Who We Are

Seeking New York ancestors?

We can help.

We're New York State's largest and oldest genealogical organization. We exist to help you learn the stories of your New York ancestors in more detail than you ever thought possible.

Founded in 1869, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in New York State.

We have been helping people from all walks of life uncover their New York family history for the past 150 years.

How We Can Help

Research in our extensive collection of online New York genealogy records.
Use our free resources to learn about the records you need.
Learn and connect with like-minded researchers at our educational events.
Read our award-winning publications to become a New York expert.

Our Mission: Connecting New York's Past and Present

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our mission is to preserve, document, and share family history and stories from across New York State.

We engage with genealogists, biographers, historians, and organizations to establish the broader contexts of New York’s past. We actively foster connections between New York’s past and present. 

For the past 150 years, we have been preserving valuable genealogical and historical records, producing peer-reviewed genealogical scholarship, and providing crucial resources to help amateur and professional genealogists navigate New York genealogy research.

To stay informed about our organization and New York genealogy - sign up for our free email newsletter below:

How We Can Help You

As the foremost experts on New York genealogy, we understand the complexities of finding families in the Empire State and can provide you the tools and knowledge you need to navigate New York research.

Online Genealogy Records

Our Online Records Platform contains over 190 collections of digitized genealogy records and the names of well over 1 million New Yorkers. Our most popular collections include:

The entire run of The Record, available for researchers to search and browse.
Religious records including baptisms, marriages, and others for over 120 congregations throughout the state.
Cemetery abstracts, collected from NY cemeteries that no longer exist or have been moved.
The New York Times Obituaries Index, the New York State Death Index, and dozens of other fascinating and useful collections.

We invite you to browse and learn more about our online records. NYG&B members receive full access, and annual membership costs less than $8 a month.

Online Educational Resources

There are plenty of excellent New York genealogy records online, but even more are in the repositories throughout the state and country.

Whether it's on the web or in the stacks, we can help you find the records you need and show you how to use them effectively. Read our article Eight ways to use the NYG&B website to improve your skills and find ancestors for a full overview of our online resources.

Our free resources are open to the general public, and contain valuable subject guides and blogs on the most important aspects of New York State research:

Workshops, Lectures, and Webinars

We host lectures, workshops, social gatherings, and digitization days throughout the year. Many of our events are held at our offices in New York City, but we hold events all over New York State throughout the year - we also travel all over the country to attend national genealogy conferences. For those that cannot attend in person, we host live webinars and have a library of recorded webinars and programs available for members on our website.

We also host the New York State Family History Conference - the only statewide conference dedicated to New York genealogy.

Visit our events calendar to see what's coming up soon - we hope to see you there!

Award-Winning Publications

The NYG&B produces a quarterly journal and magazine, as well as a number of award-winning research guides focused on New York genealogy. Learn more about our publications.

Our comprehensive guide to genealogy research in New York State, the New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer was originally published in 2015, and updated in 2017. The publication was awarded the "National Genealogical Society Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources" in 2016.

Our New York City Municipal Archives: An Authorized Guide for Family Historians was also awarded the "National Genealogical Society Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources" in 2017.

Array of original vital records and an NYG&B laptop

Support New York Genealogy

We cannot achieve our mission without the support of our members, the generosity of our donors, or the diligence of our volunteers.

We are proud and thankful to have such amazing support from our constituents and would be honored to welcome you into our truly global community. Individual annual membership begins at $89 per year, and donations of all sizes are appreciated throughout the year.