Researching the Mafia

[nash143]

Great, thanks

[antimafia]

Via the Brooklyn Public Library Onsite Archive at https://bplonsite.newspapers.com/welcome/#silo=453, you can currently search through 43 older digitized Brooklyn newspapers and then clip for free.*

The reasons for the free clipping capability will be found at https://www.bklynlibrary.org/brooklynco ... -newsstand.

I've discovered that I can't immediately save clippings to my Ancestry account but that if I click on my own clippings on the BPL Onsite Archive site, I can save them to Ancestry that way.

*I'm assuming this will work even if you don't have a paid account for Newspapers.com. I'm subscribed to both Newspapers and Ancestry at the moment (the latter owns the former); so I can't do any testing.

[JR]

Hi. I hope this is the appropriate place to post this. I’ve always had an interest in mafia/mob/organized crime history and have recently really started studying and reading in depth about it. I’m currently reading Five Familes by Selwyn Raab and am finidng it very informative and interesting. What would be a good starting point for a newbie to begin a path of study?

[OcSleeper]

Did you even read page 1 of this thread? Check out all the links shared there, read some other threads here. You're reading Five Families so start with something that peaked your interest.

[Ed]

Fold3 is giving free access to research military records until Nov 14. It's a great research tool.

[Lefty_Ruggiero]

A few tips for those who use newspapers.com to find pictures and articles. This may also work for other newspapers type sites as well, but I never tested personally. It's much better to put the person's name in quotation marks before searching as it looks up names in that order and gives a more precise search. For example, putting in "Paul Castellano" with the quotations as shown yields better results. This works especially for lesser known mob associates and crime figures.

Secondly, I found it to be better to putting the person's full name as they are often referred by that in newspapers. Nicknames and shorten names are not used as often. Instead of putting in "Nicky Santora" try instead "Nicholas Santora". This works a majority of the time, but you can mix and match to make sure.

Lastly, I been having some good luck with putting the address in quotations for New York searches. Often newspapers will say "Paul Vario of 183 Hemlock St..." and go from there. I further research by putting in "183 Hemlock St." in quotations like I mentioned in tip one. This will often find more articles related to Paul Vario et al. Again, this doesn't always work. People move so addresses may change.

All and all I hope this help some people, others may know this stuff already. Cheers and happy hunting.

[Antiliar]

The site for Italian birth, death and marriage records updated and changed its web address. It is now located at: https://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/

[motorfab]

I am looking for a site which would bring together the press photos of the newspaper l'Unità like this one https://zupimages.net/up/21/52/8uas.jpg

I'm already familiar with the newspaper's archive site and there are a few pictures that can be found on the internet, but I'm trying to find as many as possible.

Can someone give me some information? Thanks in advance fellas

[Antiliar]

UPDATE for FREE ITALIAN GENEALOGY:

1. Italian civil records (birth, death and marriage): https://www.antenati.san.beniculturali. ... i-archivi/
2. Palermo birth index: https://sites.google.com/site/palermobirthshub/home
3. Palermo marriage index: https://sites.google.com/site/palermomarriages2/home
4. General Italian genealogical records and indexes: http://www.cosenzaexchange.com/comune.html
5. How to read Italian birth records: https://www.italianside.com/italian-birth-records/
6. New York City (plus other records) birth and marriage indexes: https://www.italiangen.org/databases/
7. Plus Familysearch.org is a free site (requires registration) that has a ton of Italian vital records, including church baptisms.

[Antiliar]

8. Passenger Manifest finding tools and other helpful tools: https://stevemorse.org/
9. Tunis baptisms: https://en.geneanum.com/tunisia/databas ... rowNum=100

[Antiliar]

Daily Reports of Agents of the United States Secret Service are now online. Some reports are missing, but most are available.
https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=* ... Sort%20asc

[Antiliar]

A lot of New York Roman Catholic records (baptisms, marriages, etc) are now online. Manhattan and Bronx records are online, but unfortunately Brooklyn records are not.
https://www.findmypast.com/articles/wor ... arish-list

[DonPeppino386]

A few tips for those who use newspapers.com to find pictures and articles. This may also work for other newspapers type sites as well, but I never tested personally. It's much better to put the person's name in quotation marks before searching as it looks up names in that order and gives a more precise search. For example, putting in "Paul Castellano" with the quotations as shown yields better results. This works especially for lesser known mob associates and crime figures.

Secondly, I found it to be better to putting the person's full name as they are often referred by that in newspapers. Nicknames and shorten names are not used as often. Instead of putting in "Nicky Santora" try instead "Nicholas Santora". This works a majority of the time, but you can mix and match to make sure.

Lastly, I been having some good luck with putting the address in quotations for New York searches. Often newspapers will say "Paul Vario of 183 Hemlock St..." and go from there. I further research by putting in "183 Hemlock St." in quotations like I mentioned in tip one. This will often find more articles related to Paul Vario et al. Again, this doesn't always work. People move so addresses may change.

All and all I hope this help some people, others may know this stuff already. Cheers and happy hunting.

These are great tips. Thanks!

[Antiliar]

This is a fantastic resource that Joshua Perry brought to my attention. A FREE downloadable, searchable, birth, death and marriage record database for New York City. NOTE: The name search is in beta mode and doesn't always provide accurate results. It searches best by certificate number, which can be obtained via FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com.

https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/

[B.]

Appreciate you continuing to add to this. Hands down the "consigliere" of the board haha.