Coming Out Of The Dark...puerto Rican Genealogy

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What is in the National Archives Catalog?

The National Archives Catalog vs. Online Genealogy Databases

  • The Catalog is keyword searchable like many genealogy databases.
  • You can narrow searches with filters.
  • The Catalog allows you to search for records in all NARA facilities – not just selected databases.
  • The current focus is on breadth of NARA's holdings (at the series level) and not individual records.
  • Most Catalog descriptions do not include individual names.

Upon landing, the electricity was out in the airport. At the baggage claim we bumped into a friend from home and wished each other well on the adventure into the unknown. The sides of the road were littered with scattered debris: palm fronds in piles, trunks precariously horizontal against two stumps on the side of a mountain, wires dangling in. In order to research your family in Puerto Rico, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. You must know the city, town, or parish that they came from. A few records are indexed, but many records will require going directly to photocopied local records, which are only available by town name. It will be difficult to identify the place of origin by going directly. Puerto Rico is a large Caribbean island of roughly 3,500 square miles located in the West Indies. It’s the easternmost island of the Greater Antilles chain.

The National Archives holds historical U.S. government documents (federal, congressional, and presidential records) that are created or received by the President and his staff, by Congress, by employees of Federal government agencies, and by the Federal courts in the course of their official duties.

The National Archives Catalog contains descriptions for NARA's nationwide holdings in the Washington, DC area; regional facilities; and Presidential Libraries. The Catalog is a work in progress and currently contains descriptions for 95% of our records, described at the series level. This means you can find basic information about the records, including size and location, from the description. Additionally, every week we are adding more file unit and item descriptions, many of which include digital files.

Typically descriptions in the Catalog do not include individuals' names; however, the National Archives still might have records about your ancestors. It may be necessary to closely read records of interest to see if a particular individual is mentioned.

The Catalog contains many descriptions of records that are of interest to genealogists and family historians, including:

  • Applications for enrollment in Native American tribes
  • Court records
  • Fugitive slave cases
  • Land records
  • Military personnel records
  • Naturalization records
  • Federal employees

How Do I Search in the National Archives Catalog?

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The Catalog contains descriptions of records held by the National Archives. Researchers can conduct keyword searches and filtered searched in the Catalog.

To perform a simple keyword search:

  1. Go to https://catalog.archives.gov
  2. Enter some keywords of your choice in the search box in the center of the page. If you are looking for an exact phrase using two or more words, put them in quotation marks example: “bounty land”
  3. Press the magnifying glass button to run your search.
  4. When hits are returned for your search, the results will be returned starting with best results at the top. Use the filters on the left side to narrow down your results.
    • Tips for Using Filters
      • Are you looking only for a photograph? Select Photographs and Other Graphic Materials
      • Many of our descriptions do not include digital images of the records, click on the filter Archival Descriptions with Digital Objects to see only descriptions with images attached
  5. To view a description, click on the blue title. View our video Anatomy of a Description to learn about the features of a description.

Tips for Searching for an Individual's Name

There isn't a specific field for names in the Catalog; as a result you many need to try several different searches using different strategies when searching for a name.

  • Search on the person's full name in first name-last name order.
  • Search on the surname only. The records might only include a first initial or a variant spelling of the first name.
  • Search on variant spellings of the surname using OR, for example: Luchetti OR Lucetti.
  • Search on variant spellings of the first name, including 'Americanized' versions, for example: Joseph Maggio OR Guiseppe Maggio.
  • Keep in mind that most descriptions in the National Archives Catalog do not include the names of individuals in that record. However, the National Archives still might have records about your ancestors. If you know an individual participated in event, search for that search term and look within the records for your ancestor.

Naturalization Record for Morres Dick, National Archives Identifier 7551610

Tips for Searching by Topics

One of the best ways to identify records of genealogical interest in the National Archives Catalog is by topic. If you find a description without digital images attached in the National Archives Catalog, that may contain records about your ancestor, contact the staff in that unit. The contact information appears in the Contact(s) section at the bottom of the description.

Suggested Keywords

In these examples, we use quotations in Catalog searches around multiple words, phrases or words that we want to appear exactly as we have written them. For more in depth information on how to search the Catalog visit National Archives Catalog Search Tips.

