Rhode Island Archives and Libraries

The following archives, libraries, and societies have collections or services helpful to researchers of Rhode Island families:

Rhode Island State Archives 337 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903-3302 Telephone: 401-277-2353 Fax: 401-277-3199 Internet: http://www.sec.state.ri.us/Archives

National Archives—New England Region 380 Trapelo Road Waltham, MA 02452-6399 Telephone: 781-663-0130 Fax: 781-663-0154 Internet: http://www.archives.gov/northeast/boston/

Rhode Island Historical Society 121 Hope Street Providence, RI 02906 Telephone: 401-331-8575 Fax: 401-351-0127 Internet: http://www.rihs.org/

Rhode Island Genealogical Society P.O. Box 433 Greenville, RI 02828 Internet: http://www.rigensoc.org/

New England Historic Genealogical Society 101 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116-3007 Telephone: 617-536-5740 Fax: 617-536-7307 Internet: http://www.newenglandancestors.org/

American-French Genealogical Society 78 Earle Street Woonsocket, RI 02895 Telephone: 401-765-6141 Fax: 401-765-6141 P.O. Box 2010 Internet: http://www.afgs.org/

An important inventory of manuscript records of the state, county, and town archives is Clarence S. Brigham, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the Year 1903, Volume 1 (Washington, D.C.: American Historical Association, 1904; Family History Library book 973 C4ah; film 896553 item 2).

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards
Computers with modems can be useful tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. In a way, computer networks themselves serve as a library. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial on-line services help family history researchers:


 * Locate other researchers
 * Post queries
 * Send and receive E-mail
 * Search large databases
 * Search computer libraries
 * Join in computer chat and lecture sessions

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from Rhode Island in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost.

Addresses on the Internet change frequently. As of April 1997, the following sites are important gateways linking you to many more network and bulletin board sites:

USGenWeb
http://www.usgenweb.com/

A cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

Roots-L
http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa/

A useful list of sites and resources. Includes a large, regularly-updated research coordination list.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the United States Research Outline (30972), 2nd ed., "Archives and Libraries" section.

FamilySearch™
www.familysearch.org

The Family History Library and some Family History Centers have computers with FamilySearch™. FamilySearch is a collection of computer files containing several million names. FamilySearch is a good place to begin your research. Some of the records come from compiled sources; some have been automated from original sources.