NGS is more than a century old! The National Genealogical Society was organized in Washington, DC, in 1903. NGS has a long history of leading the way in genealogy and produced some remarkable achievements. It was the first national genealogical organization. The society published the first national genealogical journal (NGSQ) and co-created the Board for Certification (BCG) . Twelve of the original BCG board members were current or former NGS officers or NGSQ contributors.

NGS blazed new trails establishing itself over the years as a leader in genealogical education with its conferences, seminars and workshops, research tours, books, magazines and journal. The society introduced the acclaimed NGS Home Study Course in American Genealogy in 1981 and now offers cloud-based, online courses in American Genealogy plus special subject matter courses developed by leading experts in the field.

GenTech, a division of NGS, helped to facilitate a bridge between genealogy and technology, and is known for the GenTech Genealogical Data Model, which is of use to software developers who write genealogy software. And the NGS Book Loan Collection is the largest free lending library of its kind, among the 20,000 books available for research, many in the collection may be borrowed by lending through ILL including a wide range of family histories; state, county and local histories; abstracts of records of cemeteries, churches, courts, deeds, marriages, wills and other probate records.

In 2003, Shirley Langdon Wilcox, CG, compiled and authored a comprehensive one hundred year history for NGS that can be downloaded here.

The National Genealogical Society: A Look at Its First One Hundred Years (PDF 1.7MB) >

In 1953, in anticipation of the fiftieth anniversary, a committee was formed to compile a history. The work of that committee was published in articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, December 1953–March 1955. The compiled history was condensed by Shirley Langdon Wilcox, CG.

“NGS: The First Fifty Years” (PDF, 1.7 MB) >

https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/history

GenTech, a division of the National Genealogical Society, was formed to facilitate communication among persons interested in genealogy and technology. By presenting at national conferences, sponsoring programs with other societies, and publishing white papers based on analyses of problems of common interest to genealogists and technologists, the committee sought to maximize the movement of knowledge among the members of our constituencies. The organization gained recognition for having developed the GenTech Genealogical Data Model, which is of use to software developers who write genealogy software.