The Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives offers links to websites offering related content to help the collectors, genealogists, researches and others find the best sources for information. We review these resources prior to adding them to our list of external resources.

• Genealogy
• General Resources
• Passenger Lists
• Ship and Steamship Line Resources
• Ethnic Resources

Know an Excellent Resource - Tell Us About It!

If you found a great site related to genealogy, including immigration, genealogy, history, ocean travel, vintage fashions, WPA, or the military, let us know about it. Email us at [email protected] and include a screenshot of the home page, what general category they belong under (We will create topic headings as needed).

Also, include a brief 100-250 word summary of what makes this site an excellent resource for genealogists. Submissions subject to editing for spelling and grammar.

You can also request a tagline like " submitted by [Your Name, City, Country]."

Submissions are as easy as 1-2-3

1. Take a screenshot of the homepage (or main page of a category of a website, for instance, passenger lists information for the National Archives)
2. Write a brief summary of what makes this an excellent resource and the topic category (it can be uncategorized if it doesn't fit neatly into a specific topic).
3. Email us at [email protected] with the Subject "External Resource Submission."

Paul Gjenvick Demonstrates Using a Stereoscopic Card Viewer. GGA Image ID # 15425c8391

Discovering valuable information for your family history project online is like having a powerful tool at your disposal, making your research efficient and empowering.

These websites, including Family Tree Magazine, Family History Daily, Ancestral Findings, Genealogy in Time, AARP, and others, are trusted sources in the genealogy community. They publish lists of the top genealogy websites, providing you with a sense of confidence and security in your research.

American Genealogy Websites on Wikipedia, 4 June 2020. GGA Image ID # 1541d7500c

What matters most depends on where you're at in your family history research. If you're at the beginning, a subscription-based site like Ancestry.com might help you get started in the right direction. If you're in the middle, sites like Cyndi's List might help you discover additional information on a topic that is important to you.

Too often, sites that dominated the search engines were link-based. They are an online directory of related sites with precious little actual content that would qualify as something valuable to enhance or fill in missing information on your genealogical research.

It may be the dominance of Ancestry.com that set the stage for so many link directories and blogs. High-volume (>100k visitors per month) ad-driven genealogy sites and earn a comfortable living without a massive investment in technology or staffing.

Since they're not curating original content or capturing information from public documents that have descended into the public domain, there's none of the overhead nor extensive ongoing resources involved.

Citizendium, a Wiki for Providing Free Knowledge Where Authors Use Their Real Names. They Regard Information As a Public Good and Welcome Anyone Who Wants to Share Their Knowledge on Virtually Any Subject. Their Online Community Prides Itself on Being Congenial and Supportive. See https://www.citizendium.org/.

A new wiki encyclopedia project aims at credibility over quantity. is an open wiki project aimed at "creating an enormous, free, and reliable encyclopedia." It is trying to avoid the problems encountered by Wikipedia. There are about 6,000 articles at present. For students, this may be a better place to start their research and gain an overview of a given topic.

There are relatively few websites that offer free access to passenger lists or passenger manifests. The vast majority of the high-ranking websites on search engines that focus on "passenger lists" are simply links to other websites or utilize/hook up to a paid subscription service like Ancestry as their "database" of passenger lists.

Below, we list websites that have actual passenger lists viewable by the public. Sites that have not transcribed/digitized the passenger lists or sites that require a paid subscription are omitted from this list.

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891 Curated from the National Archives and Records Administration. Database with images. FamilySearch. https://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2024. Citing NARA microfilm publication M237. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

Passenger lists for over 13 million immigrants arriving in New York City from 1820 through 1891. NARA publication M237: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. This collection is being published as records become available.

Immigration records, also known as "passenger arrival records," can provide genealogical information, including a person's nationality, place of birth, ship name, date of entry to the United States, and age, height, eye, and hair color.

Ship Passenger Records, created, ca. 1977 - 2010, documenting the period 1820 - 1912 - Collection CGIC

• German, French, and Swiss Passenger Records, ca. 1820 - ca. 1912
• Records of Passengers from Ireland and the United Kingdom, ca. 1820 - ca. 1912
• Italian Passenger Records, ca. 1820 - ca. 1912
• Records of Passengers from the Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and other European Countries, ca. 1820 - ca. 1912
• Manifest Header Records, 1820 - 1912

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

With 17,000+ Passenger Manifests in 17 Volumes , Passenger lists to the US, including Port of Arrival, Brazil arrivals, Arrivals in countries other than the US, and Passenger Lists transcribed from over 17,000 passenger manifests, as well as Maritime newspaper articles, adoption resources, immigrant resources, and more, this site is a haven for both researchers and family genealogists. It caters to all, making you feel included and catered to, and you'll find yourself spending a few evenings getting acquainted with all they offer.

