Unlocking Our History: The Triumphs of Reclaim the Records

Sometimes, we hit the proverbial brick wall. Especially for those of use who primarily research online, it's the point where records seem to evaporate. Maybe it's a record for an ancestor from long ago. Or maybe it's for someone closer in time. The reasons we're looking for various records are numerous and sometimes very personal. We may begin to question if these records ever existed at all. Some may have been lost to time...others destroyed. But there are also genealogical gold mines, archives we simply aren't allowed to access and many of us may not even know they exist. Despite being called public, some are anything but.

Enter Reclaim the Records, a non-profit organization with the mission of making historical and genealogical records accessible to the public. As an advocacy group, they fight for transparency and access to records using Freedom of Information requests, and lawsuits if it becomes necessary. Once "reclaimed", they make the records they obtain freely available to all. 

Their approach is nothing short of inspired legal wrangling. By studying the laws surrounding specific record sets in a given area, they utilize legal maneuvers to demonstrate the public's right to access governmental records. Reclaim the Records has successfully liberated many millions of documents. These range from birth, death, marriage and naturalizations records to other genealogically important archives. They've targeted additional new record sets on their "to-do" list, not only in the categories above, but divorce, educational, probate, military and more.

Recently, in my home state of Maryland, they freed the Maryland Motherlode. This massive record set is estimated at over 5 million records and includes birth, death, marriage and naturalizations. The collection includes indexes as well as images. In this case, they researched the law and were successful with a Freedom of Information request. They did not have to sue the state. If you're interested in viewing the Maryland archives Reclaim the Records has made available for free, they can be viewed here.

The positive impact of Reclaim the Records can be felt by all genealogists and family historians. Even if you've not had a reason to visit the records they've made available, their work underscores the importance of unlocking public records. They continue to remind us these documents belong to the public, not locked away in some vault or storage area. They should be shared, explored and preserved for future generations of researchers. I encourage you to visit Reclaim the Records. Read about their latest successes. Sign up for their newsletter. As a non-profit run by volunteers, donor support helps ensure they can continue to fight for records. If you want to support the cause, you can donate on their site.

As genealogists, the work of Reclaim the Records offers us invaluable resources on our journey piecing together our family histories and stories. For those of us who've faced the frustration of "brick walls" in our research, Reclaim the Records demonstrates how determination can bring about positive and productive change. Their efforts remind us with the right research and approach, the records of the past are often within reach. It's a lesson we can apply to many of our brick walls. With patience, a well designed plan and perseverance...it can sometimes be possible to break down brick walls, bringing records we need into the light. 

Image by Mariann Szőke from Pixabay