Non-Subscription Databases
Use these Free Online Databases from any computer (no subscription required).
1940 Census
Family Search
Search from many databases of records from around the world, including many provided from the National Archives. This website is a project of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).
Ellis Island
The website of the The Statue of Liberty—Ellis Island Foundation, Inc has a searchable database for New York arrivals, 1820 - 1957: Their datasets include what used to be on the Castle Garden site (1830 - 1892).
Passenger Lists
These databases contain information about passengers who arrived in the United States by ship between 1820 and 1912. The records were extracted from ship passenger lists in the Records of the U.S. Customs Service (Record Group 36). The records include passenger lists for four separate geographic areas: Italy, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Germany (containing records on German, French, and Swiss passengers), and Russia (containing records on passengers from the Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the other countries of Europe). The National Archives offers the AAD database as a free public resource and it can be accessed from anywhere.
New York Chinese Exclusion Index
The case files document the entry into the United States of Chinese aliens and the reentry of U.S. citizens of Chinese ancestry under the Chinese Exclusion Acts passed by Congress between 1882 and 1930, and repealed in 1943. The case files are available from the National Archives at New York City.