A major threat to genealogy researchers in New England looms on the horizon….
The Massachusetts’ State Legislature may soon close some of their vital records and indexes to the public.
Namely:
Legislative bills (H-3642, H-3643, and H-3644, petitioned by Plymouth Rep. Thomas J. O’Brien, et al.), currently pending in the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee, are being pushed for passage within two weeks.
This legislative move will not affect me in any way. As a genealogist for over 25 years, I have long ago collected the (more recently created) Massachusetts documents that I need to prove my ancestry. However, such a law would cause future research problems for many New Hampshire residents (since a high number of them have ancestors hailing from Massachusetts), and in addition, it sets a terrible, and unnecessary, precedent.
The bills call for restricting access to all birth records since 1915 and all marriage and death records since 1955. These records are currently open public records (and have been so for 365 years) and are the entry point for genealogical and medical history research. Restricting public access to the indexes of these records is unprecedented. It will deny use by all non-governmental individuals: researchers in genealogy, medical history, probate heirs, banks, journalists, and historians.
The MASSACHUSETTS GENEALOGICAL COUNCIL urges all genealogists who care about access to vital records to act now! Legislative bills (H-3642, H-3643, and H-3644, petitioned by Kingston Rep. Thomas J. O’Brien, et al. [This link has all the information you need to contact your representatives]
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To voice your protest, New Hampshire residents may contact the following people:
Representative Robert A. DeLeo, Chair, Ways and Means Committee, Room 243, The State House, Boston, MA 02133; web: http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/rad1.htm; email: Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us; telephone: 617-722-2990. Addressed in the letter as “The Honorable Robert DeLeo.”
Representative Marie P. St. Fleur, Vice Chair, Ways and Means Committee, Room 238, The State House, Boston, MA 02133; http://www.mass.gov/legis/member/mps1.htm; email: Rep.MarieSt.Fleur@hou.state.ma.us; telephone: 617-722-2380. Addressed in the letter as “The Honorable Marie St. Fleur.”
Representative Thomas P. Kennedy, Room 277, The State House, Boston, MA 02133; web: http://www.mass.gove/legis/member/tpk1.htm; email: Rep.ThomasKennedy@hou.state.ma.us; telephone: 617-722-2012. Addressed in the letter as “The Honorable Thomas P. Kennedy.”
A sample letter (for out of state residents) is found here. Please do not delay in sending out these letters or emails.
Just today I received an email from the prestigious New England Historic Genealogical Society, of which I am a member, also urging members to act TODAY to PREVENT the passage of the above proposed bills.
Janice
P.S. My thanks to both Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings and Chris Dunham of The Genealogue for bringing this to my attention.
