The big question on the minds of NYG&B members for the past several months has been, "Where is the collection going and how soon will it be accessible again?" We are now able to share the good news with you. We are very pleased to announce it will be going to the New York Public Library to be incorporated with the wonderful genealogical and manuscripts collections already housed there.

Although the transfer of the collection will take some time—it will take up to two years for the G&B collection to be fully accessible at NYPL—the end result will benefit all genealogists. Our entire collection will be accessible on-line through NYPL's database. Offering our catalog on-line had been a long-time goal of the G&B, but the resources necessary to carry out this project always seemed beyond reach. Now through our partnership with NYPL, this dream will finally be achieved. Having our catalog available, just a couple clicks away, through the web will be a boon to our out-of-area members who may not have been able to get to our library often, or at all, to discover what resources we had for them.

September 28, Raindate October 12: Sunday. 1:00, Walking Tour. Trinity Church Cemetery, Washington Heights. This beautiful cemetery abuts the residence, and is the resting place, of naturalist John James Audubon. Also interred are Clement Clarke Moore, author of "A Visit From Saint Nicholas," John Jacob Astor, the furtrader, and several members of his family, and many other interesting people.

Tour leader: Eric K. Washington, author of "Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem"

A Conference for Genealogists and Historians
Thursday - Saturday, October 30-November 1, 2008
at the Gideon Putnam Spa Resort

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society is very pleased to present our third Saratoga program, "Yorkers, Yankees, and Beyond: Tracking New York Ancestors Into, Across, and Around the State."

Once again we plan to join the forces of genealogists and historians to provide a rounded overview of the people, politics, economics, and cultural forces that helped shape New York. We will focus on sources at the local, state, and federal levels. The NYG&B enthusiastically supports the trend of genealogists seeking to "put flesh on the bones" of their ancestors by learning the social history of their forbears, and of historians learning more about genealogical records and techniques and how to apply them to their work.

The G&B Library will be closing at our long-time location as of June 1st. We urge researchers who've been contemplating a visit to make use of the Library and complete their inquiries before then.

After closure our librarians will be fully engaged in preparing the Library to move and be recatalogued. The timing of this project, and where G&B materials will be available again, have yet to be finalized. We will announce these decisions as soon as they are made final.

Join G&B tour guide Maria Dering for walking tours to culturally and historically significant neighborhoods in New York City.

Upcoming tours: May 20: Seneca Village-Central Park

June 12: Gramercy Park and the Civil War

Firth Haring Fabend: May 1, 5:30: Land So Fair: The Unspoken Truths of the Great-Great-Greats: History Speaking for Itself in Fiction

Dr. Fabend holds a Ph.D. in American Studies and is considered the "premier historian of Dutch American culture."

Land So Fair, her sixth novel, is a saga of the author’s Haring family.

Booktalks are held in the Portrait Gallery at Society headquarters and are open to all.

Wed., June 25 at 6:00 p.m.

Join us for a rare and special look at the elements, colors, symbols, and quality of American heraldry, presented by Charles Mungo, Director of The United States Army Institute of Heraldry, Fort Belvoir, VA. A native New Yorker and 28-year veteran of the Marine Corps, Mr. Mungo will discuss the Institute’s work over the past century.

Rescheduled to Thursday., May 15 at 5:30

Art Deco and heraldry? Absolutely! Join us for a guided walking tour of Rockefeller Center as we explore the ways in which heraldic elements, emblems, and coats of arms are used to adorn the buildings of this iconic urban center. Led by G&B Heraldry Committee Member and licensed sightseeing guide Maria Dering. Dinner at a local pub (extra charge) will follow the tour. Reservations for both the tour and dinner are a must!

We are very pleased to announce the publication of Methodist Protestants and the Union Cemeteries of Brooklyn (1844-1894) on CD. Collected and compiled by long-time NYG&B member Frank A. Biebel, this volume is the result of years of painstaking transcription and analysis.

Saturday, April 12, 1:00-3:00 Christopher Sims and Patrick Lernout will visit the NYG&B to discuss their on-going project to discover the identities of the New Yorkers buried in Flanders Field.