Reclaim The Records Year in Review 2025 - Reclaim The Records

Happy New Year, you guys! It's time for our 2025 Year in Review, and a look ahead to 2026 -- what records are going online next?!

www.reclaimtherecords.org/about/year-i...

@reclaimtherecords.org You are all amazing!!! 😃🤗🤩
A million thanks for working so hard on getting this to us during the holidays.
I'm about to go unwrap the best Christmas gift ever!
🎁 www.newyorkdeathindex.com 🎁

Searching Reclaim the Records' New York State Death Index Genealogy research and commentary by Marian Burk Wood, speaker and author of "Planning a Future for Your Family's Past," available from Amazon.com.

Thanks to our friends at @reclaimtherecords.org, the index of deaths in New York State from 1880-2017 is now public! #Genealogy #FamilyHistory Reclaim built an innovative database featuring natural language search & more. My search took a nanosecond: climbingmyfamilytree.blogspot.com/2025/12/sear...

This is huge. Thank you for your efforts in freeing up records that should already be free!

Visit www.NewYorkDeathIndex.com to search the first ever public NYS death index for 1973 - 2017. Place of death also available starting in 1957 so you can order genealogy copies (death >50 years ago) from a local municipality and skip the 5 year NYS DOH wait. (NYC is separate and not included)

Reclaim The Records We’re Reclaim The Records, a new not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. We identify important genealogical records sets that ought to be...

Our 'Giving Tuesday' Gift to YOU:
The New York State Death Index, 1880-2017

After YEARS of fighting with the state of New York, we just put it all online -- and there might even be some more data to come!

Read all about it in our latest newsletter issue:
mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

YOU GUYS! IT'S FINALLY ONLINE!

IT'S TOTALLY FREE!

IT'S THE NEW YORK STATE DEATH INDEX, 1880-2017!

www.newyorkdeathindex.com

@reclaimtherecords.org , I wish you every success in your lawsuit again the VA which is now refusing to fulfill FOIA requests. I got in my request about my father in WW2 probably on July 8. It is already more than half through October, and I haven't even received a denial.

Reclaim The Records We’re Reclaim The Records, a new not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. We identify important genealogical records sets that ought to be...

What's a #FOIA Appeal? What's some good language to use when you want to argue with the government about why they should be giving you the file you asked for, instead of some "genealogy letter"?

We got you covered, fam. Check out our advice in our latest newsletter:
mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

Search the BIRLS Database - over 19.5 million records about deceased US veterans, from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, now online and FREE from Reclaim The Records Search the BIRLS Database - over 19.5 million records about deceased US veterans, from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, now online and FREE from Reclaim The Records

✊ Always Appeal! ✊
Did the VA refuse to send you a full copy of a C-File (claims file) that you requested under #FOIA for a deceased veteran? Well, we now have some attorney-approved sample texts you can use to fight back!

Check out BIRLS.org/appeals for the latest!

Appealing the VA's Skinny Extract of Dad's Claims File Genealogy research and commentary by Marian Burk Wood, speaker and author of "Planning a Future for Your Family's Past," available from Amazon.com.

#Genealogy #FamilyHistory The US Veterans Admin sent an almost empty page in response to FOIA request for Dad's military/health records (WWII service). @reclaimtherecords.org recommends appealing & my appeal is complicated by my nameless birth cert climbingmyfamilytree.blogspot.com/2025/09/appe...

Just re requested my grandfather's files with my mother so she can easily appeal the denial as next of kin. I just really want to know what they wrote when he went missing in France and then when they found him in England thanks to my Grandma getting a letter from him.

I received numerous denials in the mail recently, which made me absolutely livid. I will absolutely appeal if able.

I finally had my FOIA fulfilled for my great grandfather, only for it to be bare bones textual genealogical information and not scans of his WWI file. Waiting for the language to understand how I can best appeal.

Got one of these FOIA denials in response to records for my and @kneld.bsky.social’s grandfather’s files. Ready to appeal!

Reclaim The Records We’re Reclaim The Records, a new not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. We identify important genealogical records sets that ought to be...

NEW: We just published 1.5 million NEW BIRLS records for 2020-2023, ALL FREE -- but now the VA doesn't want you to see any of them!

Read all about it in our latest newsletter:
mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

BTW, we wrote the custom software seen here processing the state gazetteer. And we plan to open source it, GPLv3!

In case, like, any of you guys also want to go geocode enormous data sets of locations, some of which are tiny hamlets, possibly with spelling mistakes, maybe no longer extant. Fun!

Screenshot of the geocoding of the New York State Death Index 1880-2017

First we fight and win a four year public records lawsuit, but *then* we really get to work making the data free and usable...

*cracks knuckles, goes back to coding*

Czech immigrant ancestral village search success story thanks to @reclaimtherecords.org helping get the NYC vital record images published.

From all US records, only an 1878 birth record showed the birth locations of the parents. Kuttenberg is the German exonym for Kutna Hora.

#Genealogy #Czech

Received my first C-File yesterday! Had requested via @reclaimtherecords.org on Dec 28 & had received notice that file would be coming on Feb 25. Some info redacted in case ppl still living. Was not expecting much for this vet but still got a few new insights. Waiting on 3 more. 🙂

A HINT for our long-time fans:
Did you know that some states keep the ONLY copy of their official data in FoxPro, a database system that has been defunct for DECADES? And when the clerk who knew how to use it retired, the state pretended no more data could be exported from it? 🙃

We just got notice that a Freedom of Information request we made for a certain state's vital records index in August 2020, heard as a contested case in August 2021, was finally decided in our favor...

That's nearly five years. FIVE YEARS! 😤

But we won. New data coming soon. 😊

APG has issued a letter to the Mayor of Washington, D.C., urging the reinstatement of funding for the planned DC State Archives building. This vital project protects historical records & supports ongoing research efforts. www.apgen.org/docs/3_June_...

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OUR BILL PASSED the New York State Assembly yesterday -- UNANIMOUSLY! 🤩

It's still not a done deal yet. It has to go to the governor, and be signed, and not have last-minute line-item edits or a veto.

But we are now SO much closer to reforming New York's vital records access!

a close up of a cat 's face with the words ( heavy breathing ) below it . Alt: a close up of a cat 's face with the words ( heavy breathing ) below it .

UPDATE: The proposed state bill we're supporting to put millions of scanned-and-indexed older New York vital records online PASSED the NYS Senate today, 50-9!

Now it needs to go through the Assembly...

You can subscribe to the bill's progress here:

www.nysenate.gov/legislation/...

Thank you! We like cake. 😊

When Reclaim the Records shows up, institutions should save themselves the time and money and just give them the records. RTC is going to win. #genealogy

No. 49 Matter of Reclaim the Records v NYSDOH YouTube video by New York State Court Of Appeals

Here's the official video of our intrepid attorney-by-day (and genealogist-by-night) Michael Moritz bravely arguing (and winning!) our case at the New York State Court of Appeals, in case you want to see an episode of "Law and Order: Special Genealogy Unit".
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEFf...

Reclaim The Records We’re Reclaim The Records, a new not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. We identify important genealogical records sets that ought to be...

Ahem. The latest issue of our newsletter is finally out. It's a big one.

WE WON THE FULL NEW YORK STATE DEATH INDEX, THE WHOLE THING, 1880-2017, WE BEAT THE LARGEST GOVERNMENT AGENCY IN NEW YORK AND WE'RE SETTING MORE THAN TEN MILLION RECORDS FREEEEEE

Read all about it:
mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

Another amazing victory for @reclaimtherecords.org - and, of course, all genealogists! 👏👏👏