The best bargain in online genealogy is now on sale for $20 less!

Question

Many of us consider membership in the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS or "American Ancestors") to be the single best value online subscription resource in genealogy (OK, that is an exaggeration -- it is of value mostly for Americans, particularly those interested in New England -- and it is an even better deal for people who live near Boston and can get to their amazing library far more easily than I can).

Until April 30th a great deal is even better -- they have cut $20 off the price of a basic annual membership (for new members only). The usual price of US$94.95 is reduced to US$74.95.

The link for joining up at this special price is https://my.americanancestors.org/donate/i/12?premove=Y&promo=APRILRESEARCH20 or https://my.americanancestors.org/donate/i/12?&promoApplied=true (hard to tell what is coded into these kinds of promotional links)

Comments

Ellen, this makes me wish it were time for my subscription renewal!

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This is for new members only, Jim. You and I don't qualify. 

Answer 1

I have been a member of the NEHGS for a number of years. When I am in Boston, I make it a point to attend presentations, meet with their wonderful team members and purchase books at 10% off! Their online access to their 'Register' is beyond helpful for serious genealogical searches and sourcing.

I sincerely hope their are 'newbies' to NEHGS who take advantage of this special price. Thank you Ellen for letting people know about this opportunity. During this time in the throes of the pandemic, it is more than worthwhile to take advantage of this discount AND help all of the people who keep our NEHGS in excellent operating condition.

Answer 2

I agree completely. I find it hard to imagine doing serious New England genealogy without an NEHGS membership. That was true before the online resources were available and is even more true today. I'm old enough to remember the lending library, which I used over and over again. And I made two trips to Boston (from my home in Illinois) mainly to spend a week each time in the library. I ran into Gary Boyd Roberts there one afternoon and he sat down with me and spent half an hour helping me with a brick wall. Great resource then, even better now--and at a discount price yet!

Comments

I joined once.  But when I tried to renew, the website threw a wobbly at a non-American Visa card and took me round in endless circles.

I've never managed to buy anything from their online shop either.

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Sorry you had that experience, RJ.

One of the wonderful things about NEHGS is that (unlike many other websites we deal with) there are smart and thoughtful human beings there who respond promptly and effectively when they are contacted electronically. For example, when I report a transcription error or indexing error related to an electronic record, the error gets corrected in their database that same day or the next business day (after the NEHGS staff decides they agree with my verdict) and I get a note of thanks from the staff.

Anybody who encounters difficulty with the NEHGS online systems should send an email to the staff.

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I've had the same experience contacting them about errors in the search results. And when they made a change to the search results function that I found made some things more difficult, I contacted them and explained the problem. A few weeks later, I got a response telling me that they had made another change that solved that problem.