SCHREIER GANZ TITLE: RECLAIM THE RECORDS: USING FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAWS FOR GENEALOGICAL AND ARCHIVAL RESEARCH SESSION: T262 SYLLABUS: PAGES 281-282
lecture. • Presentations, including slides and syllabus material, are protected by copyright. • Slides will be freely available online at www.ReclaimTheRecords.org • Please hold questions until the end.
word that you can successfully use Freedom of Information laws for genealogical and archival records! ★Crowdsource ideas from the public for new record sets to reclaim, using our Records Survey ★List our future targets publicly on our To-Do List ★Publish all requests and public correspondence with agencies in real-time through MuckRock ★Educational resource and advice portal for other people who want to make their own records requests ★Voice for change in records access, voice for the individual researchers instead of the for-profit companies
★ Sent out about once every six weeks ★ Sign Up at https://www.ReclaimTheRecords.org/ ★Facebook page ★ ~7000 people follow our page ★ Updated about once a month ★ Like Us at https://www.facebook.com/ReclaimTheRecords ★Twitter feed ★ ~2100 people follow us ★ Updated every few days ★ Snarky running commentary on our cases, also retweet FOIA/FOIA news ★ Follow Us at @ReclaimTheRecs - https://twitter.com/ReclaimTheRecs
New York ★Family from New York, by birth or immigration ★All eight great-grandparents lived and married in New York City ★...but I live in California ★...and the records I want are in New York ★...and practically nothing is was online ★...and the government agencies, archives, and repositories that hold New York records are (mostly) really difficult to deal with, not proactive and not very responsive
DISTANCE GENEALOGIST ★Every state has different laws about what CAN go online ★Every agency and archive has different policies about what WILL go online ★NY and NYC = not online, and no plans to go online ★Compare to other states, countries ★What can we do?
CITY The New York City marriage license index, 1930-1995 The list of registered voters in New York City, 1924 The New York City marriage license index, 1908-1929 MID 2016 2015 LATE 2016 ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN ~3,000,000 records ~5,000,000 records ~800,000 records
NORTHEAST LATE 2016 ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN ~450,000 records The New Jersey birth index, 1901-1903 The New Jersey death index, 1901-1903 The New Jersey grooms index, 1901-1903 New Jersey brides index 1901-1914
NORTHEAST The New York State death index, 1880-1956 - does not include NYC (usually) - does not include the cities of Albany, Buffalo, or Yonkers prior to about 1915 JAN 2016 - MAY 2017 ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN ~8,000,000 records
A 501(C)(3) NON-PROFIT ORG The Buffalo, New York death index, 1852-1944 The New Jersey marriage index, 1901-2016 - Brides Index 1901-2000 - Grooms Index WITH SOME GAPS - Combined Index 2001-2016 AUGUST 2017 NOVEMBER 2017 ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN ~5,000,000 records ~640,000 records
WEBSITE NEAR YOU The Wyoming death index, ~1909-1952 (Registration kind of spotty until 1920's) The Wyoming marriage index, 1941-1966 (Separate Brides Index and Grooms Index) The Wyoming divorce index, 1941-1952 (Separate Husbands Index and Wives Index) EARLY 2018 ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN ??? records
or a record, but it's only on microfilm, microfiche, or crumbling paper and it has never been digitized ★ LOCATION RESTRICTIONS: There's an index or a record, but it's only available in limited locations (i.e. one repository) during limited operating hours and days ★ LIBRARY RESTRICTIONS: There's an index or a record, but the librarian or archivist doesn't allow the public direct access to it ★ GOVERNMENT AGENCY RESTRICTIONS: There's an index or a record, but the government doesn't allow the public direct access to it ★ FINANCIAL RESTRICTIONS: There's an index or a record, but it's only available at a paywalled website for a substantial fee or annual subscription ★ KNOWLEDGE RESTRICTIONS: The library or archive doesn't publish a list of its holdings so you don't know what they even have, so you can't easily make requests
public copies ★ACQUISITION using FOIL or FOIA requests, as appropriate (and maybe using Open Data initiatives someday) ★DUPLICATION into better formats (microfilm --> digital image) ★PUBLICATION onto the Internet, raw data and tools for data ★DONATION of the original records to a library or archive ★EDUCATION of how other people can do this too
Act. (Note the A!) ★This is for records held by FEDERAL agencies ★FBI, CIA, State Department, Justice Department, etc. ★The famous one, first signed into law July 4, 1966, amended several times. ★Minor improvements were signed into law by President Obama.
