Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

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 GSP is committed to preserving and publishing heretofore unpublished primary sources.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 Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), accumulated by GSP and HSP and maintained in HSP's Library. Included are wills, deeds, 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 provide an index by surname or locale for most of the collections. Much of GSP’s collections are itemized in the HSP online catalog.

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.

To learn more about the Society, visit our web page at http://www.genpa.org.