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Historical Society Of Pennsylvania Partners With Major Genealogy Website

By John Ostapkovich

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Researching genealogy is a growing hobby and a Philadelphia organization will be right in the thick of things.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, holding 7.5 million records dating back centuries, is partnering with Ancestry.com.

Society President and CEO Kim Sajet says Pennsylvania and Philadelphia were major gateways for western migration, so it's not just city residents, but one-in-five Americans who can trace their roots back here, and maybe to those very files.

"We have all things like newspapers. We have other types of vital records, church and cemetery records. We have images and documents, maps, so of course it's a fairly short step to be looking for your family history to then start looking at street plans and directories and images and photographs."

Sajet says the alliance with Ancestry.com provides well-respected Internet access. The two groups will host HSP Ancestry day this coming Saturday at the Convention Center.

For more information, go to: HSP.org.

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