October is both German - American Heritage Month and Italian Heritage Month. On Long Island we have two very active genealogy groups focused on both ethnicities – the German Genealogy Group and the Italian Genealogical Group.
The German Genealogy Group meets virtually the first Thursday of the month from September through June. You need to be a member to attend the meetings. The cost to join is $15/year. Membership benefits include access to recordings of past meetings, a monthly newsletter, access to past newsletters, translation and mentoring services, the ability to add surnames to the group’s surname list and access to the group’s German genealogy guidebook.
The Italian Genealogical Group has hybrid meetings at the Bethpage Public Library the second Saturday of the month from September through June. There is no charge to attend the meetings. Membership is $25/ year if you receive the newsletter via email. Membership benefits include the monthly newsletter and being able to borrow from the lending library that is accessible during meetings. Members also are invited to special events during the year.
In the library databases, German and Italian records are available on Ancestry.com Library edition. The German collection has vital records, military records, maps and directories. The Italian collection is small, focusing on vital records and some maps.
MyHeritage.com Library Edition has more records than Ancestry.com for Germany and Italy and can be used from home. For Germany, there are extensive collections of birth, marriage and death records going back to the late 1500s. You can also find church records from Pomerania, West Prussia and Baden.
Italian records include birth, marriage and death collections starting in the early 1800s and going up to 1900. You can also find some civil registration records and some emigration records.
The free website FamilySearch.org also has collections for Germany and Italy. For Germany the largest collections are: German Lutheran vital records; Prussia – Posen – Lutheran and Catholic church records; Prussia – West Prussia – Lutheran and Catholic church records; and Baden Catholic church records.
For Italy, there are civil registration records for many cities across Italy. There are also Catholic church records for many cities including: Catania, Florence, Torino, Trento and Vercelli.
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For upcoming local genealogy programs, check out the Monthly Program Calendar for the Genealogy Federation of Long Island. You can find it at https://gfli.net/events/ or pick up a copy at the Adult Services Desk at the library.