JewishGen – The largest and most comprehensive website for Jewish genealogy – research information, tools, and extensive databases. One must register to access some sites, but there is no fee. Below are only a few of the offerings:
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| Ancestry.Com Available by subscription or for free when accessed from many libraries. It contains every-name index of every available US census from 1790 to 1940, as well as extensive passenger lists and many local records. For Jewish records, see Jewish Family History Collection |
| Avotaynu The leading publisher of products and information of interest to persons who are researching Jewish genealogy, Jewish family trees and Jewish roots. |
| Boston Jewish Advocate Databases: Obituary Database Wedding Announcements Database |
| Boston Public Library Card is available to any resident of Massachusetts, enabling on-line access to databases such as newspaper (NYT, Boston Globe) and biography archives. Ancestry.com is available IN the library only. They also have a large collection of City Directories in their Microtext Department. |
| Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History fosters the creation and dissemination of Jewish knowledge makes the historical and cultural record of the Jewish people readily accessible to scholars, students and the public. |
| Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) Archives An online catalog of the world’s largest collection of genealogical records. Family History Library catalogue lists all microfilms that can be ordered and viewed at a local Family History Center (e.g., Weston). Films contain birth, marriage, and death records of U.S. and European communities, ship records, records of organizations helping immigrants, etc. For lists of holdings of Jewish records only, see: www.JewishGen.org/databases/FHLC/ |
| Cimorelli.com Ships arriving US from Europe (Morton Allan Directory) |
| Cyndi’s List One of the most extensive genealogical sites on the web |
| Czestochowa-Radomsko Area Research Group Access their search engine that gives access to one of the largest collections of archival Holocaust data on the web. |
| Distant Cousin An online archive of genealogy records and scanned images of historical documents from a wide variety of sources, such as newspaper obituaries, city directories, census records, ship lists, school yearbooks, military records, and more. In all there are more than 6 million genealogy records from over 1,500 sources online. |
| The DNA Shoah Project This project is building a genetic database of people who lost family during the Holocaust and will help reunite families torn apart during wartime. |
| Ellis Island Ellis Island Passenger Lists records for most of the 25 million immigrants who arrived there from 1892 to 1924. Most easily searchable through Steve Morse. |
 FacebookJoin the JGSGB Facebook group to keep up with the latest news. |
| Family Tree DNA Site for the company with the largest Jewish database. Explains what DNA is and how it fits into genealogical research. Allows you to order kits for testing. |
| Federation of East European Family History Societies – Information pertinent to East European research—maps, databases, links to other sites. |
| FindaGrave Presently over 100 million records, some with photos, searchable by name, location or cemetery, submitted by volunteers worldwide. Jewish names increasing as database grows. |
| Find My Past Contains passenger lists featuring millions of people leaving the UK for destinations worldwide. |
| Foreign Business Directories -Searchable online. |
| Genealogy.Com Available by subscription or for free when accessed from many libraries. It contains every-name index of every available US census from 1790 to 1930, as well as extensive passenger lists and many local records. |
| Genealogy Indexer Search 77,000 pages of historical directories (business, address, telephone, etc.), 28,000 pages of 64 yizkor books (memorials to Jewish communities destroyed during the Holocaust), and 7,000 pages of lists of Polish military officers. Most of the directories are from Poland, Galicia, or Romania. |
| Genealogy Wiki A place where you can create articles about your ancestors, and easily link them to other articles about where and when they lived. |
| IAJGS The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies is an independent non-profit umbrella organization coordinating the activities and annual conference of more than 75 national and local Jewish genealogical societies around the world. The IAJGS International Jewish Cemetery Project has documentation for every Jewish burial site in the world. |
| Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Passenger lists. |
| Italian Genealogical Group Contains searchable databases for NYC Naturalizations, Births, Deaths and Marriages. Includes Links for ordering documents. Data is also included in Steven Morse “One step Pages” (see below). |
| JCAM Cemetery Database Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts |
| Jewish Boston JewishBoston.com is a website for Jews in Boston. Here you can find an immediate connection to all the amazing Jewish things that are happening in Boston right now. Discover links to cultural events, Jewish education, organizations, and lots more. |
| Jewish Data Jewish Data is one of the largest professionally compiled Jewish Genealogical resource of its kind currently available. They have over 500,000 records including images of tombstones, school yearbook pages and Citizen Declaration documents. New records are added on an ongoing basis. |
| Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts Includes database of over 6000 burials in the Worcester area. |
| Jewish Genealogical Society of New York The Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (JGS) was founded in New York in 1977, becoming the first of what are now over 80 such societies worldwide. In the years since its founding, the JGS membership has grown to more than 1,000, with members from both the New York metropolitan area as well as elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad. |
