The Pennington Research Association (PRA) was founded to collect, preserve, maintain, and disseminate materials relating to the Pennington family’s genealogical structure. The Association ceased operation in 2022 and was the most comprehensive source of accurate genealogical information, material, and events concerning the Pennington Family.

The PRA started about 1965 when founder Bee Wilson Holmes began researching her Pennington lineage.  Soon she began sharing her research and before long, the first “Pennington Lending Magazine” appeared.  The first “magazine,” Volume 1 with 3 issues, started in October 1968. In 1970 Volume 2 with 3 issues was published. It didn’t take long for PRA to grow and create a formal organization. The group begain to identify itself as the Pennington Research Association in 1979 at a meeting in Wichita, Kansas. In 1983 at a meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the PRA created bylaws to provide more formal structure to the Association. IN 1984, Articles of Association were signed at the sixth annual meeting of the Pennington Research Association in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2001, PRA became a not-for-profit organization incorporated in California. The Pennington Research Association, Inc., dissolved itself in January 2022.

Upon its dissolution, the PRA board of directors donated its assets to the National Genealogical Society. NGS maintains PRA’s digital files for research access upon request, and works with MyHeritage to maintain the PRA’s family tree resources.

• Digital Files of the Pennington Family – Including, professional research reports on Benagah Pennington, born 1724-1725, Sir Issac Pennington, and several others, Coats of Arms, the history of and including several graphic files with examples, copies of the Pennington Pedigrees from the first to the last publication, Pennington Periodicals, Volume I through 4, pictures and graphics relating to the Pennington family, PRA Archives, PRA Newsletters, and the PRA Research Director files.

To request access to these resources, please email [email protected] and include “Pennington Research” in the subject line.

• MyHeritage Pennington Family Collection – Study of the Pennington Family containing over 80,000 people and several family trees. All searchable.

The PRA Archives and Library is a document collection located at Earlham College, in the Lilly Library, Friends Collection, 801 National Road West, Richmond, Indiana. This unique collection contains the documents from the friends of the PRA including all of the Pennington Pedigrees, the Pennington Courier, maps, pictures, and several original records such as birth and death certificates. These are available by visiting the PRA Archives and Library at Earlham College or visiting Earlham’s digital collection.