Important Web Site for History Researchers and Genealogists Available for Free Until May 31, 2006

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/
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An important and robust Web site that indexes databases of archival collections throughout the world is available to the public for free until May 31, 2006. The site is located at http://www.archivegrid.org. (Google, please take note: I virtually have lived within the ArchiveGrid.org site during many, many, many sessions in the last few weeks.)

I have no connection to the ArchiveGrid.org site but cannot sing its praises too highly. Through this site I have discovered the locations of materials important to the history of Pelham in collections located throughout the world -- much less the United States. The site is maintained by RLG, a not-for-profit organization of over 150 research libraries, archives, museums and other cultural memory institutions founded in 1974 by The New York Public Library and the libraries of Columbia, Harvard and Yale Universities.

The ArchiveGrid.org Web site describes its services as follows:

"ArchiveGrid SM offers easy search access to nearly a million detailed archival collection description[s] written by archivists. This direct access to dispersed collections brings relevant information together with a single tool and eliminates the need to weed through the hundreds of pages of unwanted and irrelevant results one gets from general search engines. ArchiveGrid also reveals important content that can be hidden or hard to find with usual search methods on the open Web.

Detailed information about the archives themselves let the researcher find out easily where the collection is located, right down to the specific shelf and box where the documents are stored. Scholars can save time and money on non-essential travel while easily arranging a visit to the archive or requesting copies of material.

ArchiveGrid opens up a world of information for genealogists, with links to locations for birth and death records, ship logs, and cemetery records. Using ArchiveGrid, professional genealogists can offer more complete results much more quickly, and amateur genealogists have a professional-quality tool to work with themselves."

Source: ArchiveGrid.org, Features & Benefits (visited Apr. 28, 2006) <http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20875>.

A simple search for the word Pelham shows the power of the tool. The search returns 523 responsive items. The first page of results returns a reference to the Record Book of the Town of Pelham, NY for the years 1801 - 1851 located in the collections of The New York State Archives. I was aware of the existence of that item. Two items below in the search results, however, is a reference to the Records of Christ Church in Pelham from 1844 - 1893 held in the collections of the Westchester County Historical Society. I was not aware that the Society held those records and now need to review them in Elmsford, NY.

If these were the only two examples I could cite, there would not be much to say. However, of the 523 search results, many, many dozens of the results reflect very important collections of material related to the history of Pelham, some of which I was unaware.

I also have searched for, and found, much material on the history of City Island when it was part of Pelham and on many families who have lived in Pelham during the last three centuries. For those who are seriously interested in researching the history of Pelham or the genealogical backgrounds of Pelham families or residents, I recommend the site highly. It is available for free until May 31, 2006.

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings