Finding information and articles in newspapers about your ancestors is incredibly rewarding. And the amount of information about your ancestors in old newspapers is likely more than we can find. But what about the paid newspaper subscription sites? I have used the three large ones in the U.S. (Newspapers.com, NewspaperArchive, and GenealogyBank). There are other sites […]
Author: Kenneth R Marks
Kenneth R Marks was born and educated in the San Francisco Bay Area, receiving a BS in Mathematics in 1968. His career was in Information Technology; with the last 20 Years as a software executive with Boeing, Pearson, and NASA. His genealogy career began in 2004. He is an expert in newspaper research for genealogy, as well as additional genealogy topics. He regularly conducts webinars on the subject and has authored three genealogy books. See the About page for more details.
The Ancestor Hunt, founded in 2008, is focused on helping genealogy and family history researchers of all skill levels to achieve their goals, by providing links to free online genealogy collections, and search tips and techniques, largely via easy-to-understand Quick Reference Guides.
Source: Northern New York Library Network If you follow this website at all, you know that I, from time to time, update the free online historical newspapers that are available for you to search. I originally posted the New York Online Historical Newspapers Summary in February 2014 and have added many updates, the latest in November 2024. The largest collection […]
FamilySearch continues to add or update its record collections at a fast pace for us to search. For the period of December 1-15, 2025, the added/updated collections are: For a complete list of all added/updated collections, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for! Good Luck and […]
In my opinion, online newspaper research is more of an art than a pure science. However, that does not mean that it should be undisciplined. On the contrary, the best way to waste your time is to perform research with no discipline. Sure, when you get a new name in your tree (or not yet […]
Cemetery records and cemeteries, in general, are a very large part of our family history and are a significant pursuit for many genealogists. Sometimes, the information on a headstone is the only information available for certain ancestors. What can you find in these records? How about birth, marriage, and death information and clues to military service, […]
School exams, student evaluations, and educational records are rarely consulted by genealogists, yet they contain rich personal details about children, families, neighborhoods, and communities. These records were created by teachers, school boards, state departments of education, and local districts to document academic performance, attendance, progression, and special circumstances. For genealogists, they reveal information not found […]
There are a number of approaches, strategies, tips, and techniques to succeed at old newspaper research. Here are 10 that will be extremely helpful in your research. Download the Quicksheet PDF To obtain a one-page Quicksheet PDF of this information, download it by clicking on the Download button below: For all the previously published Quick […]
Old telephone directories and telephone exchange records are overlooked but powerful tools for tracking ancestors between census years, identifying residences, confirming occupations, and locating relatives and associates living nearby. These materials can help genealogists follow families as they moved, discover name and address changes, and reconstruct neighborhoods or business networks. This Quicksheet explains how to […]
This past week (December 5, 2025 to December 11, 2025), the following additions were made to The Newspaper Research Academy: ✅ Free Resources – 0 New Articles were added – 83 Total ✅ Research Guides – 2 New Guides were added – 94 Total ✅ Video Guides – 0 New Videos – 19 Total ✅ […]
Most genealogists know WorldCat only as “a library search tool,” but in practice, it is one of the most important engines for discovering hidden offline and online genealogical resources. WorldCat connects thousands of libraries, archives, and historical societies into a single database, allowing you to find books, manuscripts, maps, microfilms, and digitized materials that never […]