Press

The Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association profiled us in a recent blog post about Intellectual Freedom Fighters
“…Perhaps the most important thing Reclaim the Records has done — aside, of course, from reclaiming twenty million records — is situate genealogical records within discussions of intellectual freedom. This is data about the public, after all, and who is the public? Us. Our records, our ancestors’ data, being reclaimed by this non-profit.
Their dedication and endurance in filing lawsuits and cutting through red tape benefits us all. Moreover, their jocular tone is not only refreshing, it’s much more readable for non-expert audiences. Most researchers in genealogy are not professionals; they are simply the curious family members, the designated relatives for keeping the family history. Reclaim the Records is the hero we deserve, and the one we need.”

“Ancestry.com Is In Cahoots With Public Records Agencies, A Group Suspects”
A nonprofit claims its request to obtain genealogical records from state archives was brushed aside in favor of Ancestry’s request.
BuzzFeed News covered our lawsuit against the New York State Department of Health in October 2018. Their article also covered the troubling monetization of public records by commercial genealogy companies:
What makes this case unique is that it’s a fight not just over documents, but over the relationship between record keepers and a big tech company that has quietly been vacuuming up millions of people’s data and putting it behind a paywall. Ganz told BuzzFeed News, “This is data on veterans, it’s data on our ancestry. It’s a problem that their data was paid for by our taxes.”

Interview in “Dorot” (JGSNY) – Summer 2018
The Jewish Genealogy Society (New York) interviewed our founder Brooke Schreier Ganz in the summer 2018 issue of their quarterly newsletter Dorot. The interview covered stories about how Reclaim The Records was founded, how Ganz got involved with genealogy, and lawsuits against various New York City and New York State agencies.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has recently featured two columns about our ongoing Missouri Sunshine Law case:

• January 24, 2018 – Judges send message to Missouri AG Josh Hawley: Do your job.
• January 19, 2018 – Hawley makes Sunshine splash while defending state secrecy in another case

Missouri NPR affiliate KCUR was the first major outlet to cover our Missouri Sunshine Law case:

• December 5, 2016 – Missouri Sunshine Law Request Yields $1.5 Million Tab, Then $5,000, Then Outright Refusal

Both the quarterly genealogy journal Avotaynu and its website Avotaynu Online have written several articles about our work, only some of which are online:

• September 5, 2015 – “Public Records Access: One Genealogist Can Make A Difference!”
• October 1, 2015 – “Breaking News! NY Municipal Archives Throws In the Towel in Public Access Fight!”
• November 13, 2016 – “First Fruits of the ‘Reclaim the Records” Access Project Are Obtained!”