NGS Family Papers Collection

The new NGS Family Papers Collection targets snippets of American history from the private papers of individual families. Our primary goal is to help individuals preserve their family history by digitizing it and storing it in an accessible place. Many people today can do that themselves, while others need our help. Scanned images of these documents are being made available in a fully cataloged and searchable online database. Interested parties will be able to search for relevant names, dates, places, etc., and will see a list of matching documents. Copies of these documents will be available for a small fee. This fee is charged to defray the costs of indexing and electronic storage.

Read on for information about how to get involved in this exciting new project!

Call for Volunteers!

NGS needs volunteers to assist in indexing and in some cases transcribing documents in the Family Papers Collection. Volunteers will be able to work from the comfort of their own computers, provided they have an Internet connection. Please contact familypapers@ngs.org for more information if you are interested.

What documents is NGS looking for?

Most family-related documents are useful for the collection, including photographs, wedding and baptismal certificates, naturalization records, military records, diaries, family Bibles, family letters, etc. Please provide as much helpful identification as possible, including names, dates and geographic locations.

How do I get my documents to you?

We are happy to accept photocopies (good quality, legible) and/or electronic files (scans or digital photographs). Photographs and other visually interesting documents may be copied in color if so desired; this will be preserved in the digitizing process. If you have access to a digital camera, scanner, or other technology for digitizing your own records, please feel free to scan or photograph your own documents (at actual size with a resolution of at least 300dpi). Put these files on a CD or Zip disk (in TIFF format).

Mail your files and photocopies to:

NGS Family Papers Collection
3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300
Arlington VA 22204-4304

You can also send documents via e-mail (attached in JPG format or in a compressed file folder, totaling no more than 3MB per message):
To: familypapers@ngsgenealogy.org
Subject: NGS Family Papers Submission

Note: PLEASE do not send us the actual item!

We thank you in advance for your interest in this new and exciting project. Please check this page in the future for periodic updates and a link to the searchable database.

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