| Jewish Genealogy in Italy |
| The Legal Genealogist A Certified GenealogistSM and Certified Genealogical LecturerSM with a law degree, The Legal Genealogist Judy G. Russell is a lecturer, educator and writer who enjoys helping others understand a wide variety of genealogical issues, including the interplay between genealogy and the law. Check out what she said about the JGSGB after her lecture here. |
| Limmud Boston When you are involved in Limmud, you will hear over and over that Limmud is a volunteer-based organization. Everyone is part of the program and everyone is part of the process. |
| MA Archives Researching Your Family’s History at the Massachusetts Archives |
| MA Death Index (1841-1910) This index covers the years 1841 through 1910 for deaths that occurred in Massachusetts. Additional indexes are available at the Archives for the years 1911-1915. The birth indexes for 1841-1910 should be up shortly. |
| MA Genealogical Council An umbrella organization of Massachusetts genealogical and historical societies. Its purposes are to act as an advocate in monitoring legislative and administrative activities which affect genealogists and to educate genealogists by holding a one-day seminar each year. |
| Massachusetts Genealogy Massachusetts-Genealogy.com lists 18,956 worthwhile record sources for doing genealogy in Massachusetts. All records are organized by county, town, and record type. |
| New Bedford and Fall River Jewish Archive at UMass Dartmouth |
| Stephen Morse Steve Morse’s One-Step website started out as an aid for finding passengers more effectively in the Ellis Island database. Shortly afterward, he expanded his tools to improve searching the 1930 census. His site has continued to evolve and today includes over 100 web-based tools divided into 12 separate categories, ranging from genealogical searches to astronomical calculations to last-minute bidding on eBay. |
| The Museum of Family History The Museum of Family History is a virtual, multimedia, and interactive creation that was designed for those of us who are interested in learning more about those who have graced the many branches of our family trees. The Museum humbly attempts to honor the Jewish people and the Jewish family unit in particular. |
| Museum of Jewish Heritage Created as a living memorial to those who perished during the Holocaust, the Museum honors those who died by celebrating their lives – cherishing the traditions that they embraced, examining their achievements and faith, and affirming the vibrant worldwide Jewish community that is their legacy today. |
| MyGenealogist.com Expert genealogists with a wealth of knowledge and years of experience in family history research are ready to assist you trace your family ancestry as well as answer any questions you may have about an ancestry search. |
| NARA – Waltham The National Archives – Waltham branch |
| New England Historic Genealogical Society The New England Historic Genealogical Society is the oldest genealogical organization in America. Located on Newbury Street in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay, NEHGS helps those curious about their family history to discover their past. We collect, preserve, and interpret materials to document and make accessible the histories of families in America. |
| NERGC New England Regional Genealogical Conference – An organization consisting of over 30 New England societies dedicated to promoting a bi-annual major genealogical conference with well-known keynote speakers in the New England area. This conference provides genealogical lectures, seminars and workshops; the Ancestors Road Show; a Society Fair; as well as banquets and luncheons, for new and established genealogists alike, at minimal cost. |
| A Guide to New York Historical Resources New York has historically been the central place for immigration thanks to Ellis Island, which has created a genealogical web that connects with citizens in every other state in the US. Use these resources to find death, birth and marriage certificates. Locate your ancestor’s military records or census data, in addition to copies of historic newspapers and family histories. |
| New York City Vital Records The Municipal Archives has records of births reported in the five Boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island), prior to 1910; deaths reported prior to 1949, and marriages reported prior to 1930. |
| Old Maine Jewry A collaborative genealogy and history of Maine’s Jewish communities. |
| Obituary Archives Extensive collection of Newspaper Obituaries. Index is free to search. Articles available by individual payment or monthly subscription. |
| Routes to Roots Foundation Run by Miriam Weiner, a noted genealogist, this site contains an inventory of Jewish documents housed in Eastern European archives. |
| The Shtetl Museum Prof. Yaffa Eliach founded the Shtetl Foundation for the purpose of building an open-air Museum of East-European Jewish history and culture in the form of a life-size Shtetl. |
| Top 10 Internet Sites The JGSGB Top 10 Internet Sites to help you get started. |
| Tracing Jewish Roots Along the River Mystic East Boston was the port-of-entry for thousands of European Jewish immigrants during the early 20th century – and it is where they established the first Jewish cemetery in the Greater Boston area. In the following decades, they surged into the communities surrounding the Mystic River! |
| Tufts University Tufts University: Boston City Directories. |
| U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Collections and Archives |
| Western Massachusetts Jewish Genealogical Society The Western Massachusetts Jewish Genealogical Society exists to help its members research their family history. They connect beginners with people with experience, and people with knowledge with those seeking new avenues to explore. |
| Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority |
| Yiddish Book Center Contains a vast library of rescued Yiddish books. Many of these and other Jewish books, including Yizkor books, can be ordered in digital reprintings. |