The Ships List Transcribed Passenger List

The Ships List Home Page Features Links to Search Their Databases for North America, Australia, and the Entire Website. Not Visible are Numerous Links Pertaining to the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s, with the bulk of the site devoted to Passenger Lists and Related Information from the 1800s. Awkward Navigation and a Dated Website Interface Make This Site More Challenging to Use and Get Used to Than Most.

The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.

Free Ellis Island Passenger Search Database, Home to 65 Million Records of Passengers Arriving to the Port of New York From 1820 to 1957.

Explore your family history with the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration’s extensive database of over 65 million passenger records. This rich resource allows you to trace your ancestors’ journey to the Port of New York, offering a unique glimpse into your heritage. You can easily create a personal profile by registering on the Ellis Island website or directly through our portal, where you can save your searches and download copies of passenger records, manifests, and images of the ships that ferried your ancestors to America.

For those who wish to keep a physical copy of these historical documents, high-quality reproductions are available for purchase online or at the Family History Center located on Ellis Island. This service provides a meaningful way to preserve your family’s story and celebrate your ancestral roots.

Why So Few Actual Passenger Lists Are Online

Cost is the main factor. It is expensive to curate and transcribe passenger lists. The primary documents used for create these lists are the passenger manifest required by immigration officials. The other major reason is it is very profitable selling subscriptions to Ancestry and similar sites that have transcribed government passenger manifests.

Tips on Using Subscription Services for Finding Passenger Lists

Many local libraries and the branches of the National Archives offer free access to Ancestry and other paid sites for research.

Some State Archives and Local History Centers also offer free access to one or more paid subscription services.

The Great Ocean Liners

The Great Ocean Liners' specialty is Ship Histories and they cover a lot of them from the 1830s through the 1960s. Here you'll find all the great steamships and ocean liners including the Oceanic, Britannic, Normandie, City of New York, City of Paris, Teutonic, Majestic, Kaiser Wilhelm der Gorsse, Carpathia, Laurentic, Titanic, Aquitania and many more. This is an excellent resource to supplement your family history with information about the immigrant ship that your ancestors arrived on.

The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum

The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum (Est. 2005) is promoted as the only online museum in the world dedicated to telling the inspiring story of the ocean liners and ocean travel. This UK based webiste is a compiliation of historical information researched from many sources. Concentrations include the Cunard Line, Shipping Line History, Ocean Liners, P&O Ships, RMS Britannia 1840, Caronia, Carmania, Lusitania, Mauretania, Aquitania, The Saxonia Sisters, and the Cunard Queens (Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria).

The Unofficial Holland America Line Home Page

In December of 2007, this wonderful resourceful site was incorporated into its present site on HALPostcards.com/unofficial/. The current site combines two extensive websites - the other being the Holland America Line Postcard Collector's Website. This incredible combined resource offers researchers of the Holland America Line and extenisve amount of information and links to other worthwhile websites of related information. An excellent place to start your research for relatives and family members who left the old world from ports in the Netherlands.

German Genealogy Group

Join us and discover that family research is the most interesting and rewarding hobby that will enable you to discover your past and preserve your heritage for future generations. Be a part of the fastest growing hobby today! German Genealogy Group named "One of the 75 Best State Genealogy Websites" by Family Tree Magazine!

Bremen Passenger Lists

A Project with the Bremen Chamber of Commerce and the Bremen Staatsarchiv. The "Ordinance with Respect to Emigration on Domestic and Foreign Ships" from 1832 in Bremen was the first state law with the purpose to protect emigrants. Among other things it required that the shipowners must maintain passenger lists. In 1851 the Bremen Chamber of Commerce established the "Nachweisungsbureau für Auswanderer" (the Information Office for Emigrants), where the ship captains had to deliver their lists. The rules and regulations of the ´Nachweisungsbureau´ considerably improved the quality of both the stay at Bremen prior to the sailing plus the seaworthiness of the ships. Unfortunately, all lists from 1875 - 1908 older than 3 years were destroyed due to lack of space in the Bremen Archives. With the exception of 3017 passenger lists for the years 1920 - 1939 all other lists were lost in World War II.

Irish Genealogy

irishgenealogy.ie is a website dedicated to helping you search for family history records for past generations. The website is now home to the historic records of Births, Marriages and Deaths of the General Register Office. These records join the Indexes to the historic records of Births, Marriages and Deaths that were already available on the website.

Making French Genealogy Easier

This website provides various tutorials to help you find information about your French ancestors. It also offers articles, research tools, and links to online archives, military records, Belgium censuses, and other online resources, making it an excellent starting point for your research.