15 Great Websites for Genealogy Research

GenWeb sites: Search for these free sites (there are thousands of them) by stating your ethnic or geographic specialty and adding "GenWeb" in the search box. (Example: "Turkey + GenWeb")

Italiangen.org: You don't have to be Italian to benefit from the great volunteer effort on this site to index New York's five boroughs' vital records.

JewishGen.org: Thousands of databases, research tools and other resources are available to help those with Jewish ancestry. 

SteveMorse.org: Having trouble with the spelling of your immigrant ancestor's surname? This free site helps you search in one step.

State and local records: A group of volunteers put together the USGenWeb Project to provide genealogical research in every county and every state in the United States.

Social Security death records: Here is a repository (at ssdi.RootsWeb.ancestry.com) that will give you details about your ancestors who had Social Security numbers and died in 1962 or later when the records were computerized.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: The museum has 42 million records, including a vast database of survivors and Holocaust victims. Go to USHMM.org/research/collections/search/.