National Archives UK - Family History
Guides to family history research at the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Covers a wide range of topics.

Scots Family
Scots Family assists in searches within originial Scottish records for information on ancestors.

Scottish Emigration Database
This database contains the records of over 21,000 passengers who embarked at Glasgow and Greenock for non-European ports between 1 January and 30 April 1923, and at other Scottish ports between 1890 and 1960.

Sources for Research in Scottish Genealogy
The Library of Congress lists sources available there and at other large libraries for researching Scottish ancestry.

Welsh Genealogy
Links to resources that focus specifically on Welsh genealogy.

Eastern European and Russian

East European Genealogical Society
The East European Genealogical Society provides genealogical information for people of German, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Jewish, Mennonite, and Romanian descent.

Europe Genealogy Links
This site provides lists of links based on country of origin. Also includes links to European passenger lists, cemeteries, and census data.

Foundation for East European Family History Studies
Genealogists can find information on Eastern Europe from Armenia to the Ukraine.

Odessa: A German-Russian Genealogical Library
Well-researched and useful library of genealogical information.

Polish Genealogical Society of America
The Society’s mission is to collect, disseminate and preserve information on Polish and Polish-American family history and to help its members use that information in their own research.

Polish Genealogical Society of Texas: Genealogy Resources
Resources include Surname Database, Maps and Geographic Locators, Organizations, PGSA Resource Center, Polish Resources, Texas Resources, and Discussion Lists.

SGGEE: The Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe
"This web site is devoted to the study of those people with German ancestry (most often of the Lutheran, Baptist, or Moravian Brethren faiths) who lived in present-day Poland and northwestern Ukraine."

French-Canadian

American-French Genealogical Society
This is the home site of the non-profit genealogical and historical organization devoted to people of French-Canadian extraction.

Counting Heads Around the World: The Genealogy of International Census Databases (Canada)
This Searcher article by David Mattison, Access Services Archivist, British Columbia Archives, provides a wealth of online Canadian family history research resources. Included on the site are links to general census guides, databases, and population statistics.

Francogene
"Your gateway to Franco-American and French-Canadian Genealogy on the Internet."

French Canadian Heritage Society of California
Fosters interest in French-Canadian heritage through genealogical research. Affiliated with the Southern California Genealogical Society.

Library and Archives Canada - Genealogy and Family History
Suggestions for using the genealogical records of the Canadian National Archives.

Quebec Family History Society
Non-profit organization is dedicated to Quebec genealogy. Site offers membership information and resources for research.

Hispanic: Central and South America, Mexico, Caribbean, and the West Indies

Caribbean Genealogy Library
Resources provided by the Caribbean Genealogy Library located in St. Thomas.

Cuban Genealogy Center
A genealogical web site dedicated to people of Cuban descent. This site provides valuable pointers for getting started, cemetery records, church records, military records, passenger lists, Cuban phone books, and indices to the history of Cuban families the country. A list of published resources is also provided.

Cyndi’s List: Central and South America
One of the most respected genealogy resources on the Internet. Cyndi’s List provides general Hispanic genealogy resources as well as information for individual countries.

Hispanic Genealogical Society
This organization offers information about families of Northern Mexico, South Texas, California, and New Mexico

Jewish

American Jewish Historical Society Genealogy
The Society holds many records of genealogical interest, such as orphanage records, immigrant aid organizations, military records, and more.

Avotaynu
This company publishes journals, books, videos, and other sources to assist in Jewish genealogical research.

Center for Jewish History Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute
The CJH Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute offers help in Jewish genealogical research, and occasionally presents workshops in conducting effective genealogical searches.

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the coordination of the activities of "more than 70 national and local Jewish genealogical societies around the world."

International Jewish Cemetery Project
The project describes its mission as an attempt "to catalogue every Jewish burial site in the world."

Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc.
Non-profit society based in New York City provides information on meetings, conferences, and resources.

JewishGen
The primary internet source connecting researchers of Jewish genealogy worldwide.

Leo Baeck Institute
The Leo Baeck Institute is a research, study, and lecture center whose library and archives offer the most comprehensive documentation for the study of German Jewish history.

Louis Kessler’s Jewish Genealogy Links
Gathers links to the most useful Jewish genealogy web sites.

SephardicGen Resources
Focuses specifically on Jews of Sephardic ancestry, with articles, links, and book descriptions available.

Western European

France Genealogy Links
Researchers seeking information on French ancestry can search by region or throughout France on this web site. Includes current French phone books and an atlas of French heraldry on line.

Genealogy.net
This web site provide links to German genealogy in German and English. Provides: sample letters to German resources, regional resources, German societies, emigration information, place lookups, and local heritage bibliographies. This web site also offers German unit conversion charts and definitions of German terminology and symbols.

German Roots: German Genealogy
Provides passenger list from pre-1820 to the 1940s, census clues from 1790 to 1930, online databases, and more.

The Italian Genealogical Society of America
Provides information on Italian heritage, how to find ancestors and even living relatives on both sides of the Atlantic, how to get started with the basic methods and resources of genealogy, and advanced research techniques from professionals in the field.

ItalianGenealogy.com
This page contains a wealth of information for those Italian-Americans who would like to trace their family’s roots.

Italy GenWeb
This web site provides Italian genealogy resources searchable by surname, province, or region of origin. Guidance for successful genealogy web searches are also provided.

Spain & the Basque Country
Links from Cyndi's List to help genealogists trace their Spanish ancestry.

Swiss Anabaptist Genealogical Association
This organization provides databases to members interested in Swiss Anabaptist heritage.

Ustica Genealogy Homepage
This web site represents an ongoing effort to translate, record, and link genealogic information for the families of Ustica, Italy, and their descendants in America. Provides indices of family surnames in Ustica and America, a list of the first inhabitants of Ustica, and references to Usticesi in the South.

See also additional genealogical material:

For information on how to do genealogical research at the National Archives, please see the Genealogy page on the NARA web site.

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