Karen Kowallis has been appointed as the NYG&B’s 2025 scholar in residence to focus on NYG&B resources for tracing immigrants. Ms. Kowallis will survey and identify specific groups covered within the NYG&B’s collections relating to immigrants to New York between 1840 and 1924.
For more than 155 years, the NYG&B has gathered materials documenting New York families. Its scholarly journal, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (the NYG&B Record)—the second-oldest genealogical journal in the United States—has included transcriptions, abstracts, and compiled genealogies for many of New York’s earliest families. Additionally, the NYG&B’s library collected original and compiled material beginning in 1869. Today, many of the NYG&B's physical collections reside at the New York Public Library (NYPL), where more than 28,500 cataloged items are accessible to researchers. Additionally, the NYG&B’s online collections contain tens of thousands of records.
Over the course of her appointment, Ms. Kowallis will conduct her work for evaluating the materials for each immigrant group, culture, or topic that she finds through the following:
- Manuscript and print collections from the NYG&B housed at the NYPL, including various abstracts, transcriptions, and compiled genealogies.
- All published issues of the NYG&B Record.
- Online collections and articles published by the NYG&B through its website.
- Lectures, articles, and other relevant items located in the NYG&B’s internal archives.
At the conclusion of her research, Ms. Kowallis will provide a written survey of her work, including an annotated bibliography of the relevant resources she has identified, which the NYG&B will make publicly available on its website.
Following a competitive application process, Ms. Kowallis was chosen as the 2025 scholar in residence, beginning her short-term appointment in January 2025. Ms. Kowallis is an Accredited Genealogist® with an extensive background in genealogy. She owns and operates Lineage Tracer, which helps both beginner and long-term researchers in identifying and accessing records and offers additional family history research services. She is also a Commissioner for the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). She has a bachelor's degree (BS) in Secondary Math Education from Brigham Young University-Idaho and a master's degree (MEd) in Education Leadership from George Mason University.
This scholar-in-residence project is made possible through a generous grant from Adrienne Auerbach, Vice Chairman, NYG&B.