Additional Family & Genealogy Resources
While the Othmer Library holds many great genealogy resources, additional and supplemental research can be done outside of our doors. To aid researchers interested in Brooklyn, Long Island, and New York specific genealogy research, we have complied the list of resources below. You can scroll through the page, or click on a link below to take you to a specific resource. To download a PDF version of a guide to these resources and those at BHS, click here.
Libraries
Record Repositories
Useful Genealogy-Related Websites
Libraries
New York Public Library
Irma and Paul Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History and Genealogy
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Room 121
New York, NY 10018-2788
(212) 930-0828
histref@nypl.org
Library catalogs, handbooks and guides, New York City vital records, indexes, passenger lists and indexes, census records, naturalization petitions indexes, U.S. military sources, D.A.R. and Loyalist sources, Irish sources, regional records, newspapers and indexes, city and telephone directories, family histories, periodicals, selected electronic resources for genealogy in the library, photographic collections.
Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn Collection
Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(718) 230-2762
Collection focused on Brooklyn’s history that includes books, maps, ephemera and newspaper clippings.
Queens Public Library
Long Island Division
89-11 Merrick Boulevard
Jamaica, NY 11432
(718) 990-0770
Local history and genealogy with a focus on Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Record Repositories
New York City Municipal Archives
Department of Records and Information Services
31 Chambers Street, Room 103
New York, NY 10007
Repository of vital records including birth, marriage, and death records for the five boroughs. Specific date ranges can be found on their website. Collections also include tax photographs, municipal records, Board of Education records etc.
Kings County Surrogate’s Court
2 Johnson Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(347) 404-9700
If an ancestor had a will probated in Kings County, you can find it on the bottom floor of the Surrogate’s Court, room 109.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Northeast Region, New York
201 Varick Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10014
Toll-free: 1-866-840-1752
(212) 401-1620
newyork.archives@nara.gov
Repository of federal records such as military, citizenship, criminal court, bankruptcy etc.
Useful Genealogy-Related Websites
Brooklyn Genealogy Information Page
Extremely useful and eclectic, this website contains information on Brooklyn directories, cemeteries, schools, clubs etc.
Family Search
The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints' genealogy website.
Ancestry
Available by subscription, but also freely available at most public libraries, this site offers fully-scanned and searchable federal censuses for all years currently available.
Italian Genealogical Group
Website includes many indexes, such as searchable birth, marriage, and death indexes. This resource is not limited to Italian genealogy.
AfriGeneas
Genealogy website dedicated to African related ancestry.
Castle Garden
Online searchable database of all passengers that arrived to this Manhattan immigration port between 1820 and 1892.
Ellis Garden
Online searchable database of all passengers that arrived to this NYC immigration port between 1892 and 1957.
Stephen P. Morse
One-step portal for Ellis Island and Castle Garden Genealogy; birth, marriage and death indexes; ED/AD finder for census research.
Green-Wood Cemetery Burial Search
Created in 1838 Green-Wood Cemetery is Brooklyn’s largest and one of America’s first rural cemeteries. This online searchable database lets you see when and where your ancestors were buried here.
National Archives Personnel Records Center
This division of the National Archives holds the personnel records for civilian and military employees who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during its tenure as a Naval facility. Their website explains how to request these records.
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