BOSTON — Two of Boston’s most venerable institutions are teaming up to create an online database of hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholic Church documents to help people trace their family histories.
Officials from the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Archdiocese of Boston said Tuesday that the digitized parish records of baptisms, marriages, confirmations, ordinations, first communions and other pivotal life events will help people better research their ancestors and how they came to Boston.
The documents span 1789 to 1900 and come from all the parishes in the Boston Archdiocese.
The organizations say it’s the first time a significant number of sacramental records from any U.S. diocese have been digitized on this scale.
The project could take several years to complete and cost up to $1 million.
