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Ancestry® is a family and a community, even when we're not together - which is why we will be sharing resources for people at home. For nearly a decade, Ancestry® has been offering its AncestryK12® services, a no-cost program for K-12 schools and teachers in classrooms nationwide that includes access to content from the U.S. collection of Ancestry, Fold3.com and Newspapers.com. With school closures in effect across the U.S., Ancestry is offering support to parents by making its AncestryK12 lesson plans available for free for anyone to download while they are educating children at home. Also, starting today, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and its long-term digitization partner Ancestry will make it even easier for people to explore their own family history stories from home by providing FREE access to search nearly 500 million records and images on Ancestry.  In addition, Ancestry is continuing to provide free online tutorials and video courses to help people get started with family tree building. We're also developing live learning sessions on our social channels for our community. At-Home History Lesson Plans Family history projects for K12 students allow them to build powerful inquiry skills while learning from home. The sources and documents found on Ancestry gives students across the nation the opportunity to make connections to their ancestors, historical places, and events throughout time. Their research journey will provide powerful insights into their own family and bring their curriculum to life in relevant and exciting ways. The lesson plans that Ancestry has created target a number of core subjects, with educational topics ranging from the American Revolutionary War to the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. They have been written by teachers according to the History Standards administered by the National Center for History in the Schools at the University of California, Los Angeles under the guidance of the National Council for History Standards. Available lesson plans can be accessed below: 

Free Access for At-Home Family Tree Building The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has teamed up with its long-term digitization partner Ancestry to provide FREE access to search nearly 500 million records and images on Ancestry starting today, making it even easier for people to discover their own family history from home. Exploring the records is completely free ? just create an account by entering your email to start your search.  The almost half a billion digitized and searchable records being made available to all for free are comprised of nearly 300 different collections, including ship passenger and crew lists, naturalization and citizenship records, immigration records, and key military collections such as WWI and WWII draft cards.  A sampling of the collections include:

  • WWI and WWII U.S. Draft Cards
  • New York, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1957
  • California, Federal Naturalization Records, 1843-1999
  • U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925
  • U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783
  • U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
  • U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960

Free access to these collections from The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration provides rich, detailed records that make personal and educational discoveries simple. Whether you want to find your own family story, or take a peek into a moment in history, a discovery on Ancestry can be as easy as entering a single name.   Tools To Get Started For those new to Ancestry, several videos are also available on Ancestry Academy™, a free program offering online courses to help families get started on their family tree building. A library of educational videos can be found at: www.ancestry.com/academy. A sampling of the courses include: