About American Ancestors
Founded in 1845, American Ancestors is a leading expert resource for family history research. Our eight-story Research Center in Boston is home to a vast collection of genealogical resources and materials. Our expertise includes the family histories of historical figures, many top Hollywood celebrities, the British and other European royal families, and every United States President.
Our expert staff and their research have been featured in a number of local and national media outlets including the Boston Globe, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, “The Ellen Show,” “Inside Edition,” People Magazine, NPR, CNN, BBC News, Fox News, ABC News, and NBC Nightly News. Our work has also been featured in a number of prominent national television shows including “Who Do You Think You Are?” on NBC and “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr,” on PBS. We have also been featured in a variety of videos and in radio and podcasts.
Press Contact
Claire Vail
Vice President for Digital Strategy and Communications
claire.vail@nehgs.org
617-226-1278
Press Releases
American Ancestors to Name Back Bay Building for Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at Family Heritage Experience Grand Opening
April 22, 2025
American Ancestors®, the country’s oldest nonprofit genealogical organization, names its research library for entrepreneur and philanthropist Brady Brim-DeForest
April 23, 2025
Gore Roll of Arms Available in Print for First Time from American Ancestors and Palfrey Press
July 11, 2024
FamilySearch, American Ancestors Collaboration to Recover Names of 10 Million Enslaved Africans
February 20, 2024
New Project Will Recover the Names of Up to 10 Million People Enslaved in America Before Emancipation and Locate their Living Descendants
August 3, 2023
Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum Launches First Ever Boston Tea Party Descendants Program in Partnership with American Ancestors/NEHGS as Part of the Boston Tea Party's 250th Anniversary Commemorative Year
March 11, 2023
Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker Honored by American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society
April 27, 2022
New Accessible, Student-Centered Curriculum Offers K–12 Educators Practical, Classroom-Ready Lessons for Teaching History Through Family Stories and Connections (August 30, 2022)
Downton Abbey Creator Julian Fellowes Honored by American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society (July 29, 2022)
Massachusetts Governor Charles Baker Honored by American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society (April 27, 2022)
Brenton Simons Awarded History Medal by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (November 1, 2021)
Media Advisory: American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society Announces New Database (July 14, 2021)
Media Advisory: American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society Reopens Tuesday, June 22 (June 16, 2021)
The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at New England Historic Genealogical Society Celebrates Tenth Anniversary (June 2, 2021)
American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society Appoints Meghan Hallock as Vice President for Advancement (June 1, 2021)
American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society Honors Former UK Prime Minister The Rt Hon Sir John Major KG CH (April 22, 2021)
Media Advisory: American Ancestors Offers Free, Online Live Family History Chat Service with Expert Genealogists (March 17, 2021)
Massachusetts Catholic Cemetery Records Now Available Online (February 23, 2021)
New, Searchable Digital Database of Mayflower Society Membership Applications Helps Reveal Family Connections to Pilgrims (November 10, 2020)
Winners Announced in Massachusetts Student Essay Contest on Mayflower and Native American History (September 14, 2020)
Brenton Simons Named Vice Chair of Plymouth, Massachusetts, 400th Anniversary Commission by Governor Charles D. Baker (March 5, 2020)
American Ancestors | New England Historic Genealogical Society Issues Statement in Opposition to Massachusetts Governor’s Budget Proposals Limiting Access to Public Records (February 13, 2020)
Announcing Winter-Spring Authors in the American Inspiration Series in Boston’s Back Bay (January 28, 2020)
A Massachusetts Statewide Student Essay Competition Will Commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the Landing of the Mayflower (January 13, 2020)
American Ancestors Creates a New Corporate Membership Program for Boston Companies to Offer as an Employee Benefit (December 9, 2019)
New Best-selling Author Series American Inspiration to Feature Talks on the Battle of Vicksburg; the Harvard, Yale and America in 1968; and the Life and Music of Janis Joplin (November 5, 2019)
Bruegger’s Bagels Co-Founder Nordahl Brue and Wife Suzanne Donate $1.5 Million to Family History Learning Center in Boston (September 12, 2019)
American Inspiration—a New, Best-Selling Author Series—to Premiere in Boston’s Back Bay (August 21, 2019)
Historic Catholic Records Online Project Expansion Announced by American Ancestors and the Archdiocese of Boston (August 7, 2019)
The American Ancestry of Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Is Revealed by American Scholar (August 1, 2019)
New Website Documents Family Histories of Enslaved People Alongside the Voices of Their Living Descendants (June 19, 2019)
On the Ancestry of the New Royal Baby (May 17, 2019)
American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society Present Lifetime Achievement Award to Dan Rather (May 3, 2019)
American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society Open Boston's Mayflower 400th Anniversary Commemorations with Tributes to Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation (April 17, 2019)
Four Nations Unite to Realize Their 400th Commemoration Program for 2020 (March 14, 2019)
As Tributes Pour in Celebrating the Life of the 41st President, Genealogists at New England Historic Genealogical Society Provide a Look at Famous Relatives of George H. W. Bush (December 5, 2018)
Jewish Heritage Center at New England Historic Genealogical Society Is Named in Honor of Justin Wyner and Genevieve Wyner (November 16, 2018)
American Ancestors Offers FREE Access to All Databases on AmericanAncestors.org from November 6–13 (November 7, 2018)
Historic Hotels of America® Partners with New England Historic Genealogical Society and American Ancestors to Offer Historic Benefits to Clientele (October 17, 2018)
New England Historic Genealogical Society Announces Programs and Resources Commemorating the Mayflower 400th Anniversary (August 28, 2018)
American Ancestors Offers FREE Access to All Online Databases on AmericanAncestors.org from July 10–17 (July 10, 2018)
Carolyn A. Lynch Garden Dedicated on Newbury Street; Blessed by Cardinal O’Malley (June 15, 2018)
New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) and the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Announce Collaboration (May 15, 2018)
New England Historic Genealogical Society Publishes “2020—Your Guide to the Mayflower 400th Anniversary” (April 25, 2018)
New England Historic Genealogical Society Honors One of Its Own—William M. Fowler, Jr.—with American Ancestors Lifetime Achievement Award (January 25, 2018)
Researchers at New England Historic Genealogical Society have announced that Meghan Markle is descended from King Edward III (November 29, 2017)
World’s First Online Gallery of Pilgrim Descendants Created by New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) at Mayflower.AmericanAncestors.org (November 17, 2017)
New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) Honors Historian and Bestselling Author Winston Groom with Its Lifetime Achievement Award (October 26, 2017)
New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) and General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD) Announce Collaboration (July 13, 2017)
Expertise from American Ancestors and American Ancestors on Pennsylvania Genealogy is Free for One Week (May 15, 2017)
Access to Thirty-Two Probate-Related Databases on AmericanAncestors.org Is Free from April 18 to April 25 (April 18, 2017)
FREE Access to All Irish Resources on AmericanAncestors.org (March 14, 2017)
Millions of Massachusetts Catholic Records to Be Made Searchable Online (January 10, 2017)
Open the door to your early New England ancestry for FREE (October 18, 2016)
American Ancestors to Honor Cokie Roberts at Family History Benefit Dinner (October 4, 2016)
The Country’s Founding Genealogical Society Honors Legendary Television Anchors Bob Schieffer and David Hartman with Their Family Histories (April 25, 2016)
American Ancestors by American Ancestors Announces an Unprecedented, Historic Event for Genealogists: A BILLION Records FREE! (April 6, 2016)
During Black History Month, American Ancestors Offers Free Access to Databases Featuring African American Content to Guest Users on AmericanAncestors.org (February 1, 2016)
New England Historic Genealogical Society to Honor Legendary Television Anchors Bob Schieffer and David Hartman (January 15, 2016)
Curt DiCamillo Appointed Curator of Special Collections at New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) – AmericanAncestors.org (January 11, 2016)
New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) Partners with the Congregational Library & Archives to Digitize Early Church Records (January 7, 2016)
The Country’s Founding Genealogical Society Marks a Capital Campaign Victory at its 170th Anniversary Celebration (October 22, 2015)
American Ancestors Announces Publication of the Great Migration Directory by Award-Winning Genealogist Robert Charles Anderson (September 21, 2015)
American Ancestors Salutes Labor Day with FREE Access to Databases on AmericanAncestors.org (September 2, 2015)
American Ancestors and American Ancestors Announce Annual Family History Day (September 1, 2015)
American Ancestors Announces Appointment of Christopher C. Child as Editor of the Mayflower Descendant (August 19, 2015)
American Ancestors to Publish Mayflower Descendant with Winter 2016 Issue (August 14, 2015)
American Ancestors Announces a New Research Study Project: Early Vermont Settlers to 1784 (June 17, 2015)
Extreme Genes—America’s Family History Radio—and American Ancestors Announce New Broadcast Collaboration (June 16, 2015)
American Ancestors Honors Mary Matalin and James Carville with Lifetime Achievement Award in Boston (April 24, 2015)
Genealogical Society Celebrates Its 170th Anniversary in Royal Style (April 14, 2015)
The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, the Oldest Genealogical Journal in America, Appears in a New Format (March 18, 2015)
New England Historic Genealogical Society (American Ancestors) Announces a Multi-Year Collaboration with Family Search (February 17, 2015)
A New AmericanAncestors.org Website Is Introduced by New England Historic Genealogical Society (December 9, 2014)
An Evening with Dame Angela Lansbury: Lifetime Achievement Award in the Performing Arts (October 7, 2014)
American Ancestors announces the publication of Robert Charles Anderson’s Exclusive, Must Have Genealogical Guide, Elements of Genealogical Analysis (September 23, 2014)
American Ancestors announces the publication of Penelope Stratton and Henry Hoff’s Guide to Genealogical Writing - How to Write and Publish Your Family History (September 23, 2014)