Image from a Baltimore, Maryland death certificate

The Maryland Motherlode: Births, Marriages, Deaths, and Naturalizations

More than five million records from the Maryland State Archives covering more than a century, both the basic text indices and full vital records certificates 🤩 most of them never publicly available online before
Records released through successful Maryland Public Information Act request All received records online.
Screenshot of the Connecticut Genealogy Index

The Connecticut Genealogy Index

More than 5.5 million genealogical records to search through...except for the ones the state still has locked up in an ancient FoxPro database they claim they can't use
Records release mostly negotiated! But many still locked up in the state's archaic database system All received records online.
Reclaim The Records - New Jersey Geographical Birth Index

The New Jersey Geographic Birth Index and Delayed Birth Index, 1901-1929

Homegrown in the Garden State
Records release negotiated! No legal wrangling needed! All records online.
Release The Kraken!

All already-digitized New York City historical records and their associated text metadata. (Yes, all.)

"Release The Kraken!"
Litigation in progress! Case filed February 14, 2022.
The Nebraska Death Index

The Nebraska Death Index (1904-1968)

That time we successfully appealed to a state Attorney General while waiting to board an international flight
No litigation needed! All records online.
Mississippi state death index

The Mississippi State Death Index (1912-1943)

One young genealogist's tenacity leads to thirty-one years of Mississippi state history finally going online
No litigation needed! All records online.
Group Photo at NYC DOH public comments hearing, October 2017

New York City death certificates 1949-1968 and nullification of NYC DOH records access rules

Remember that time the NYC DOH ignored ~6,000 public comments unanimously in opposition to their terrible records access rules?
Litigation in progress! Case filed April 17, 2019.

Washington State Marriage, Divorce, and Death Indices, c. 1907-2017

The legislature now wants to lock away indices that have always been public. Nuh-uh.
Washington PRA request filed with Dept. of Health, Secretary of State, and State Archives on January 30, 2019.
Reclaim The Records vs. NYC Municipal Archives - Brooklyn (Kings County) 'Old Town' records

Brooklyn (Kings County) “Old Town” Records

Welcome to the single stupidest lawsuit we've ever had to file against a government agency
Litigation in progress! Case filed October 15, 2018.
New Jersey Death Index

New Jersey Death Index, 1904-2017

Why should these records be available if you're onsite at the state archives, but not available on the Internet?
Legal wrangling but no litigation needed! All records online.
Reclaim The Records vs Veterans Affairs

Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File

When a veteran dies, why is their basic service data locked up forever behind a $300/year commercial website's paywall?
Litigation in progress! FOIA lawsuit filed in United States District Court (SDNY) on September 17, 2018.

Social Security Applications and Claims Index

Almost 100,000,000 public records have been available only through a $300/year paywalled commercial website. We're gonna change that.
FOIA request filed with Social Security Administration on September 20, 2017
NYC Geographical Birth Index

Geographic Index to New York City Births, late 19th to early 20th centuries

A new tool to find people born in New York City, especially if their birth records had spelling variants or poor handwriting
No litigation needed! All records online.
Wyoming Death Index

Wyoming Marriage, Death, and Divorce Indices, 1900-1965

Frozen in a snowbank outside of Laramie? We got your record. Thrown off your wagon team in Cheyenne? We got your record too.
Coming soon...
Reclaim The Records - New Jersey Marriage Index - example #2

New Jersey Marriage Index, 1901-2016

We acquired and published the first-ever data set of everyone married in the Garden State
Legal wrangling, but no litigation needed! All records online.
Yonkers NY Death Index book from the 1870's

Index to Deaths in Yonkers, New York, c. 1870-1915

"Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers..."
FOIL Appeal (constructive denial) sent March 13, 2019
Buffalo Death Index

Index to Deaths in Buffalo, New York, 1852-1944

These records were sitting on a hard drive in a city government's Inactive Records Center, not online for public use. We fixed that.
No litigation needed! All records online.

Index to Deaths in Albany, New York, 1880-1915

Corruption's such an old song that we can sing along in harmony, And nowhere is it stronger than in Albany
NY FOIL request filed with Albany City Clerk's Office on September 6, 2017

Index to New York City domestic partnership records, 1993-2017

?All people and all families deserve to have their genealogical records available to them.
NY FOIL request in planning stage against NYC Clerk's Office
Photo of DVD containing the records we won

Index to New York City Marriage Licenses, 1996-2017

Wait, you mean we’re gonna have to sue the same city agency again? Over the same records set? After they lost to us last time?
Litigation successful! All records online
The New York State birth index

Index to New York State Births (Outside of New York City), 1881-1942

Finally, New York researchers can ditch the microfiche sheets and join the twenty-first century.
No litigation needed! All records online.
New York State marriage index

Index to New York State Marriages (Outside of New York City), 1881-2017

NYS DOH gave us only half of the files we'd requested, and initially they didn't even explain why. So we sued them -- and won!
Litigation successful! Case filed August 24, 2018, judgment rendered March 13, 2019. CASE ON APPEAL BY THE STATE as of May 1, 2019.
List of Registered Voters, 1924

List of Registered Voters in New York City for 1924

Historical voter data is often covered by Freedom of Information laws. We were the first to publish this often-overlooked resource online.
No litigation needed! All records online.
Screenshot of the Missouri Death Index website

Missouri Death Index, 1968-2015

They tried to charge us $1.5 million for a public records request. Then they decided to ignore the state Sunshine Law altogether.
Litigation successful! Motion for Summary Judgment granted April 15, 2020
Screenshot of the Missouri Birth Index website

Missouri Birth Index, 1920(ish)-2015

They tried to charge us $1.5 million for a public records request. Then they decided to ignore the state Sunshine Law altogether.
Litigation successful! Motion for Summary Judgment granted April 15, 2020
New Jersey marriage index

New Jersey Birth, Marriage, and Death Indices, 1901-1903 and 1901-1914

We acquired and published the first public twentieth century vital records indices for New Jersey.
No litigation needed! All records online.

New York City Birth Certificates, 1910-1917

They're more than 100 years old, but NYC won't let us see them.
NY FOIL request in planning stage against NYC DOH
New York State Death Index

Index to New York State Deaths (Outside of New York City), 1880-1956

It took us seventeen months of fighting with the government just to get a list of the names of dead people.
Legal wrangling but no litigation needed! All records online.
Photo of the microfilms we received

Index to New York City Marriage Licenses, 1930-1995

Yes, you can fight city hall — and win! Of course, it helps if the city refuses to return your e-mails and calls until you take them to court.
Litigation successful! All records online (minus Queens 1971-72 images)
NYC Marriage License Index

Index to New York City Marriage Licenses, 1908-1929

What do you do when a city archive won’t share its records with the public? Fight back. Read about our pilot project that started it all.
Litigation successful! All records online.
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