The New England Historic Genealogical Society is one of the nation’s leading resources for family history research, especially for the New England states of the US. They provide expert family history services through their website and now, they need the help of volunteers. Learn how you can be a part of their amazing effort of pushing the work of family history along!
Who is the New England Historic Genealogical Society?
Established in 1845, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has been around for quite a while. They are a member-based, nonprofit group, dedicated to advancing the study of family history in America and abroad.
AmericanAncestors.org is their online database of genealogy records. It provides access to more than 1.4 billion records spanning twenty-two countries including the United States, the British Isles, and continental Europe. It also includes one of the most extensive online collections of early American genealogical records, a large searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines, and a collection of U.S Catholic records. [1]
Though NEHGS is subscription site, they have many records accessible for free. And, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can subscribe at no cost via the Partner Access at FamilySearch. To learn more about that, click here.
To see the NEHGS’ list of free database collections, click here.
How You Can Help the New England Historic Genealogical Society
The NEHGS is asking for volunteers to help in their indexing efforts. Volunteers do not have to be a member to participate. If volunteers come to the Library to volunteer, they are free to spend some of their time using the resources on-site. At the Library, you will be offered a ‘perk card’ that can be used at participating institutions in the Boston area for discounts. For example, the perk card allows you to visit the Isabella Steward Gardner museum for free!
Volunteering can also be done from the comfort of your own home, whenever you have time. Materials can be found at the online platform for indexing records. As a volunteer, you will learn how to read genealogical material, work with primary source documents, and create searchable databases.
Even if you have no experience, training is available for all volunteer opportunities!
Currently, the NEHGS has two major projects: digitizing parish records for the entirety of the Boston Archdiocese and digitizing the fifth generation of Mayflower Families Through Five Generations books (Mayflower Silver Books).
Does this sound like something you would be interested in doing? It’s a wonderful way to serve in the genealogical community and it offers you a unique opportunity to learn some very valuable skills. To get started as a volunteer, contact Bianca Renzoni at bianca.renzoni@nehgs.org or visit the webpage found here.
[1] https://www.americanancestors.org/about
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