About the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide leadership and support in promoting genealogy through education, preservation, and access to Pennsylvania-related genealogical information.

Founded in 1892 as a non-profit organization, the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (GSP) was among the first in the United States to recognize the value of collecting and preserving the vital and personal records of those ancestors whose lives now comprise our American History. GSP is committed to preserving and publishing heretofore unpublished primary sources. The continuing dedication to this service enables the Society to make an increasingly significant contribution to the cultural life of our city, state, and indeed the whole country.

Concentrating primarily in Pennsylvania and its adjoining states, but also including immigration into and out of Pennsylvania, the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania has research materials available to members through the Genealogical Collection at the Historic Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), accumulated by GSP and HSP and maintained in HSP's Library. Included are wills, census and tax lists, church registers, funeral, cemetery, and family Bible records, family papers and correspondence, as well as published genealogies, town and county histories, and periodicals. Comprehensive card catalogs in HSP's library at 1300 Locust Street provides an index by surname or locale for most of the collections. GSP members have the option of purchasing HSP library visits at an attractive price so that they can explore these materials.

A loyal corps of volunteers are collating and indexing church, cemetery, and other records, and are extracting genealogically important items from the Public Ledger (Philadelphia) 1834 - 1870.The volumes resulting from this work are placed in the collections and distributed to other research institutions.

Each year, the Society conducts conferences, alone or in conjunction with other societies, offering lectures for all levels of research. Lectures and/or field trips conducted by outstanding genealogists are sponsored by the Program Committee.

The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Partnership program
The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania has begun a Partnership program with other organizations with a genealogical constituency. At present, groups ranging from lineage societies (Society of Colonial Wars in Pennsylvania), to genealogical groups (Old York Road Genealogical Society), to college archives (Penn's University Archives) have become GSP Partners. Learn more about the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Partnership Program.

GSP Services and Holdings Include:

  • Philadelphia City Directories from 1841 through 1854, and 1862 through 1930, with a few scattered years missing.
  • Review books (many published genealogies) and accessions received by the GSP since 1994.
  • Published and manuscript family histories.
  • Hereditary and patriotic society information and lineage papers.
  • Pennsylvania church, cemetery, and undertaker records. Over 800 microfilm reels.
  • Land records for various Pennsylvania counties.
  • Griffith's Valuation householders index. Irish tax records, including the only full copy of Griffith's Valuation itself in the Philadelphia area.
  • Marriage and death indexes to many Philadelphia newspapers.
  • Bible records.
  • Philadelphia Orphan's Court Records, 1719-1851 and 1854-1856. Microfilm of originals.
  • The published Pennsylvania Archives.
  • Germans to America, vols. 1-56.
  • Bates' History of Pennsylvania Volunteers.  Civil war personnel from Pennsylvania.
  • Numerous CD-ROMs and the computers to view them.
  • Special collections such as the Richardson, Engle, Minter, Kephart, Rubincam, Stout, Dunkerly, Hocker, Gerberich, and Ely Collections.
GSP's Library and Collections have been moved to the repositories of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107.  GSP's Library and Collections are being integrated into those of HSP and may be accessed through HSP during its Library Hours of Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 - 5:30; Wednesday from 12:30 - 8:30; and Friday from 10:00 - 5:30.

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