The newest family history center has opened in Puerto Rico, and local television station WAPA-TV provided viewers with a tour of the new facility in a recent news story. The center is located in the law school of the Interamericana University and opens to the public on Saturday, 14 May.
Genealogy enthusiasts know the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is a treasure-trove of ancestral information. But not everyone can travel to Utah’s capital city and spend days or weeks searching for family from past generations.
Realizing the desire many people have to get to know their family, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 4,600 family history centers in 126 countries around the world to help people with their family research. The online search tool is FamilySearch.org. First-time ancestral researchers will find the website helpful.
See WAPA-TV’s story in Spanish. An English translation is available below.
Do you know where you come from?
Reporter, Julio Rivera Saniel: You can find out who your ancestors are and where they come from at the newly inaugurated Family Search Center located at the law school of the Interamerican Universityin Hato Rey.
The Family Search Center is a joint venture between the Sociedad Puertoriqueña Genealogica, the Universidad Interamericana and Family Search (of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The center has access to the largest collection of baptismal and marriage records available to the public for their family history research.
Dr.: Norma Filiberti: President of the Sociedad Puertorriqueña Genealogica described the equipment that is available at the center including four computers, three microfilm readers and one scanner. There will be some online teaching aids to facilitate the learning procedure for those that are new in doing this type of research. Family Search staff will be available to help in people’s research.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated 500 rolls of microfilm for use in the Puerto Rico Family Search Center.
Reporter, Julio Rivera Saniel: This inauguration coincides with the 22ndanniversary of the Sociedad Puertorriqueña Genealogica. The mission of this organization is to connect the citizens with their own history. The services are completely free.
Dr. Filiberti: If you were born in Puerto Rico your records are in these rolls.
Reporter, Julio Rivera Saniel: This center opens to the public on Saturday, 14 May and will be assisted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the organization with the largest collection of records of this type in the world.