TopicsSuggested Keywords
African Americans
  • “Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands”
  • Slave
  • Slavery
Court Records
  • “Admiralty case”
  • “Bankruptcy case”
  • “Civil case”
  • “Civil War prize”
  • “Criminal case”
  • “Equity case”
  • “Law case”
Immigration
  • Alien
  • Chinese AND immigration
  • Immigration
  • Manifests
  • Naturalization
  • “Passenger lists”
Japanese Americans
  • Japanese AND immigration
  • “War Relocation Authority”
Land
  • “Bounty land”
  • Homestead
  • “Land entry”
Military
  • “Bounty land”
  • “Draft registration”
  • Pension
  • “Selective Service”
  • Service records AND [name of war, ex: Civil War]
  • Veteran
Native Americans
  • [name of tribe, ex: Cherokee]AND “census card”
  • “Indian allotments”
  • “Indian funds”
  • “Indian school”

Follow the Clues!

The family history research you already compiled could contain valuable clues. Use these clues to identify National Archives records that would be useful to your research and go beyond the most common genealogical sources.

Three examples:

Clue: A significant decrease in income appears when you compare your ancestor's net worth between the 1860 Census and 1870 Census.
Records Worth Checking: Bankruptcy court records might contain a file on your ancestor. The Bankruptcy Act of 1867 allowed greater numbers of people to file for voluntary bankruptcy. Search in the National Archives Catalog for bankruptcy AND [state where you ancestor lived at the time].

Clue: You find a passenger list with your ancestor's name on it, and there is a Board of Special Inquiry stamp.
Records Worth Checking: The records of an Immigration and Naturalization Service inquiry might exist for your ancestor. Records related to deportation are also a possibility. Search in the National Archives Catalog for immigration AND 'special inquiry'.

Clue: Your ancestor was tried for a crime.
Records Worth Checking: A criminal case file might exist for the U.S. District Court in the state where your ancestor committed the crime. If your ancestor served a sentence in a Federal prison, there might be an inmate case file in the records of that Federal prison. Search in the National Archives Catalog for 'criminal case' OR inmate.

Hot Topics

Many genealogists and researchers may find these detailed search pages helpful

  • Resources for Genealogists https://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy
  • Census Records https://www.archives.gov/research/census
  • Deck Logs https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online
  • Dawes Rolls https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/dawes/tutorial/intro.html
  • Land Records https://www.archives.gov/research/land
  • Military Service Records https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records#toc-instructions
  • Office of Strategic Services (OSS) https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/oss
  • Alien Files (A-Files) https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/aliens/a-files-kansas-city.html
  • Naturalization https://www.archives.gov/research/naturalization/naturalization.html
  • Microfilm Publications and Original Records Digitized by Our Digitization Partners https://www.archives.gov/digitization/digitized-by-partners
  • Record Reproductions and Microfilm https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/

Frequently Asked Questions

The National Archives has billions of records and that number grows larger every year. We are carefully and systematically digitizing our records to include in the National Archives Catalog. Tens of millions are already available in the Catalog. Luckily more and more records are arriving from government agencies already in a digital format, which helps to accelerate their ingest into the Catalog.

In general naturalization records are not available online. They are held in our regional archives. Contact the reference staff that holds the records of the state where the citizen lived when naturalized.

When requesting a search, please provide the full name of the person and, if known, their date of birth, the city/state they were living at the time of naturalization, date they naturalized, and spouse's name, if they had one. All of this information helps to narrow the search and to confirm the correct record has been found. Once the record is located, the staff will provide you with information about the record and instructions on ordering copies.

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee

The National Archives at Atlanta
5780 Jonesboro Road
Morrow, Georgia 30260

Phone: 770-968-2100
Fax: 770-968-2547
Email: atlanta.archives@nara.gov

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

The National Archives at Boston
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, Massachusetts 02452-6399

Toll Free Telephone: (866) 406-2379
Telephone: (781) 663-0144
Fax: (781) 663-0154
Email: boston.archives@nara.gov

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin

The National Archives at Chicago
7358 South Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL 60629-5898

Email: chicago.archives@nara.gov

Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota (after 1972), South Dakota (after 1972), Utah, Wyoming

The National Archives at Denver
17101 Huron Street, Broomfield, CO 80023
303-604-4740

Email: denver.archives@nara.gov

Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas

The National Archives at Fort Worth
1400 John Burgess Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76140

Email: ftworth.archives@nara.gov

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota (before 1972), and South Dakota (before 1972)

