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Re: Seeking birth certificate/birth records from Pennsylvania
Cara Jensen
Nov 18, 2020 11:27 AM
Dear Ms. Mock,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
If you have your biological grandmother’s name and birthdate we suggest that you search for her in the U.S. Censuses to find out more information about your biological father’s family. We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Population Schedules for the 1900 Census, and the Population Schedules for the 1910 Census, the Population Schedules for the 1920 Census, the Population Schedules for the 1930 Census, and the Population Schedules for the 1940 Census in the Records of the Bureau of the Census (Record Group 29). The 1940 Census schedules are digitized and available using the Catalog. See NARA’s 1940 Census Records web page for more information. For access to the non-digitized schedules, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT1. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
For information about the U.S. Census, see the Census Bureau technical documentation and questionnaires.
You may wish to search Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org for the U.S. Census. There may be a fee for using Ancestry. Instead, check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons.
We suggest that you search the Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950 FamilySearch index and/or request a birth record search from the Pennsylvania Division of Health. As spousal information is usually also contained on the death records of an individual, we suggest that you obtain access to the Pennsylvania State Archives Vital Statistics Records on Ancestry.com through their free online access procedure to search for records of your biological grandmother.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!