Stay current with genealogy news, fresh articles, podcasts and updates in our monthly Family Tree roundup.
Catch up on the news
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
April 2026
Spring has officially sprung, and along with the flowers comes a batch of articles to help you with your family history research plus updates from the ever-growing world of genealogy. This month, we released new articles covering everything from the 1926 Census of Ireland to organizing and managing your digital photos, sharpening your search strategies on genealogy websites, and much more. Make sure to check out the full list of new and updated articles below, as well as our two new podcast episodes.
If you missed these articles and want the latest expert tips, advice and research discoveries delivered to your inbox, sign up for our daily or weekly e-newsletter.
Check out this month’s news headlines:
The National Archives of Ireland releases the 1926 census of Ireland and records over 20 million hits on its website on the first weekend of its release. Read more:
- “Census 1926: National Archives records 20 million hits on first weekend of release” by Niamh Browne, Irish Times
Newspaper Finder, a new tool for locating historical newspapers across online databases, makes a huge splash following its soft launch at RootsTech 2026. Read more:
- “Official Launch,” Newspaper Finder
- “Checking Out Newspaper Finder” by Marian B. Wood, Climbing My Family Tree
- “Newspaper Finder: The Free Tool Every Genealogist Needs to Find Historical Newspaper Archives Online” by Thomas MacEntee, Genealogy Bargains
GEDminer launches as new, free-to-use tool that helps analyze GEDCOM files and has over 12 genealogy analysis and research tools. Read more:
- “How to Analyze GEDCOM Files Efficiently with GEDminer” by Doris Kenney, A Tree With No Name
- “This Free, Elegant GEDCOM Analyzer Is a Wonder” by DiAnn Iamarino Ohama, Family Tree Advice
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) launches a new website on April 30 that offers clearer navigation to explore their collections. Read more:
- “New Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) website to go live on April 30th” by Chris Paton, Scottish Genes
The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) launches a new podcast, BCG in Brief, to discuss the process of earning the Certified Genealogist credential and share best practices in standards, methodology and ethics in genealogy.
RootsMagic rolls out new updates to RootsMagic 11, including a pretty important one: it now uses Ancestry.com’s new API so users can keep syncing their trees. The old API is being shut off May 4, which means users of any versions of RootsMagic before version 11.1.0 will use the ability to connect with Ancestry.
MyHeritage adds Scribe AI to the MyHeritage mobile app.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) passes the milestone of 500 million digitized pages in the NARA Catalog. Notable recent additions include over 850,000 records from the Veterans Administration Master Index, 2,000+ census enumeration district and related maps (including ones from the 1960 census), over 281,000 objects in the War of 1812 pension and bounty land warrant application files, and 70,000+ files in “World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. January 1, 1942–ca. June 1, 1946.”
The City of Philadelphia announces its partnership with Ancestry.com to digitize nearly 20 million historical records, including birth, death and marriage certificates, dating back to the late 1600s. Read more:
- “Philly’s deal with Ancestry could reshape access to public records” by Chelsea R. Cox, Technical.ly
- “Philadelphia finalizes new ancestry agreement allowing millions of Philadelphia historical records online” by Jensen Toussaint, Philadelphia.today (MSN)
On the newspaper front, Newspapers.com adds 238 new papers in April, including titles from 17 states, Canada, England and Poland. Veridian has added and updated over 370 titles. Also this month, The British Newspaper Archive surpassed 102 million digitized pages. Read more:
- “238 New Papers Added!” by Jenny Ashcraft, Fishwrap
- “Veridian Adds/Updates 374 Titles – April 2026” by Kenneth R. Marks, The Ancestor Hunt
- “British Newspaper Archive passes 102 million pages” by Chris Paton, Scottish Genes
The Internet Archive has made over 125,000 U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs digitized and freely accessible. They have also published a new book, Vanishing Culture: A Report on Our Fragile Cultural Record, that discusses the erosion in access to knowledge, media and history. Read more:
- “U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs: The Arguments That Shaped America, Now Freely Available” by Merrilee Proffitt, Internet Archive
- “Introducing Vanishing Culture: A New Book on the Loss of Our Digital Memory” by Chris Freeland, Internet Archive
The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society’s Digitize New York project reaches the milestone of one million scans.
