Immigrant Heritage Week is a city-wide celebration that honors the experiences and contributions of immigrants in New York City established in 2004 and coordinated by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. The New York Public Library joins in on the celebration by featuring free events through the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. We are highlighting a selection of databases that can be used for genealogy research. To access these databases, all you need is a vald New York Public Library card. Some of the databases are accessible at home, while some can only be used in a Library location.

Speacial thanks to Alexandra Gomez, Candice Walcott, and Yolande Shelton for collaborating on creating this World Languages list.

Find My Past 
Find My Past includes genealogicial records from the United States, along with England, Ireland, New Zealand, and other smaller record sets from around the globe. Researchers can also access the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) via this database.  PERSI provides access to millions of entries from historical and genealogical publications. Keep in mind that the 1939 registers and the newspaper packages on FMP are not included in library subscriptions. For access to newspapers, please browse NYPL's collection of historical titles. 

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Historical primary documents featuring U.S. city directories, naturalization records, and Revolutionary War Pensions. Collections include: History and Genealogy Archives, African American Archives, Native American Archives, Revolutionary War Archives, US Bureau of Investigation Case File Archives, and World War II Archives. Formerly known as Footnote.com.

Heritage Quest
This genealogical database allows researchers to search U.S. Federal Census records, digitized family and local history books, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files and the Freedman's Bank Records (1865-1874), maps, and a wealth of other historical collections and research guides. 

The New York Times (1851-1993) with Index
Searchable full-text and page images from The New York Times archive with the option to search by subject headings (index covers 1851-1993). 

America's Historical Newspapers
Searchable full-text and page images of newspapers from across the country including early newspapers, 1690-1922; America's Urban Centers Newspaper Collection, 1807-1880; African American Newspapers, 1827-1998; Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971; Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876; and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Indexes biographical listings in print dictionaries and encyclopedias covering millions individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world. A good resource for researching those who are less well-known or famous.

Directory of Professional Genealogists
Directory of Genealogy Professionals who are members of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Search options include location and specialization.

Columbia Gazetteer of the World
A unique world enclopedia of geographical places and features with over 170,000 entries. It can be searched by place name or full-text.

Gateway to North America: People, Places, and Organizations of 19th-Century New York
A collection of historical directories, member lists, and other name-rich sources, focusing on New York City during the long 19th century.  Documents are fully text-searchable and originate from the print collection of the New-York Historical Society.  Other categories of documents include maps, illustrated advertisements, burial lists, and gazetteers. The list of titles available in this database is available here.

Marquis Who's Who on the Web
A current and retrospective biographical database of notable individuals worldwide across multiple fields and disciplines. Includes all biographical data resources published by Marquis, with content updated daily. For a related database, see World Who's Who.

New York State County Histories
Full-text searchable 19th century histories of counties in all of New York state.

The PERiodical Source Index (PERSI)
This resource, accessible through the Find My Past database, indexes thousands of historical and genealogical publications, and contains over 2 million entries from these sources. Coverage is centered on publications from the United States and Canada, though periodicals from Britiain, Ireland, and Australia are also included. Researchers should keep in mind that print copies of many of the regional publications indexed in this database are held by the Library and can be located via the catalog or by speaking with a librarian.

ProQuest Historical Jewish Newspapers
Simultaneous search of the The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger (1857-1922), The American Israelite (1874-2000),  Boston Advocate (1905-1909), The Israelite (1854-1874), The Jerusalem Post (1950-1988), the Jewish Advocate (1905-1990) and The Jewish Exponent (1887-1990),  and Palestine Post (1933-1950).

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Searchable full-text and page images of all ProQuest Historical Newspaper databases, which include titles related to New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., the American Jewish Newspaper Series, and the United Kingdom.  The coverage for certain titles extends up to the present, but does not include the most recent 6-12 weeks, depending on the title.

World Biographical Information System (WBIS) Online
Contains short biographical information and citations on millions of people worldwide from the 8th century B.C. to the present

PressReader
Provides access to current newspapers from around the world in full-color, full-page format.  Includes over 2,000 U.S. and international titles. Formerly called PressDisplay.  Registering as a user with the site is optional and allows for personalized, saved settings.