Visit www.NewYorkDeathIndex.com to search the first ever public NYS death index for 1973 - 2017. Place of death also available starting in 1957 so you can order genealogy copies (death >50 years ago) from a local municipality and skip the 5 year NYS DOH wait. (NYC is separate and not included)

www.lbi.org/events/court... Anyone in New York City in January who wants to learn a bit more about re-naturalisation rights of German Jews and their descendants after 1945, I’ll be giving a talk on the topic at the Leo Baeck institute on the 15th of January.

What's a #FOIA Appeal? What's some good language to use when you want to argue with the government about why they should be giving you the file you asked for, instead of some "genealogy letter"? We got you covered, fam. Check out our advice in our latest newsletter: mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

NEW: We just published 1.5 million NEW BIRLS records for 2020-2023, ALL FREE -- but now the VA doesn't want you to see any of them! Read all about it in our latest newsletter: mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

I heard there was a secret “b” Toward the end of “blueberry” But you don’t really care for AI, do you? It went like this — the first, the fifth, The secret “b” in the seventh The baffled bot composing “bluebebry.” Bluebebry Bluebebry Bluebebry Bluebebry

In December, RTR launched BIRLS.org along with a very easy way to make FOIA requests for deceased veterans' claim files. As of late July, the VA will no longer release these great files, only short summaries. See www.birls.org/updates - RTR is working on learning more & fighting these changes.

🚨🚨🚨NEW AD🚨🚨🚨

OUR BILL PASSED the New York State Assembly yesterday -- UNANIMOUSLY! 🤩 It's still not a done deal yet. It has to go to the governor, and be signed, and not have last-minute line-item edits or a veto. But we are now SO much closer to reforming New York's vital records access!

You guys...? We did it. 🥰 We won the FULL NEW YORK STATE DEATH INDEX FOR 1880-2017! We beat the largest government agency in the state of New York (@nysdoh.bsky.social), in the highest court of the state, through a Freedom of Information Law (#FOIL) suit. www.reclaimtherecords.org/records-requ...

30 years ago

This is a symptom of a bigger problem that extends beyond immigration into pretty much every type of civil litigation against the feds. Almost every time you get a declaration in a case from a fed, it's from someone who has NO personal knowledge of the facts they're testifying about.

🚨 Reclaim The Records is working on A BRAND NEW LAW in the New York State Legislature! 🚨 We want to finally FIX New York State historical records access, and put it all online for everyone! And we need your help! Read our latest newsletter: mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

What is the relationship between Congress and records preservation and access? Spoiler alert: funding! Join us on Sunday 2 March to understand more and learn how your voice can make a difference. Event is open to all, but registration is required.

Are you a journalist, genealogist or historian who has ever used records from the National Archives? It's time to step up and take some simple steps to preserve federal records. And save our nation's history. Please visit this website. And share widely. fundnara.com

The acting head of the National Achives is stepping down, a week after his boss was fired, as Trump takes full control of US records. What could go wrong? www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

We need to talk about the Federal Records Act. Everything else is a distraction.

TONIGHT: (Thursday Feb 6th, 5 PM ET): Meeting/Panel via Zoom, about New York State Vital Records Access! RTR board members Alex Calzareth and Alec Ferretti will discuss the access changes proposed in the FY 2025-2026 budget. Free and open to everyone! Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

URGENT: New York Wants to Lock Up Vital Records — Again! 😫 A backdoor proposal to essentially ban public access to birth, marriage, and death records got snuck into their annual budget bill?! And we have FIVE DAYS to do something about it?! Here's how we can stop it: mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

Today on International Holocaust Remembrance Day I'm remembering my great-great-grandfather, Friedrich Fried, and my maternal grandparents' aunts, uncles and cousins along with another 400+ relatives of varying degrees in my extended family tree who were all killed in the Holocaust.

NEW FOIA Files is out! The National Archives painted a dire picture for the future of America’s historical records, docs I obtained show. NARA, which sparked one of the criminal investigations against Trump, now needs his help. But it has a huge target on its back www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Anyone with even a passing interest in #genealogy will be extremely well-served by checking out the new database over at @reclaimtherecords.org - they have made it exceptionally easy for *anyone* to *very easily* FOIA certain US Veteran records from the VA.