New and updated articles in April
April podcasts
March 2026
As the March 2026 comes to a close, we’ve been excited to share some new, updated and highlighted articles to support your family history research. This month’s topics include a review of the MyHeritage’s new research tool Scribe AI, a recap of RootsTech 2026, a genealogy guide to Boston, and tips for researching ancestral scandals. Plus, don’t forget to check out our newest podcast!
Check out this month’s news headlines:
Many announcements were made at RootsTech at the beginning of this month. For a full recap of all the latest news from the annual conference, check out our recap here.
Ancestry.com fully releases the new AncestryAI tool. Read more at “Turning Family History Discoveries into Stories with AncestryAI” on Ancestry.com.
23andMe launches 144 new Genetic Groups across the Philippines and neighboring regions, as well as a new Genetics Learning Hub. Read more:
- “Beyond the Archipelago: Explore the Most Detailed Filipino Ancestry Breakdown with 23andMe” on 23andMe
- “Making Genetics More Accessible: Introducing the Genetics Learning Hub” by Anne Greb, M.S., CGC, 23andMe
FamilySearch announces a new partnership with the New York State Library and New York State Archives to digitize thousands of records. Read more at “FamilySearch and the Office of Cultural Education Collaborate to Expand Access to Genealogy Records” at FamilySearch.
The British Newspaper Archive surpasses 101 million pages. Read more at “British Newspaper Archive passes 101,000,000 pages with massive Irish newspaper upload” by Chris Paton at Scottish Genes.
After over a month of being down due to a ransomware attack, NewspaperArchive is back online and currently restoring several features.
New and updated articles in March
March podcasts
February 2026
As the February 2026 comes to a close, we’ve been excited to share some new, updated and highlighted articles to support your family history research. This month’s topics include a case study on identifying ancestral hometowns, resources for researching African American genealogy (just in time for Black History month), and much more. Make sure to check out the full list of new and updated articles below, as well as our two new podcast episodes.
If you missed these articles and want the latest expert tips, advice and research discoveries sent to your inbox, sign up for our daily or weekly e-newsletter.
Check out this month’s news headlines:
Library and Archives Canada is expected to experience a staff reduction despite receiving a largest-ever donation to preserve World War II records and completing a digitization project of 6 million Indian day school records. Read more:
- “Reading the Tea Leaves at LAC” by John Reid, Anglo Celtic Connections
- “Library and Archives Canada to cut 56 positions” by John Pringle, CTV News
- “Library and Archives Canada Foundation receives largest-ever donation to preserve and share WWII records” by Gail Dever, Genealogy à la carte
- “Library and Archives Canada wraps up digitization of 6 million Indian day school records” by Candace Maracle, CBC News
Roberta Estes reviews her MyHeritage whole genome sequencing results. Read more:
- “MyHeritage Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Results and Comparison” by Roberta Estes, DNAeXplained
FamilySearch launches a new generative AI tool that creates printable family tree designs. The site also launched its Relatives at RootsTech 2026 tools early this month. Additionally, FamilySearch Labs has also develops a new beta tool, “Simple Search,” that allows users to use plain language in the Full Text Search feature instead of filling out a form. Read more:
- “Create a free family keepsake” on FamilySearch
- “FamilySearch enters the world of generative AI” by James Tanner, Genealogy’s Star
- “Simple Search” on FamilySearch
- “Relatives at RootsTech 2026: Find Out Who You Are Related To!” by David Nielsen, FamilySearch
Ancestry.com releases a new AI-powered beta feature “Ideas” that generates guidance for genealogy research next steps, as well as a new Ancestry Stickies feature in the Notes field. The new features are currently being rolled out and not available to every subscriber. Read more:
- “Ancestry’s New Research Ideas: A First Look at AI-Powered Genealogy Guidance” by Diane Henriks, Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family
- “Ancestry ‘Ideas’ in Beta” by Marian B. Wood, Climbing My Family Tree
- “New Ancestry Sticky Notes Aren’t Small Screen Friendly” by Doris Kenney, A Tree with No Name
Advantage Archives makes 1,150 collections comprising over 140 million US newspaper pages available online, funded by the individual libraries, library systems, historical societies and preservation institutions that serve as repositories for these collections. Read more:
- “140 Million Historic U.S. Newspaper Pages Now Available from Advantage Archives” by Kenneth R. Marks, The Ancestor Hunt
Genetic Affairs releases an AutoKinship tool to work with FamilyTreeDNA’s autosomal Family Finder matches. Read more:
- “AutoKinship by Genetic Affairs Builds Family Trees from Your Matches at FamilyTreeDNA, and More” by Roberta Estes, DNAeXplained
Frequent Family Tree University instructor Shannon Combs Bennett launches a new website: T2 Family History.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio ends his tenure as acting head of the National Archives, tapping James Bryon, senior advisor to the archivist, to its leadership. Read more:
- “Marco Rubio out as acting head of National Archives” by Jory Heckman, Federal News Network
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court is considering a case to determine whether digitized historical records belong to the public or are owned by Ancestry.com in a case between the company and Alec Ferretti of Reclaim the Records. Read more:
- “Who Owns PA’s Digitized History? We’re A Step Closer To An Answer” by Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA, New Hope Free Press
New and updated articles in February
February Podcasts
January 2026
As the first month of 2026 comes to a close, we’ve been excited to share some new and highlighted articles to support your family history research this new year. This month’s topics included a 2026 genealogy research plan, insights into AncestryDNA Journeys, how to use voting records in genealogy research, and much more.
