Digitized Microfilm Publications and Original Records, Courtesy of Our Collaborative Partners in Digitization
Digitized NARA Records Now Accessible Online
A wealth of historical records from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are now available online through partnerships with Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and FamilySearch.org. These digitized collections include extensive sets of archival materials, such as military service and pension records, Native American agency records, and broader federal archival collections.
One key example is the Civil War Records on Fold3.com, which include "Civil War Service Records," "Civil War Pensions Index" (Union), "Southern Claims," and Confederate records, all searchable by name or browsable by state. Another example is the Records of the Cherokee Indians Agency in Tennessee, 1801-1835, part of Record Group 75, available on Fold3 and Ancestry.com, which includes correspondence and miscellaneous documents.
Several microfilm publications covering a wide array of federal records have been digitized from NARA holdings. These include the Alien Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Savannah, Georgia, from 1901 to November 30, 1954 (Microfilm Publication Number 2945942), which is completely digitized, as well as the U.S. Citizen Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Savannah, Georgia, from June 5, 1906, to June 20, 1948 (Microfilm Publication Number 2945976), also completely digitized.
The Alien Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Savannah, Georgia, from June 5, 1906, to June 20, 1948 (Microfilm Publication Number 2945950) and the Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Charleston, South Carolina, from April 9, 1906, to August 21, 1948 (Microfilm Publication Number 2723253) have also been completely digitized.
For a more comprehensive and specific catalog of what NARA microfilm holdings have been digitized and made available on these platforms, consult the NARA Microfilm Catalog alongside the online collections of Ancestry, Fold3, and FamilySearch. Many of these digitized collections are referenced and accessible through university library guides and catalogues, such as those from Harvard University and others, which also link to digital collections available via these platforms.
Not all records have been fully digitized, however. For instance, the Passenger and Crew Manifests of Airplanes Arriving at Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale), Florida, from December 1, 1957, to November 8, 1969 (Microfilm Publication Number 2922374) has only a partial digitization. On the other hand, the Passenger and Crew Manifests of Airplanes Arriving at Portland, Maine, from April 13, 1946, to November 24, 1954 (Microfilm Publication Number 2924296) is completely digitized.
Original records that have been digitized for which there is no microfilm will have "Original records" listed in the microfilm publication number column. For example, the Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Pascagoula, Mississippi, from January 1, 1907, to September 5, 1928 (Microfilm Publication Number 3054047) is an original record with no corresponding microfilm.
Several digitization partners, including Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and Familysearch.org, have digitized microfilm publications and original records from NARA's holdings. The list of microfilm publications and original records that have been either partially or wholly digitized by the partners is available on their respective websites.
The digitized records can be sorted or downloaded as a spreadsheet. To report any issues with the information on this page, contact [email protected].
Data-and-cloud-computing technology has enabled the digitization of numerous historical records from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), making these records accessible online through platforms like Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and FamilySearch.org. This technology offers researchers the opportunity to analyze and study various archival materials, such as military service records, Native American agency records, and federal archival collections, without physically visiting the archives.
