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Selected Finding Aids

The National Archives at New York City has a variety of guides, reference information papers, lists, and other finding aids. Some are available online:

• Guide to Archival Holdings of the National Archives at New York City, 1996.
  Record group level descriptions of archival holdings including agency administrative history; dates and volume; narrative description of source, content, and types of records; list of finding aids and related microfilm; restriction statements. Entries provide details not available for regional records in the Federal Records Guide.
  
  
• Federal Records Guide, 1995.
  Search NARA's holdings of federal records at a very high level, to identify which record groups may have material relevant to your research topics. This includes records that originated in the executive, judicial, and legislative branches.
  
  
• Guide to Puerto Rican Records in the National Archives at New York City, 2011.
  This reference paper describes the records held by the National Archives at New York City pertaining to Federal government activity in Puerto Rico. These records span 20 different record groups and comprise a total of over 1,800 cubic feet.
  
  
• Chinese Immigration and Chinese in the United States: Records in the Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration, RIP 99, 1996. Selected information pertains to records at the New York City facility.
  
  
  • New York Chinese Exclusion Index. A name index to over 18,500 "Chinese exclusion" case files created by the New York District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, ca. 1882-1960. The case files document the entry into the United States of Chinese aliens and the reentry of U.S. citizens of Chinese ancestry under the Chinese Exclusion Acts passed by Congress between 1882 and 1930, and repealed in 1943.
    
    
• Records of the Rosenberg Grand Jury Transcripts
  
  
• Access to Archival Databases, (AAD). Search Hint for New York passenger arrival records, 1846-1851:
  1. Press the AAD Search button. Use the Subject filter. You can select either the term Immigrants or Passenger lists from the drop down screen. Press the Submit button.
     
     
  2. On the results page, click the description titled, Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, created, 1977 - 1989, documenting the period 1/12/1846 - 12/31/1851.
     
     
  3. Click on either link Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File or the List of Ships that arrived at the Port of New York During the Famine. select the data table link on the resulting File Unit Description page, Click here to search this data table to search the data file. NOTE: You will now be in the search interface for the either the Famine File or the List of ships. Since these files are so large, you must limit the search by entering in at least one operator such as a last name, country code, destination, etc.
     
     
  4. Enter a term and press Search.
     
     
  5. The search results will yield a data table. You may resort the columns or just browse through each. To view a record in detail, check the first column Select Record for the row you would like to view. Press the button "Show Selected Records."
     
     
  6. The record detail page will result.
• Archival Research Catalog (ARC). Selected information in ARC pertains to records at the New York facility. Learn how to find descriptions of selected records, and access digital images in some cases, from the facility's archival holdings in this searchable database.
  • See our page on Search Hints for the National Archives at New York City for more information.
  • Please also see our pages on Search Hints for the Regional Archives for information on descriptions of selected records in National Archives regional facilities nationwide.
  
  You can also follow the steps below:
  
  
  1. Go to www.archives.gov/research/arc/
     
     
  2. Press the Yellow search button to go to the Basic search screen.
     
     
  3. Limit results to 2000.
     
     
  4. Scroll down to NARA Location filter box, select National Archives at New York City.
     
     
  5. Press the GO button. ARC will display 10 hits per page.
     
     
  6. To see a full description of any hit, click on the Title link or page through the hit list by pressing the next hit button or the jump to page feature.
     
     
  7. Note: You can further limit your search using the Keywords box.
  
  Some of the New York facility records and images that have been digitized and made available in ARC include:
  
  
  • African American History
    Selected Documents Relating to Fugitive Slaves, 1837 - 1860
    
    
  • American History
    Curtis C. Flood vs. Bowie K. Kuhn, et. al., January 16, 1970 - August 25, 1970
    
    
  • Court Records
    Selected Criminal Case Files of the United States Circuit Court, Southern District of New York, 1790 - 1912
    Susan B. Anthony Criminal Case File, January 1873 - July 1873
    Exhibits from the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Case File
    
    
  • Immigration / Emigration:
    • Aliens
      Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at New York, New York, June 1897 - July 1957
      Selected documents relating to the TITANIC, 1912 - 1918
      
      
    • Chinese Immigration
      Chinese Exclusion Acts Case Files, 1880 - 1960
      
      
  • Science, Technology, Natural Resources, and the Environment
    • Agriculture
      Lewis Hine Photographs for the National Research Project, 1936 - 1937
      
      
• Additional finding aids, some of which are not available online, can be searched on-site at the New York City facility. Please follow the links indicated for more information and online indexes available through non-NARA sites. You can also call us toll-free at 1-866-840-1752, e-mail us at newyork.archives@nara.gov, or see our homepage for visitor information.
  • Court Records such as Southern District criminal case files and Eastern District files
  • Genealogy Resources including:
    • Naturalization Records including those filed in Federal, State, and local courts in New York City, 1792-1906; Federal courts in New York, New Jersey, and Puerto Rico up to 1991; and Military Naturalizations
    • Passenger arrival records for the Port of New York, 1820-1957, and selected other ports of entry including Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore
    • Census Records
    • Vital Records
      • New York City deaths and marriages (select indexes only - full indexes and records available at the New York City Municipal Archives)
      • New York State, excluding New York City (select indexes only - full indexes and records available at the New York State Archives)
  • New York Navy Yard Photo index

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