10 New Tools for Pennsylvania Research
Kory L. Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA
Content
About this webinar
As genealogical interest continues to grow, new sources become available, new tools are published and new approaches are developed. Successful research demands keeping up to date, especially for a state as diverse and complex as Pennsylvania. From colonial times to 20th century, both online and print only, these new tools can supercharge your stagnant Pennsylvania research problems!
About the speaker
Key points and insights
Pennsylvania’s historic significance and dense population make it a cornerstone of American family history, yet navigating its vast paper trail can be daunting. In this session, professional genealogist Kory Meyerink introduces ten powerful, recent resources—focusing on releases and updates from 2022 onward—designed to break through research brick walls. Whether tracing early colonial pioneers or 20th-century urban residents, these tools offer fresh strategies for locating elusive records and understanding local context.
- Enhanced Access to Periodical Literature: The Periodical Source Index (PERSI) from the Allen County Public Library now features direct online links to digitized articles, transforming how researchers access over 120,000 Pennsylvania-specific genealogical entries without needing physical archive requests.
- Specialized Historical and Church Records: Major new database releases include Ancestry’s collection of over 300,000 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America records for eastern Pennsylvania, along with new volumes of German Immigrants in American Church Records, which translate and index thousands of early German settlers.
- AI-Powered Full-Text Discovery: FamilySearch’s full-text search capability allows researchers to perform deep, AI-driven queries across unindexed, handwritten records, offering a revolutionary way to discover ancestors hidden within complex land, probate, and court documents using specific search parameters and call numbers.
To fully leverage these strategies and discover all ten highlighted resources, consider viewing the complete webinar recording. Doing so provides step-by-step demonstrations, search techniques, and visual examples that will enhance your research efficiency. Genealogists are also invited to explore the comprehensive syllabus, which contains valuable direct links, detailed bibliographies, and essential reference notes to guide your next breakthroughs in Pennsylvania family history.
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Comments (53)
I learned of some new (to me) resources for Ohio research and will be researching them this afternoon. Thank you!
Enjoyed the presentation and appreciate all the great references provided.
Useful overview
Very good. I wish I had had some speciic information 30 years ago when I was activally researching my husband's German immigrant ancestors who arrived about 1830. Thank you Mr. Meyerink for all of your work. Clara Lawver in NE
Very helpful for sure. Thank you.
Loved the wide range of websites and that he explained why they were chosen.
I'm somewhere between a beginner and expert genealogist, and grateful that each resource was new to me. Can't wait to dig in.
Always interesting and useful when we are introduced to new websites and places to research. Thank you.