Plan Now For Future Genealogy Research

I really like when the large records sites like Ancestry announce their upcoming projects because it gives us a chance to do a little advance planning for our genealogy research.

Here's a list of record collections that Ancestry recently announced will be coming soon:

WWII Draft Registration Cards
Expected Launch: Just launched
Est. Name Count: 450k
Est. Image Count: 2m
Description: Adding draft cards for the state of Illinois. This is more of the Fourth Registration or "Old Man's Draft."

Alabama State Census, 1820, 1850, 1855, 1866
Expected Launch: Just launched
Est. Name Count: 1.8m
Est. Image Count: 61k
Description: This is a World Archives Project. Four census years, three before the Civil War, one just after.

1890 Census Improved
Expected Launch: Next week (end of May)
Est. Name Count: 6,000
Est. Image Count: 2,400
Description: First in series of monthly census updates. By the end of the year we will have 1790 to 1900 updated.

Addition of over 50 cities added to the U.S. Historical Newspapers Collection
Expected Launch: Next week (end of May)
Est. Name Count: 100’s of Millions
Est. Image Count: Over 5 Million
Description: Papers from over 50 new cities will be added. The full-text index and Advanced Image Viewer deliver highlighted search hits on every page.

Multiple Canadian Census Years
Expected Launch: June
Description: If you have Canadian roots you are going to love June.

Early City Directories
Expected Launch: June
Est. Name Count: 10 million
Est. Image Count: 280,000
Description: A large collection of city directories many before the 1850’s. This is a great historic collection that can complement and in many cases actually augment your census research.

Fun School Yearbooks
Expected Launch: June
Est. Name Count: 2 million
Est. Image Count: 266,000
Description: A large addition to our school yearbooks collection. Finding an ancestor in these books not only reveals fun pictures, they also often tell a story about their life, their times and their friends.

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