is FREE. Appealing a denial, that is also FREE ★ A few states have ombudsmen or FOI panels, in lieu of going to court ★ If you need to go to court, and you win the release of your records, you MIGHT get your attorneys' fees paid (possible in 47 states, soon 48) ★ Usually only if the agency wrongly withheld records ★ And/or the agency failed to meet time limits ★ Five states REQUIRE your attorneys fees to be paid by state in that scenario: California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey. NEW: New York is now included sometimes! ★ In some states, sometimes there can also be punitive FINES against state officials who wrongly withhold records ★ Per incident, or per record, or per day
FOIL to an AGENCY ★An AGENCY is defined (in New York) as: "...any state or municipal department, board, bureau, division, commission, committee, public authority, public corporation, council, office or other governmental entity performing a governmental or proprietary function for the state or any one or more municipalities thereof..." ★ Most states have pretty similar definitions of an agency. ★ Every agency should have a FOIL OFFICER to whom you address the request. WHO CAN YOU FOIL?
and several other states): ★"...except the judiciary or the state legislature." ★They're not an AGENCY. ★That means no using FOIL for adoption files, court cases, divorce cases, name changes, naturalization files, etc. ★Workaround #1: Use different laws, not FOIL, to get stuff from the judiciary ★Workaround #2: If some relevant court files wound up in the possession of an AGENCY, you can often FOIL them directly from the agency. WHO CAN YOU NOT FOIL?
of the records you want ★Births and Deaths might be under the control of your state's Department of Health ★Might be extra/second copies of births and deaths (usually pre- dating statewide registration) kept in city or county archives, with the city or county clerk's office ★Marriages and Divorces might be under the control of your state's judiciary, court-by-court or county-by-county (or both), or a city or county clerk's office HOW DO YOU FOIL?
access specific certificates ★Define family members or next-of-kin, sometimes in ridiculous or overly-limited ways ★States say WHEN a certificate is available to the public ★Model records: 125 / 100 / 75 / 50 years ★States set a fee structure stating HOW MUCH each certificate costs. ★Could be $20/certificate rather than $0.10/page under FOIL GIMME MAH RECORDS
an index ★One exception in law we've found so far: Pennsylvania ★States generally don't say WHEN an index is public ★But they'll fight you over it ★States sometimes set a fee structure stating HOW MUCH it costs for a search of an index ★But this may be illegal GIMME MAH RECORDS
to merely VIEW or get a "genealogical" or "informational" copy of a vital record that is old and does not usually have any privacy restrictions? MAYBE. (will probably involve some legal work) GIMME MAH RECORDS
the name and contact information for their FOIL OFFICER. ★Search their website, or call them up and ask. ★Remember to use your state's specific term for its Freedom of Information law ★You can submit everything: ★through e-mail; ★or through postal mail; ★or through MuckRock.com (super-helpful!) HOW DO YOU FOIL?
HERE] and I am making a records request under [FOIA OR NAME OF YOUR STATE'S FOI LAW HERE]. ★ I am seeking records about [YOUR RECORDS REQUEST HERE]. ★ Try to be specific! Try to be helpful! Limit the dates! Cite laws or reasoning! ★ [IN SOME STATES: I am a private individual, not a for-profit company. These records will be made freely available to the general public.] ★ [IN VERY SMALL NUMBER OF STATES: I am a legal resident of this state.] ★ I would prefer to receive these records in [YOUR PREFERRED FORMAT HERE - COPIES, SCANS, MICROFILMS, DIGITAL PHOTOS, CSV DATABASE DUMP, ETC.]. ★ I am willing to pay for the copies of these records, up to [$XXX]. If this request might cost more, please contact me first to discuss the request. [IN SOME STATES, AND FOR FOIA: I am requesting a fee waiver, because...] HOW TO CRAFT A FOIA OR FOIL REQUEST
GANZ and I am making a records request under THE NEW YORK STATE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW (1977 N.Y. Laws ch. 933). ★ I am seeking A COPY OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEATH INDEX, FROM JANUARY 1 1880 TO DECEMBER 31 1956. THIS INDEX IS ALREADY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT MANY NEW YORK STATE LIBRARIES, BUT ONLY TO PEOPLE ONSITE. THE 1957-1965 RECORDS ARE ALREADY ONLINE, SO WHY NOT RELEASE THE OLDER ONES TOO? ★ I am a private individual, not a for-profit company. These records will be made freely available to the general public. ★ [IN VERY SMALL NUMBER OF STATES: I am a legal resident of this state.] ★ I would prefer to receive these records IN CSV FILE OR OTHER DATABASE FORMAT, ALTHOUGH I WILL ACCEPT COPIES OF MICROFILMS/MICROFICHE IF THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE. ★ I am willing to pay for the copies of these records, up to $500. If this request might cost more, please contact me first to discuss the request. [IN SOME STATES, AND FOR FOIA: I am requesting a fee waiver, because...] EXAMPLE OF A NEW YORK STATE FOIL REQUEST
can help you with FOI questions - free! ★ Might be aimed more towards journalists than the public ★ New York has the utterly awesome Committee on Open Government (COOG) ★ Will write free Advisory Opinions about your records request! ★ https://www.dos.ny.gov/coog/
