Campaign group publishes free New York State birth index online
American campaign group Reclaim the Records has obtained the 1881–1942 New York State birth index through a Freedom of Information request.
Digitised images of the records are available via the Internet Archive on bit.ly/NYbirth.
The index, which is currently browse only, lists each baby’s surname, first name (or in some cases just their gender), date and place of birth, and birth certificate number, which can be used to order a copy of the original record. It does not include births from New York City, which is a separate vitalrecords jurisdiction. However, a small number of New York City birth records are available if the births happened in towns that were independent before the consolidation of the city in 1898, or if they were registered late. The records also exclude Albany, Buffalo, and Yonkers before about 1914/1915.
The group will continue to request new birth records, which become publicly available after 75 years, every January, and also plans to request the New York State marriage index.