Genealogical
Resources
in New York
The most comprehensive guide to
genealogical and biographical resources
in New York City and Albany

Estelle M. Guzik
Jewish Genealogical Society
www.jgsny.org.

Genealogical Resources in New York

Including New York City and Albany

 Between the years 1880 and 1924, more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through New York. The city, state and federal governments hold vast amounts of information that can unlock the mysteries of your family’s history. But where do you go in the maze of repositories, institutions, and municipal and state agencies?

 Genealogical Resources in New York answers that question easily, comprehensively, and authoritatively.

 Details on More than 80 Facilities

 Building on Genealogical Resources in the New York Metropolitan Area, published in 1989 by the Jewish Genealogical Society, this handsome, hardcover volume puts the details of more than 80 facilities at your fingertips, including:

·        32 Government Agencies
County Clerks, Courts, and Board of Elections
NYC Municipal Archives
National Archives
New York City and State vital records

·        60 Libraries and Archives
New York Public Library
Academic libraries and archives
Genealogical and historical societies
Jewish institutional resources
New York State Archives and Library

• Facility name
• Address
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Hours of operation
• Description of holdings
• Geographic scope
• Finding aids
• Access
• Copying facilities

What’s more, you’ll know which repositories hold genealogical and biographical materials, local historical and newspaper collections, maps and gazetteers, census records, probate records, naturalizations, name changes, vital records (birth, death, marriage), voter registrations, and more—all helping to make your visit or requests most productive.

Save Time – Quicker Research Results

 Whether you’re planning a visit or requesting information by mail, knowing which repositories hold which types of information will save both your time and that of the research staff. The listing of available finding aids as well as application forms for genealogical records will enable you to get faster results. Genealogical Resources in New York takes the guesswork and complexity out of a seemingly daunting and overwhelming task.

Keep Up to Date

 In recent years, new sources of genealogical information have emerged and are described for the first time in Genealogical Resources in New York in a concise, consistent format. These include: 

• Ellis Island—American Family Immigration History Center
• Ellis Island—National Park Service Archives and Library
• American Jewish Historical Society
• Center for Jewish History
• American Sephardi Federation
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice Library
• Museum of Jewish Heritage
• New York Public Library—Manuscript and Archives Division
• New York Public Library—Science, Industry and Business Library
• New York State Department of State
• Old York Library

Estelle M. Guzik, editor of Genealogical Resources in New York, served as President of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. from 1996 to 2001 and Vice-President from 1985 to 1990. Estelle has been a member of the JGS almost from its inception in 1977. She was editor of the JGS’s Resources for Jewish Genealogy in the New York Area (1985) and Genealogical Resources in the New York Metropolitan Area (1989), and is a frequent contributor to Dorot, the JGS newsletter, and other genealogical publications. Genealogical Resources in the New York Metropolitan Area was selected by the New York Public Library, Research Libraries, as the best reference book of 1989.

            During her term as president, the JGS cataloged the burial plots in New York and New Jersey cemeteries of more than 10,000 landsmanshaftn, synagogues, family circles, labor unions and other Jewish organizations. She coordinated the creation of an award-winning database – the work of over 100 volunteers of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc., the German Genealogy Group and the Italian Genealogy Group – that indexes over 253,000 naturalization records filed in the Kings County Clerk’s Office, 1907-1924. The results of these efforts are available on the JGS’s website at www.jgsny.org.

Estelle has a B.A. in political science from Brooklyn College and a master’s degree in urban planning from Hunter College. She served as director of compliance for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and was formerly staff director to the Federal Regional Council in New York. Estelle began to research her own family history in 1970 when she realized that she did not know the names of aunts, uncles and cousins killed in the Holocaust.