November Meeting

November 10, 2007

Topic: Passenger Arrival Records, Port of Boston

Speaker: Janis Duffy

Do you have ancestors who left their homeland to arrive at the Port of Boston between 1848 and 1891? You may, as over one million immigrants arrive at the port of Boston during this time frame.

Beginning in 1848, Massachusetts officials started to record the names of the arriving immigrants. When the federal government introduced similar record keeping programs, the state stopped keeping records.

Learn how to use the passenger lists, what information is contained in them and the current status of the ongoing efforts to input the lists into an on-line database. The Archives website, http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcidx.htm, is updated periodically as new surnames are added.

Janis Duffy is the Reference Supervisor at the Massachusetts State Archives at Columbia Point in Boston. Janis is also the coordinator of the Archives Volunteer program. She has lectured on numerous topics, including Irish Research, and is a past president of TIARA.