If you missed these articles and want the latest expert tips, advice and research discoveries sent to your inbox, sign up for our daily or weekly e-newsletter.
Plus, don’t miss our latest podcast episode, which is now also available as a video interview on YouTube.
Check out this month’s news headlines:
- MyHeritage expands to 50 languages with the addition of Albanian, Basque, Bosnian, Georgian, Icelandic, Irish, Luxembourgish, Maltese and Welsh.
- MyHeritage launches a new feature for MyHeritage DNA: Traits.
- ScotlandsPeople’s Annual Update adds 290,000 new records.
- American Ancestors launches a new website to mark America’s 250th anniversary.
- Newspapers.com adds 218 new titles to their collection.
- FamilySearch releases the schedule for RootsTech, taking place in March 2026.
- Reclaim the Records publishes their 2025 Year in Review.
New, updated and highlighted articles in January
January Podcasts
December 2025
As the month (and year) comes to a close, we’re excited to share some new and highlighted articles to support your family history research. This month’s topics include researching across the US-Canadian border and its history, why you should revisit DNA test results (even years later), and a guide to researching genealogy in “burned counties.”
If you missed these articles and want the latest expert tips, advice and research discoveries sent to your inbox, sign up for our daily or weekly e-newsletter.
Check out this month’s news headlines, too:
- The social media genealogy chat, #GenChat, hosted its last chat in mid-December.
- The National Genealogical Society releases the agenda for its May 2026 conference.
- Ancestry.com publishes a blog post clarifying its policy on users’ data and requests from law enforcement.
- Ancestry.com adds a searchable collection of all the digitized family history books on its platform from the US.
- MyHeritage’s OldNews hits 400 million pages, including a new expansion into South American (Argentina and Uruguay) newspaper titles.
- Ancestry.com expands on their beta tool, AI “Listen & Explore,” with the addition to “Listen to their story,” that generates audio narratives based on historical records.
- 23andMe posts a roundup of the company’s 2025 updates and products.
- FamilySearch releases a new AI Research Assistant and a new way to search the full-text collections with “Simple Search.”
New, updated and highlighted articles in December
December Podcasts
November 2025
As the month comes to a close, we’re excited to share even more new and updated articles to support your family history research. This month’s topics include tips for using plat maps and Dawes Rolls in your research, research guides for North Carolina and Idaho, and a guide to genealogy gifts for everyone on your list this holiday season. Plus, don’t miss the two new podcast episodes from this month.
If you missed these articles and want the latest expert tips, advice and research discoveries sent to your inbox, sign up for our daily or weekly e-newsletter.
Check out this month’s news headlines, too:
- FamilySearch announces the speakers for RootsTech 2026.
- The United Kingdom raises the fee for obtaining digital copies of wills from England and Wales (post-1858) from £1.50 to £16 each (a 966% increase).
- Newspapers.com partners with Gannett, a media company, to digitize nearly 150 new titles across 29 states, including 91 titles that have issues spanning over 100 years.
- MyHeritage DNA releases a major update to Theory of Family Relativity, adding 103 million new theories.
- FamilyTreeDNA adds over 12,700 new mtDNA haplogroups to the updated mtDNA Tree of Humankind.
- AncestryDNA launches Custom Clusters, available to Ancestry Pro Tool subscribers, allowing test taker to make custom DNA clusters.
- 23andMe introduces a new beta feature available to premium members called “Reconstructed Ancestors,” which reconstructs parts of an ancestors’ genetic profile using DNA shared with relatives.
