Two Industry Leaders Collaborate for First Time to Promote and Educate about Family History
Boston, MA & Provo, UT – Aug 16, 2007 – The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) and Ancestry.com today announce a new collaboration that will bring together and make available for the first time the enormous resources of both institutions in an effort to continue fostering a growing national interest in family history and genealogy.
As part of the relationship, NEHGS, the country’s largest and oldest non-profit society and Ancestry.com, the largest online family history website, will offer joint access to some of most important family history information available anywhere. While details of the collaboration will be outlined in the weeks to come, it is planned to include special membership opportunities that combine Ancestry.com’s repository of five billion names and 24,000 databases and titles and some of NEHGS’ most significant genealogical publications and services.
“So much of America’s family history lies in New England and colonial America,†said Tim Sullivan, CEO of The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com. “NEHGS, founded in 1845, has successfully captured the stories of those early American settlers and the generations that followed. We are pleased to partner with an organization so dedicated to helping families make connections with ancestors who cultivated America’s founding.â€
D. Brenton Simons, NEHGS president and CEO, added, “In recent years, the addition of billions of family history records on the Web has driven incredible growth and change in the genealogy field. As a leader of online family history, Ancestry.com is helping to drive this advancement. We are thrilled to be working with such an important and innovative partner as Ancestry.com, and feel it represents a unique opportunity for genealogists everywhere to gain new insights and access to their family’s heritage.â€
Today, millions of people around the world are engaged in family research as more information is made available on-line. This collaboration demonstrates the tremendously beneficial relationships and opportunities that can be created between non-profit genealogical societies and commercial organizations committed to making family history research easier and more important than ever before.
About NEHGS
The New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded in 1845, has more than 20,000 members nationally, making it the oldest and largest non-profit genealogical organization in the country. The NEHGS library, located in Boston, includes more than 28 million items, such as manuscripts, letters, periodicals, books, documents, photographs, and other rare and valuable items. These collections provide genealogists of all levels and expertise immeasurable access to their own family histories and stories. The NEHGS staff includes some of the most respected and experienced genealogists in the country, specializing in American, English, Irish, Scottish, and Canadian research.
NEHGS also publishes several publications including The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Published since 1847, the Register is considered by many to be the leading source of early American research. Under the NEHGS and Newbury Street Press imprints, NEHGS also publishes a number of books on family and local history.
About Ancestry.com
With 24,000 searchable databases and titles, Ancestry.com is the No. 1 online source for family history information. Since its launch in 1997, Ancestry.com has been the premier resource for family history, simplifying genealogical research for millions of people by providing them with many easy-to-use tools and resources to build their own unique family trees. The site is home to the only complete online U.S. Federal Census collection, 1790-1930, as well as the world’s largest online collection of U.S. ship passenger list records featuring more than 100 million names, 1820-1960. Ancestry.com is part of The Generations Network, Inc., a leading network of family-focused interactive properties, including MyFamily.com, Rootsweb.com, Genealogy.com and Family Tree Maker. In total, The Generations Network properties receive 10.4 million unique visitors worldwide and over 450 million page views a month (© comScore Media Metrix, March 2007).
CONTACTS: Suzanne Bonner, PR Manager, Ancestry.com, 801-705-7873, [email protected] and Tom Champoux, Marketing Director, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 617-226-1211, [email protected]
What an exciting collaboration this is going to be. Congratulations to both organizations for this innovative step up in research….
I have belonged to both for years and am pleased with the collaboration. I will look forward to great things.
I have belonged to both databases for years, but will be interested to see if anything will be offered to give us some sort of discounted price when combined. It seems like things just keep climbing in dollars every time I turn around. These are the only two database sites I pay for their services.
I have also subscribed to both for years and they are the only websites I have paid to use. I am excited to see if there will be an economic advantage. I am a big fan of Ancestry’s most used data bases, such as the census and the immigration records, the draft records, etc. I have always respected the scholarship that NEHGS requires for submissions to their publications. I hope the high standards of NEHGS are not compromised by the collaboration. Some of the data bases on Ancestry are suspect such as the trees and other user submitted items as well as some data bases in the Historical collection such as the Family Data collections.
I hope NEHGS is selective in the data bases that are received from Ancestral Quest.
I also belong to both, (as well as Maine Historical Society) and I would hope that NEHGS keeps its standards. I find that sometimes Ancestry gives you more information than you ask for.
I belong to both Ancestry and NEHGS and have been very satisfied with both of them. What a tremendous resource both of these sites are.
Hello, of course I came to visit your site and thanks for letting me know about it.
I just read this post and wanted to say it is full of number one resources. Some I am familiar with. For those who don’t know these other sites they are in for a treat as there is a lot to learn there.