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Lloyd Sealy Library
John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Special Collections - Lloyd Sealy Library: Geneology & Researching Names

This is a guide to the Manuscript Collections, Rare Books and John Jay College Archives in the Special Collections at the Lloyd Sealy Library of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Resources for Geneology/Name Research

Please also see suggestions for Researching

NYPD Officers | NYC Criminal Court Proceedings | NY Prisons, Jails & Prisoners

NYG&B [New York Genealogists and Biography Society]  labs offers a Record Map Search This new tool allows you to search an index of articles in The Record and view the New York State locations related to the results returned by your search.

The Municipal Archives of NYC/Department of Records and Information Services holds many genealogical resources and assists with NYC based family research

JSTOR for Genealogists JSTOR can be the key resource to build out the story around your family history.

U.S. National Archives Resources for Genealogists

Family Search is free but some parts of the site require registration and log in. They maintain a wiki of New York Genealogical Resources online which is freely available.

NYPL U.S. Local History and Genealogy Division The Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy collects publications documenting American history on the national, state, and local levels, including extensive holdings on New York City history. The Division has a renowned collection of family histories and other genealogical collections, with a particular focus on the New York region. See especially their Selected Genealogy Resources and Vital Records Guide.

Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.) suggests How the Smithsonian can Help Research African American Family History

Reclaim the Records is a not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. They identify important genealogical records sets using FOIA, open data laws, litigation and perseverance and when successful post these records on their website. Including NYC Marriage License Records from 1908-1929 and 1930- 1995,

New York State Library & Archives is in Albany, NY They have a Guide to their Genealogical Resources

 

NYC Orphans & Children

The N-YHS has the Records of the Children's Aid Society of New York

The Mss Division of NYPL holds the Records of the NorthSide Center for Child Development.

The NY State Archives holds the records of the NY House of Refuge

NYPL Blog Researching Orphans in Geneology

Crime, Punishment and Popular Culture,1790-1920 database [JJay login required] has many first hand accounts of orphans and children, some were caught up in criminal enterprises.

Many resources can be found by searching OneSearch using the keywords "Orphans and New York" including:

  • Holt, Marilyn Irvin (1992) The orphan trains: placing out in America. Stacks - HV985 .H65 1992
  • Seraile, W. (2013). Angels of mercy : White women and the history of New York's colored orphan asylum. Ebook