Confused where to go to get a copy of your great-grandmother's birth record in Texas? Or did you find that your grandparents married in the United States instead of Saskatchewan as previously thought?

Not to worry. Staff at the Prairie History Room can be just as baffled as you on where to go. As more American archives, libraries, and historical societies digitize their work, it get kinda confusing. Luckily, the editors of Family Tree Magazine are very good at compiling the "Best of..." lists. Click on the following link for the 75 Best State Websites of 2012.

Some hidden gems include:

* Dunham—Wilcox—Trott—Kirk: features extensive church and cemetery records from Connecticut
* Sampubco: index of New York wills
* California Digital Newspaper Collection: from than 5 million newspaper articles from California newspapers 1846 to 2011
* Texas State Library and Archives Commission: offers databases for you to search for your Texan ancestors, including vital statistics (e.g. your great grandmother's birth record!)

NOTE: Not all the websites are free. Many of the sites allow you to search their indexes for free but there is typically a fee associated with requesting a copy of the actual record. Nonetheless, this list should help get you started or going with your family history research. Happy searching!

-- May P. Chan, Prairie History Librarian

April 2 was a banner day for genealogists as the 1940 US census was finally released by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). What makes this update so exciting is that the records are available online for free!

People at home can access it through the U.S. National Archives site at:
http://1940census.archives.gov/

This site has a step-by-step guide to get started but researchers should note that the census is NOT indexed meaning that researchers can only search by location right now. Like any new product launch, people should be aware that access will be slow for the first few days, since many people will be using this invaluable resource.

In addition, FamilySearch.org is looking for volunteers to help index the 1940 US Census.

Alberta History Summer 2011, Volume 59, Number 3

* "This is our war, too: Mary Dover, Commandant of the Canadian Women's Army Corps" by Gayle Thrift, pp. 2-12

* "Incident at Oxley Ranch, 1933" by Bill Yeo, pp. 13-15

* "A Well-Oiled Machine: Alberta's Eugenics Program, 1928-1972" by Jana Grekul, pp. 16-23

* "Early Farming in Alberta" by Donald Ross, pp. 24-25

* "The Squatters" by R. D. Jorgenson, pp. 26-27

Note: This issue of Alberta History includes "History Now", the membership newsletter for the Historical Society of Alberta

This issue can be borrowed for 1 week. Back issues of most Prairie History Room magazines are kept in the shelf behind the current issue and can also be borrowed for a 1 week loan period.

Last week, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released 5.2 million passenger lists online. These lists record the names of approximately 527,394 passengers who arrived at the at the ports of Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia between 1834 through 1897 and identified their country of origin or nationality as Armenia, Finland, Galicia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Russian Poles, or Ukraine. These passengers were U.S. citizens or non-U.S. citizens planning to continue their travels, returning to the U.S., or staying in the U.S. Each of the passenger records may include name, age, town of last residence, destination, and codes for passenger's sex, occupation, literacy, country of origin, transit and/or travel compartment, and the identification number for the ship manifest.

To access these records, click on this link for the Access to Archival Databases (AAD) and then passenger lists.

The U.S. Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) has created the first online database of missing personnel from the Second World War. The database contains all the names of POWs and MIAs as well as those buried at sea. These names come from the Rosters of Military Personnel Whose Remains Were Not Recovered, 1951-1954 and the World War II Rosters of the Dead (All Services).

To use the database, look up the first letter of the person's last name and then select the branch of service --Army, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps and Others (e.g. Merchant Marine).