About
Historical Vital Records of NYC is an initiative from Department of Records and Information Services.
The New York City Municipal Archives’ vital records collection is one of the largest in the country. The Archives initiated a mass digitization project in 2013 to provide access to 13.3 million birth, death, and marriage records. As of 2022, 70% of these holdings have been digitized.
Phase One
In 2013, the Municipal Archives contracted with eDocNY to digitize 8.5 million records. Archives staff collaborated closely with the vendor to ensure high-quality, preservation-standard digitization. In addition, the Conservation and Preservation Unit worked alongside the digitization team to repair and preserve the original documents.
Beginning in 2003, the Genealogy Federation of Long Island generously provided volunteers to transcribe original hard-copy indexes to a database format.
Phase Two (Current Phase)
The Municipal Archives is digitizing the marriage license series (1908 to 1949) in-house.
Phase Three
The Municipal Archives will create high-quality images of Manhattan death records dating 1867 to 1948, from the original hard-copy. These records are currently serviced using the microfilm edition.
This initiative represents just one effort to fulfill the Municipal Archives’ mission to provide broad, long-term access to the collections through improved descriptions, digitization, preservation and conservation. To learn more, explore the Collection Guides, browse the Digital Gallery, and read the blog.