| Favorite Free Resources from Lisa Louise Cooke |
| Money does not have to be a barrier when it comes to genealogy. There are countless free resources available to gather the records that can flesh out your family’s story. Here are some of my all-time favorites. Google Books Google Books is loaded with over 25 million cataloged items, over 10 million of which are fully digitized and free to search and download. Google Books might be better named Google Printed Materials because the scope goes well-beyond books. Look for newspapers, catalogs, almanacs, city directories, court filings and much more. FamilySearch FamilySearch is hands-down the largest and best free source of genealogical documents. FamilySearch is a non-profit operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but you don’t need to be a member of the church to use it. The genealogical offerings include a wide array of records, educational resources, and a global family tree. Find a Grave If you’re looking for an ancestor’s grave, your first stop should be Find a Grave. It’s now owned by Ancestry but it still remains completely free. As of 2023 the site boasts 210 million memorials, some of which even include photos. Chronicling America You’ll find over 20 million free newspaper pages ranging from 1777 to 1963 at the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website. The collection is keyword searchable, and the Advanced search tab at the top of homepage will help you search with even greater precision. Results can be downloaded as images, text or PDFs to your computer for free. Lisa Louise Cooke is the host of our monthly podcast, as well as a frequent contributor to Family Tree Magazine. Find more of her favorite (free!) genealogy resources over on her Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. |
