Free genealogy resource
Italian-American Family History Starter Kit
A simple first afternoon of research, organized into four steps you can actually finish.
Your first research session
Start with what your family already knows. The goal is not to solve your entire family tree today; it is to leave the session with one likely ancestor, one likely place, and a short list of records to verify.
- 1
Interview the oldest living relatives and record names, places, dates, stories, and pronunciations.
- 2
Build a working timeline from U.S. birth, marriage, death, census, obituary, and church records.
- 3
Use passenger records to identify the immigrant’s last residence, not just the country of origin.
- 4
Find the Italian comune, then request or locate civil and parish records with the spelling variants you found.
Research note
Treat family stories as leads, not proof. Preserve the original spelling while also recording every version you find in U.S. and Italian records.
Continue from here
Turn a surname into a place
Our surname guide explains the naming patterns and regional clues that can help you choose the next record set to search.
Read the Italian last names guidePreserve one family story
The names and questions in your research log can become a short story to keep in your family. Start with one person, a photograph, or a conversation. If you later want to share a finished story with the Institute, you can submit it for editorial consideration.
This resource is educational and does not replace advice from archives, registrars, or qualified legal professionals.