Branching Out: The Genealogy Blog

Thinking about tracing your roots but don’t know where to start? Or maybe your search is under

way and you’ve hit a dead end. Retired librarian PJ will be on hand to show you how you can

access free genealogical resources, including Ancestry, through the library and to offer search

tips and advice. Come to the Genealogy Drop-In on the first Thursday of each month from 10

a.m. to 12 p.m. where PJ can help you get started with your research or help you resolve your

brick wall problems. No registration is required.

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September is Back-to School Month for most students. Did you ever want to see photos of your

parents or other relatives in their high school or college yearbooks? There are many libraries

and colleges in our area that provide access to yearbooks.

First, check out our library database for yearbooks from Walt Whitman High School, South

Huntington High School, Holy Family High School, and St. Anthony’s High School. The library also has physical copies of yearbooks. Please ask at the Adult Services desk.

 

Also available in our research databases is Ancestry.com Library Edition, which can only be

used at the library. It has high school yearbooks for New York. In Ancestry.com, go to the

Search tab, select card catalog and search on “U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016.” Once in

the collection you can limit to New York and then search on the city.

 

Other Suffolk County public libraries also have digital yearbook collections.

Bay Shore - Brightwaters Public Library has digitized Bay Shore High School yearbooks from

1924-current that are also available in their Local History Room.

Cutchogue New Suffolk Free Library has digitized yearbooks from Mattituck Jr/Sr High School,

Southold Jr/Sr High School and Greenport High School

.East Hampton Public Library has digitized yearbooks from East Hampton High School from 1951 to 2019. Search for “Yearbook”.

Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport has digitized Greenport High School yearbooks from 1945-

2018.

Huntington Public Library has digitized yearbooks for Huntington High School from 1930-2018.

West Babylon Public Library is in the process of scanning its yearbook collection. You can go to

their website to see which years are digitized and can also go to the library to view years not

digitized yet.

West Islip Public Library has digitized yearbooks from West Islip High School for 1958-2024 and

from St. John the Baptist High School from 1970-1996. Hard copies are also available at the

Library.

Area colleges also have yearbooks online

Adelphi University 

Molloy University  

New York Institute of Technology at Old Westbury – 1969-1992 

St. Joseph’s University  Search for St. Joseph’s College (Patchogue, N.Y.) yearbooks

Stony Brook University 

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To see a list of September genealogy programs in the area, please check out the Monthly

Program Calendar for the Genealogy Federation of Long Island or stop by the

Adult Services desk to pick up a copy of the calendar.

Published by on September 02, 2025
Last Modified December 05, 2025