Essential Reading: Newspapers

Online Historical New York Newspapers

Digital newspaper repositories can be a gold mine of genealogical information. Obituaries, marriage announcements, bizarre happenings, legal proceedings, and mundane social notes appear in countless papers—and your ancestor's name could very well appear! This guide describes the many historical newspaper digital repositories currently available, their cost, and research tips. Read the guide.

New York Newspapers Timeline: Key dates that impact your research

Like all historical records, newspapers have evolved over time - before using newspapers for family history research, it is important to understand what kind of information newspapers typically contained at any given moment in history. This article will provide a general overview of the history of newspaper publication with a focus on New York, providing crucial and useful context for the researcher. Read the article.

Why Historical Newspapers Are Crucial Genealogy Sources

If you haven’t searched for your ancestors in historical newspapers, now is an excellent time to start: It’s easier than ever to find and access historical newspapers, and they can hold some amazing—and quite surprising—information. If you use the right newspaper search methods, you can locate a wealth of information about your family and their community—the kind of information that can’t be found in other documents typically used for genealogical research. Read the article.

Find your ancestor's obituary: The New York Times and other sources

Obituaries are a fantastic source for researching your family history - if you can find an ancestor's obituary, you have uncovered a potential goldmine of information, including leads for further investigation.

In recent years, The New York Times has undertaken a groundbreaking initiative to create obituaries for those whose stories deserve to be told, yet were passed over at the time of their death. Read this article to learn more about Overlooked and The New York Times Obituaries Index, as well as the genealogical value of obituaries and where to search for obituaries from your family tree. Read the article.