FamilySearch Launches New Indexing Initiative

With the recent completion of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project, FamilySearch has provided enthusiastic indexers and arbitrators with the next big genealogy initiative—the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Community Project, which includes records of those who passed through all major U.S. ports from the 1800s to the 1950s.

“The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Project will help document the lives of immigrant ancestors who came to live in the United States,” said Michael Judson, the indexing workforce development manager for FamilySearch. “This is an opportunity for volunteers to provide even more searchable records, especially for family historians who are looking for information that will link their ancestors to their native lands.”

The new project contains a substantially larger number of records than the 1940 U.S. Census does, so FamilySearch representatives expect it will take more time and additional volunteers.

Collections of records are available for indexing at indexing.FamilySearch.org, under “Current Projects,” and most of the record sets involve passenger lists and naturalization records. All collections available as part of the new “Community Project” are designated by the prefix “US (Community Project).”