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Discover in this article some resources to trace your ancestors who moved to the United States in the archives…
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On November 3, 2020, the American presidential elections took place. After several days of vote counting, Joe Biden is on his way to being elected president of one of the world's largest nations. A nation founded by and through the immigration of many European peoples, with the exception of the Indians already present. But the myth of the « immigration nation » dating back to the 1660s is no more, in favor of national security.
However, some of your ancestors may have left their home country for the United States, to escape the depression, war, or in search of a better life. Discover these few resources.
Ellis Island is not only known for housing the Statue of Liberty. It is also the New York island that was long the gateway for immigrants from around the world seeking their fortune in the United States.
The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation provides for free a database of over 65 million passenger records, a goldmine! A search by name and/or first name can put you on the trail of your ancestors.
You will have access to the year (or exact date) of entry to the American continent, the age of the person at arrival, the last known residence before immigration or the place of birth, as well as the name (or an image) of the ship.
Create a free account to access even more information: passenger number, viewing of the immigration register, and other annotations.
Just like the Ellis Island Foundation, the Castle Garden website offers free access to nearly 11 million immigrant records arriving at the port of New York between 1820 and 1892. The site's presentation states that today, over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestors who immigrated to the United States during this period.
Note: As of October 30, 2020, the search function on this site does not seem to be working…
For further research, the website of Stephen P. Morse provides additional resources from the immigration records of Ellis Island and other important ports.
Find on the National Archives website numerous documents concerning immigration records from the 1700s to the early 2000s.
You can browse immigration records, naturalization records, visas, passport records, and foreigner records.
Arm yourself with a good translator to fully benefit from this resource.
If you cannot find your ancestors in the immigration archives, perhaps you will find them in the censuses available on the NARA website?
Choose the year of the census that interests you, a list of resources appears. Be careful, some links may lead to paid resources.
Finally, this Wiki will be of great help in your research as it contains a wealth of information. You have the option to search by location or type of record. You can dive into almost all types of existing records, even old newspapers and other local resources.
Again, a good translator will help you navigate through these useful resources.
Happy researching!