The National Archives at Kansas City
400 West Pershing Road
Kansas City, MO 64108

Phone: 816-268-8000
Email: kansascity.archives@nara.gov

New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

The National Archives at New York City
One Bowling Green, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10004

Toll-free: 1-866-840-1752 or 212-401-1620
Fax: 212-401-1638
Email: newyork.archives@nara.gov

Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia

The National Archives at Philadelphia
14700 Townsend Road
Philadelphia, PA 19154-1096

Telephone: 215-305-2044
Fax: 215-305-2038
Email: philadelphia.archives@nara.gov

Southern California, Arizona and Clark County, Nevada

National Archives at Riverside
23123 Cajalco Road
Perris, CA 92570-7298

Coming out of the dark..puerto rican genealogy sites

Telephone:(951) 956-2000
Fax: (951) 956-2049
Email: riverside.archives@nara.gov

Coming out of the dark..puerto rican genealogy ancestry

California (northern and central), Nevada (except Clark County), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands i.e. Marshall, Caroline, and Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Navy bases on foreign territory in the Pacific and Far East

The National Archives at San Francisco
Leo J. Ryan Memorial Federal Building
1000 Commodore Drive
San Bruno, California 94066-2350

Phone: (650) 238-3501
Email: sanbruno.archives@nara.gov

Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington

National Archives at Seattle
6125 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, Washington 98115-7999

Email: seattle.archives@nara.gov

Coming Out Of The Dark..puerto Rican Genealogy Sites

Let’s go back 520 years ago to the year 1494 on the island of Vieques, off the southeast coast of Puerto Rico’s mainland.

Coming Out Of The Dark..puerto Rican Genealogy Ancestry

Tainos, the largest indigenous Caribbean population, were living a life based on the cultivation of root crops and fishing when upon the shores arrived Columbus and his fleet, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the second time in as many years. At that point in time everything changed.

Coming Out Of The Dark..puerto Rican Genealogy Site

What’s written on paper has told us much about what happened next. What’s written in the DNA of today’s Puerto Ricans can tell us some more.

(Photo by B. Anthony Stewart/National Geographic Creative)

National Geographic’s Genographic Project researches locations where different groups historically intermixed to create a modern day melting pot. Collaborating with 326 individuals from southeastern Puerto Rico and Vieques, the Genographic Project conducted the first genetic testing in the area with the goal to gain more information about their ancient past and learn how their DNA fits into the human family tree. The results, just published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, paint a picture of vast historic complexity dating back some 5,000 years, to the first Caribbean peoples.

Our Genographic team learned some key pieces of information that helped us gain more insight into the peopling of the Caribbean. Most surprisingly, we found that roughly 60% of Puerto Ricans carry maternal lineages of Native American origin. Native American ancestry, higher than nearly any other Caribbean island, originated from groups migrating to Puerto Rico from both South and Central America. Analysis of the Y Chromosome DNA found that no Puerto Rican men (0%) carried indigenous paternal lineages, while more than 80% were West Eurasian (or European).

This leads us to conclude that the Y chromosomes (inherited strictly paternally) of Tainos were completely lost in Puerto Rico, whereas the mitochondrial DNA (inherited strictly maternally) survived long and well. This stark difference has been seen in other former colonies (Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica), but the gender dichotomy appears strongest in the Spanish-speaking Americas. A look into the rest of the Puerto Rican genome using the Genographic Project’s custom genotyping tool, the GenoChip, sheds some light on what may have happened during Spanish colonial times to create this ancestral imbalance.

The average Puerto Rican individual carries 12% Native American, 65% West Eurasian (Mediterranean, Northern European and/or Middle Eastern) and 20% Sub-Saharan African DNA. To help explain these frequencies in light of the maternal and paternal differences, I used basic math and inferred that it would take at least three distinct migrations of hundreds of European men each (and practically no European women) to Puerto Rico, followed by intermixing with indigenous women. It also would necessitate the complete decimation of indigenous men (but not women), to account for those numbers. These results are surprising and also shed light into a dark colonial past that, until now, had remained somewhat unclear.

Coming Out Of The Dark..puerto Rican Genealogy Society

These types of analyses, not just across the Caribbean or the world, but across a specific population’s DNA, can have strong historical implications and at the same time help paint a new picture of world history. Learn more about how DNA can inform you about your own personal past, and help us uncover some new secrets of world history by joining The Genographic Project.