SCGS Electronic Databases to GRO

SCGS is proud to announce an exciting new program to expand the genealogical information available to its members and to researchers in future generations. The Genealogical Resources Online (GRO) program, an outgrowth of the 1890 Project, is a long-term, ambitious project to compile and publish Los Angeles County genealogical materials in electronic (computer database) format.

“It’s time to move forward to pull together as much information as possible, to ensure that data will be accessible for future researchers,” explained Louise Calaway, SCGS Board member and GRO team leader. “Access to many of our public records is threatened due to privacy issues, and it is our charge to protect the availability of sources for family research for generations to come.”

“As we identified information sources for the 1890 Project, we found excellent genealogical treasures that we couldn’t use. They did not fit the time period 1889-1891, which is the focus of the project to reconstruct the Los Angeles County 1890 US Census,” Calaway continued. “The records are just too valuable to disregard, and so we found a way to make them accessible to researchers. SCGS is in a perfect position to take the lead on compiling these records and offering them to genealogists.”

The database will be built over the coming years and will include several types of records, including:

• 1884 Great Register of Voters - Los Angeles County
• 1890 Great Register of Voters - Los Angeles County
• 1892 Great Register of Voters - Los Angeles County
• 1896 Great Register of Voters - Sierra Madre
• 1923 Los Angeles County Pioneer Society Membership Directory
• 1917 Pasadena Blue Book
• 1893 Pasadena City Directory
• 1890 Los Angeles City Directory
• Directory of Pasadena’s John F. Godfrey Post, No. 93, Grand Army of the Republic, 1893
• 1899 Catholic Directory
• Immanuel Presbyterian Church Records
• 1st Pasadena Methodist Church Records
• Hollywood, California, Congregational Church February 1925
• Los Angeles County Marriage Records 1852 to 1896
• Los Angeles County Death Records 1873 to 1899
• Los Angeles City Death Records 1877 to 1899
• Los Angeles County Burial Permits 1870 to 1982
• Naturalization records, including Declarations of Intent and Naturalizations
• Index, Naturalization Records, LA Superior Court - starting 1852
• Index, Naturalization Records, US District Court, Central Division - starting 1887
• Declarations of Intent
• Avalon Cemetery, Catalina Island
• Los Angeles County cemetery listings for nearly 50 cemeteries
• Los Angeles City / Fort Hill Cemetery
• Book and publication indices for SCGS Library materials
• 1890 Monrovia Tax assessments
• Los Angeles Building Permits 1889
• Patients of Dr. Schiffman, The Painless Dentist
• 1890 Project data

…and many more as resources are identified

“The success of this project is directly dependent on the volunteer force powering the effort. The indexing and data entry can be done literally anywhere in the world, wherever we have an SCGS member willing to transcribe records, do data entry, or proofread documents. The more help we have with the project, the more quickly we will be able to get the data in the hands of researchers,” Calaway concluded.

The project will greatly expand the capabilities of the Research Team and will provide an invaluable service to our members and to the genealogical community in general.

We will keep you posted on the progress of the GRO database. If you would like to be part of the GRO team, please contact the SCGS by email (phinkel@scgsgenealogy.com) or postal mail. We need you!