JURISIDICTIONS: ★ All 50 states ★ ...plus Washington DC ★ ...plus 5 territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa ★ ...plus NEW YORK CITY ★ From a vital records standpoint, New York State and New York City are entirely separate entities, but both are still subject to New York State's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
through 1937 ★ These are TWO-PAGE documents with basic info on the couple, and the second page is basically just everyone's signatures ★ A "Brides Index" and a "Grooms Index" of these certificates were created in the 1930's, handwritten on index cards ★ Those cards were scanned by FamilySearch and are available on FamilySearch microfilms, as are the actual certificates ★ Volunteers at the non-profit genealogy group ItalianGen transcribed the Brides Index and Grooms Index cards into TWO searchable databases ★ These ItalianGen databases best searched using Steve Morse's website, but now also available through Ancestry.com RECORD TYPE #1: THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT CERTIFICATES
the present day! ★ These are THREE-PAGE documents, usually containing MORE information than the Health Department certificates. ★ These records are: 1. the AFFIDAVIT that the couple signed, swearing that they have the right and the ability to get married (of legal age! no bigamy! no STD's!); 2. the LICENSE APPLICATION and the LICENSE that the couple has now been officially granted, so that they can go get married a few weeks later; 3. the CERTIFICATE filled out by the clergyman on the day of the wedding, with witnesses, and sometimes witnesses' addresses; ★ THREE DIFFERENT SETS OF HANDWRITING! RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
the City Clerk's Office records have that the Health Department Certificates DO NOT have: ★ The bride’s occupation ★ The couple’s cities of birth (not just country of birth) ★ Their parents’ countries of birth ★ If either of the pair were ever widowed and if so, when their spouse died ★ If either of the pair ever were divorced and if so, when the divorce was finalized (and starting in late 1930's, lists the grounds for the divorce) ★ The home addresses of the witnesses RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
the City Clerk's Office records have that the Health Department Certificates DO NOT have: ★ Yes, women worked outside of the home. RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
the City Clerk's Office records have that the Health Department Certificates DO NOT have: ★ Addresses for the witnesses (started appearing on form circa 1924) RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
the City Clerk's Office records have that the Health Department Certificates DO NOT have: ★ (bottom of a 1932 license and application) RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
the City Clerk's Office records have that the Health Department Certificates DO NOT have: ★ (bottom of a 1937 license and application, new lines added) RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
the City Clerk's Office records have that the Health Department Certificates DO NOT have: ★10% more records! RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS
These City Clerk's records are not even listed on the "Genealogy Collections" one-sheet that is handed out onsite at the Municipal Archives at 31 Chambers Street. ★ It's like these amazing, awesome, useful records...don't even exist. RECORD TYPE #2: THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE RECORDS ★ photo credit: Bette Stoop Mas
public copies ★ACQUISITION using FOIL or FOIA requests, as appropriate (and maybe using Open Data initiatives someday) ★DUPLICATION into better formats (microfilm --> digital image) ★PUBLICATION onto the Internet, raw data and tools for data ★DONATION of the original records to a library or archive ★EDUCATION of how other people can do this too
in NY and FL ★ When people register to vote, those records are public ★ Had to re-register every year, not just when you moved ★ "List of Registered Voters" published annually, like an index ★ Actual registration sheets, filled out by would-be voters ★ Includes naturalization court name and exact date! ★ Why 1924? ★ Let's FOIL them and get them online, so we can transcribe! VOTER LISTS AND REGISTRATION FORMS FOR MANHATTAN 1924
★Birth Index: 1901-1903 ★Marriages: Grooms Index 1901-1903, Brides Index 1901-1914 ★Death Index, 1901-1903 ★These were microfilm only and onsite access only, at the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton ★First 20th Century vital records from New Jersey! NEW JERSEY BIRTH, MARRIAGE, & DEATH INDEX, 1901-03/1914
New Jersey Open Public Records Act ★1901-2016! ★1901-2000 has a Brides Index for every year, but temporarily missing a few years from the 1930's (coming soon) ★1901-2000 has a Grooms Index for SOME years, not all ★2001-2016 has a consolidated index, roughly chronological, includes same-sex couples starting in September 2013 ★Yes, this will all be indexed by all your favorite genealogy websites....eventually
1880-1916 ★Index to New York State Births (Outside of New York City), 1880-1942 ★Index to New York State Statements of Dissolutions of Marriage (Divorce Index) (Outside of New York City), 1963-2017 ★Index to New York State Domestic Partnership Registry, 2006-2017 WHAT'S NEXT? NEW YORK STATE
Archives ★Index to New York City Domestic Partnership Registry, 1993-2016 ★New York City Jury Censuses, 1816, 1819, and 1821 ★New York City Birth Certificates, 1910-1917 ★New York City Delayed and Special Birth Certificates, for births up to 1909, issued up to 1984 (approx. 100,000 certificates) WHAT'S NEXT? NEW YORK CITY
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