This is as about as easy as a FOIA will get. If you have American veterans in your family that died after abt. 1950 (or their surviving spouse did), check out this new resource from @reclaimtherecords.org . RTR will be explaining more over the coming weeks, but get started exploring now.

2024 was a big year for RecordsNotRevenue.com!

USCIS released its FOIA and PA Case Processing Guide dated 29 August 2024 to @alecferretti.bsky.social in only a few months. It looks like it's grown by 53 pages in 2.5 years, based on the 2022 version IRAP (refugeerights.org) got. Document here: tinyurl.com/USCISFOIAPA-...

JGSLI has 40 short videos with tips on various subjects. Our top 3 most popular videos are: Tips to Help Find Maiden Names Popular Symbols on Jewish Headstones How Form SS-5 Can Help Break through Your Research Brick Walls Check them out at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic9s...

The ancestor of 'to forget' meant "to lose hold of". It was the opposite of 'to get'. Speaking of 'to get', this verb is special: it only has cognates in the Nordic languages, such as Norwegian 'å gjeta'. It was even borrowed from their Old Norse ancestor 'geta'. Here's more:

Come see Alec rant about the government for $5. This is a much better deal than if you were to hire me privately to rant about the government.

Greetings from Reclaim The Records' actual BlueSky account! We were already planning to add more social media accounts, but we've just discovered that two unknown randos have already decided to impersonate our org here at BlueSky! So we're launching here now, and working on getting that sorted out.

Two days left to register for Jewish Genealogy 101: Four Hours+ to Your Family Roots, JGSLI's 34th Annual Family History Workshop, presented on Zoom. The workshop is this Sunday, December 8th at 12:30 - 5:00 PM EST. Registration information at jgsli.org/jgsli-workshop/

I’ve been deciding between two great FOIA jokes, but you’ll have to wait 25 years to see them.

So I have an extraordinary story for you. Vilunya Diskin is an 83-year-old retired women’s health advocate best known as a co-author of the iconic book "Our Bodies, Ourselves." She is also a Holocaust orphan who was hidden in a gentile home in Poland during the war and later adopted. 1/9

Favourite Resources: #1 Maps & Aerial Pics - Aerial photos of Berlin from 1928 and 2015 (very easy to use): 1928.tagesspiegel.de - Official Berlin maps from between 1910 and 2013 (not easy to use on a phone): histomapberlin.de/de/index.html

The Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg will put its publications online. The website for Baden is regionalia.blb-karlsruhe.de and the website for Württemberg is books.wlb-stuttgart.de

Realized I ought to populate my feed, so here are some of my favorite interviews from the collection of the Philadelphia Board of Special Inquiry- this is an unexpectedly sweet one from 1909 #genealogy #historian

My great-grandfather’s military record was destroyed in a 1973 archives fire. Recently digitized U.S. Army “Morning Reports” helped me sift his WWI service from the ashes and pinpoint his whereabouts. #Geneaology #FamilyHistory #WorldWarI www.familysleuther.com/2024/11/us-a...

Anyone who disagrees should spend a minute perusing the 1900 census, where women reported how many children they’d given birth to and how many were living. (My great grandmother said 9 and 4, which was typical.)

I figure I'll join in with my #familytree. Many more details on my website at www.calzareth.com/tree/ , although the tree there is a few years overdue for an update. #genealogy

Relatives not US citizens in 1940 (or some who were but weren't sure themselves), you need to check out AR-2s, newly available from NARA. You may get maiden names, arrival info, signatures+more. And you get them quickly! #genealogy #ancestry #familyhistory larasgenealogy.blogspot.com/2024/08/alie...

Fellow genies, the next time someone insists that names were changed at Ellis Island, steer them to this terrific resource created by @jmendelsohn.bsky.social! Recommend bookmarking it because you know it's going to come in handy! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

In my role as Director of JewishGen's German Research Division: We're having a Zoom meeting to discuss the group's recent activities on Sunday November 17th at 12 PM EST. If you'd like to join, please fill out the form at forms.gle/M9SKCdnfTB7V... . More about the group at www.jewishgen.org/gersig

First post here. Sharing some instructions that I put together. See sites.google.com/view/acgenti... for how to use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain: 1) Alien Files for US immigrants who arrived after May 1, 1951 2)US passports issued after March 1925 3)Veterans' Claims Files