For everyone interested in Pennsylvania birth and death records there is a great new online index becoming available on February 13th.  Starting on that date, birth certificates from 1906 and death certificates from 1906 to 1961 will be available from the Pennsylvania State Archives due to the enactment of Bill SB-361 (Act 110 of 2011).  The release dates are 105 years for births and 50 years for death records.  Prior to 1906, these records were recorded at the county and some city levels.

According to the PaHR-Access Facebook page (People for Better Pennsylvania Historical Records Access) there will be a “searchable PDF file with names, year of death, and certificate number on the Health Department website starting on 13th Feb. when they legally become open record.” I read elsewhere that a more user friendly index will be placed on the Health Department’s website at a later date.

Even better, announced on the PaHR-Access page earlier today, is that FamilySearch will be putting together the resources to get these vital record images indexed and easily accessible.  So there will be some work for those involved in FamilySearch’s Indexing projects!

Exciting news for those of us researching Pennsylvania roots and who don’t have in-person access to the Pennsylvania State Archives!

For more information on the vital records available at the Pennsylvania State Archives, and where to locate birth and death records prior to 1906, please visit: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/genealogy/3183/vital_statistics/387291

And the PaHR-Access’ Facebook page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/PaHRAccess?sk=wall