- The Kentucky Historical Society announces the launch of their newly updated website for the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, including a new look and improved searching capabilities.
New and updated articles in November
November Podcasts
October 2025
October was all about celebrating Family History Month. From uncovering ancestral roots to preserving family stories before winter sets in, we spent four themed weeks diving into the heart of genealogy.
Each week took on a new focus: global heritage, immigration, cemeteries and genealogy projects. Together, they offered a month-long reminder that family history and genealogy research is never static: it grows, evolves, and connects us across generations and the world.
We released five brand-new articles, including guides to transcribing tombstones, exploring local societies, organizing writing projects, and using websites and software. Plus, our two new podcast episodes on cemetery projects and websites helped us embrace spooky season in the best genealogical way. Many old favorites also got new updates, from German and English genealogy research to immigration records, gravestone symbols and even creating family cookbooks.
If you missed a week (or want to relive them all), it’s never too late to celebrate Family History Month. Your ancestors’ stories are always waiting (no calendar required)!
Check out this month’s news headlines, too:
AncestryDNA releases the Ancestral Origins 2025 Update, which includes ethnicity estimate updates that connects users DNA to now more than 3,600 places around the world.
Fold3 adds more records from states previously not included in its Korean War Era Draft Registration Cards collection, including Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington.
MyHeritage announces that it will transition its DNA test to whole genome sequencing. Learn more here.
Federal offices (including the National Archives and its branches cross the country) are closed due to the US government shutdown. You can still request records from federal agencies, but they won’t be fulfilled until the shutdown ends. Note that processing delays are likely even after the shutdown, as many offices have furloughed or cut staff.
New, updated and highlighted in October
Week 1 (Oct. 2–8): Heritage—Dive into global research strategies.
Week 2 (Oct. 9–15): Immigration—Focus on U.S. arrivals and migration patterns.
Week 3 (Oct. 16–22): Cemeteries —Learn about gravestone symbolism, burial records, and more.
Week 4 (Oct. 23–29): Projects & Preservation—Explore ways to write, record and organize your family history before winter sets in.
October Podcasts
September 2025
This past month, September eased us out of the hot, sun-soaked days of summer spent exploring cemeteries, snapping headstone photos and sitting in front of the air conditioning. Now, with cooler air creeping in and cozy weekends on the horizon, it’s officially the season of definitely watching football… and absolutely not getting sucked into 19th-century homestead records during halftime.
This month also brought that back-to-school feeling with a time to refocus and learn something new. We leaned into that spirit with three brand-new articles, two refreshed favorites to help keep your genealogy skills sharp as the seasons change. This month’s topics include tips for using Find A Grave, using AI in genealogy, researching Los Angeles and German ancestry, and getting the most out of the relaunched Elephand website. Plus, don’t miss our latest podcast episodes on homestead records and using Veridian to find historical newspapers.
Additionally, Family Tree Magazine editor Andrew Koch launched a Substack–another way to keep up-to-date with what’s going on behind the scenes at your favorite genealogy magazine.
Check out this month’s news headlines, too:
- The Newberry Library relaunches the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries with a new interface design.
- 23andMe announces that a major update to its Ancestry Composition report will come soon.
- Ancestry.com shops around for a new owner or IPO.
- AncestryDNA announces that a new Ancestral Origins update will come soon.
- RootsTech 2026 registration officially opens.
- Veridian launches Elephind version 2.0 with new search tools and collections.
- BillionGraves adds new features.
- RootsMagic 11 is released with significant new features and updates to the software.
So, what’s next? Family History Month!
To make the most of Family History Month, be sure you’re signed up for our daily and weekly e-newsletters! Each week in October, we’ll share themed content, expert advice, and brand-new articles to help you learn and stay inspired:
- Week 1 (Oct. 2–8): Heritage — Dive into global research strategies.
- Week 2 (Oct. 9–15): Immigration — Focus on U.S. arrivals and migration patterns.
- Week 3 (Oct. 16–22): Cemeteries — Learn about gravestone symbolism, burial records, and more.
- Week 4 (Oct. 23–29): Projects & Preservation — Explore ways to write, record, and organize your family history before winter sets in.
Don’t miss a week—subscribe now and make this Family History Month your most productive yet!
New and updated in September
September Podcasts
This article was posted online on 29 September 2025. Last updated: December 29, 2025
Author
Katharine Korte Andrew MS/LIS is a digital editor for Family Tree Magazine and professional genealogist.
