The following is from MarketWatch:
New Services Will Help Mexicans and More Than 34 Million Mexican Americans Explore Their Family History
PROVO, UT AND DUBLIN, IRELAND, Oct 28, 2015 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — Ancestry, the world’s leading family history brand, today announced the launch of new online services that will help Mexicans and the estimated 34 million Mexican Americans* research their family history. More than 220 million searchable historical records from Mexico, including new birth, marriage, and death records dating back to the 1500s are now available on the Ancestry site, many of them important historical records never before available online. In another first, the new Ancestry Mexico site (ancestry.com.mx) will provide a Spanish language experience tailored specifically to Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
With such a culturally diverse population, nearly every citizen in the United States has ancestral connections to regions outside of America. Ancestry has been working hard over the past few years to help people of Hispanic and Latino origins discover, preserve and share their family history by making important collections from Mexico searchable online to get them started. These new records launching today were made available in part through Ancestry’s collaboration with the Mexican Academy of Genealogy and Heraldry based in Mexico City, Mexico, who originally created microfilm of these records with the assistance of FamilySearch International. These records will help Mexican Americans build and explore their family tree and unveil key events, places, and relationships in the lives of their ancestors, including the names of family and friends involved as witnesses or godparents.
“The new service really unlocks for the first time online, family history research for Mexicans and Mexican Americans, whether you prefer to speak English or Spanish,” said Todd Godfrey, Vice President of Global Content at Ancestry. “It is fulfilling a huge need for a large and growing population group in the United States by helping them find their own unique stories and place in American and Mexican history.”
The people of Mexico have a diverse culture that comes from a variety of regions, including the indigenous peoples of Central and South America, and early immigration from Europe. With a deep sense of pride in this rich heritage, they are passionate about family and have been celebrating their ancestors for hundreds of years.
“Mexican Americans have honored their ancestral traditions, but have been largely unable to discover online who those people were and learn more about their lives. Ancestry is now opening that door and helping them not just celebrate their ancestors, but be able to tell their stories and connect on a more personal level than ever before,” said Godfrey. “We believe there couldn’t be a better time to make these new discoveries available than during Dia de los Muertos, a time of year when celebrating the lives of those who came before is most special.”
The Ancestry Mexico site is designed to meet the unique needs of people in Mexico, as well as Mexican-Americans with plans to enhance the service early next year. After the FREE access period ends, Ancestry Mexico will be available through two subscription packages: the Mexico + US Package ($10-$12 USD per month), which will include access to all Mexican records plus US records relevant to Mexican Americans including census, immigration, border crossings, BMDs, and relevant regional records, or as part of Ancestry’s World Explorer package. All records from Mexico are also being made available as part of the World Subscription on the Ancestry.com website.
* Census Bureau data by Pew Research Center
Click here to go directly to the Mexico Civil Registrations of Death at Ancestry.com.
