RESOURCES and FAQs

A Checklist for Researching Your Puerto Rican Roots

My research has been a profound journey to the heart of my own story. If you feel the call to begin your own, here is a checklist to guide your first steps.


Step 1: Honor the Living Archive. 
Start with your family. Interview your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Ask for names, dates, and towns. Record their stories, because these oral histories are precious and irreplaceable.

Step 2: Gather Your Home Sources. 
Look for old photographs (check the back for names and dates!), birth and death certificates, letters, and family bibles. These are the first clues to your puzzle.

Step 3: Start with What's Known. 
Begin your research with the most recent generations (parents, grandparents) and work your way backwards, one generation at a time.

Step 4: Master the Civil Registration (Post-1885). 
Use major genealogy websites to search for birth, marriage, and death certificates for your ancestors born after 1885. These are the foundational documents.

Step 5: Dive into Parish Records (Pre-1885). 
Once you cross the 1885 threshold, your research will shift to Catholic Church records. Look for the parish of the town your ancestors lived in and search for baptismal, marriage, and burial records.

Step 6: Use the Census to Build Families. 
The U.S. Federal Census (1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950) is invaluable for seeing your family as a complete household unit, showing who lived together at a specific point in time.

Step 7: Embrace DNA Testing. 
A DNA test can confirm your research, break through "brick walls" by connecting you with cousins, and provide a deeper understanding of your ethnic makeup.

Step 8: Read the History. 
Your ancestors did not live in a vacuum. Read books and research papers about the towns they lived in and the historical events they lived through to bring their story to life.

Step 9: Seek Expert Help. 
When the trail goes cold, the handwriting is impossible to read, or the history becomes too complex, DON't GIVE UP! I am here to provide the expertise to navigate these challenges and uncover the next chapter of your story.