Reclaim The Records

What Reclaim The Records does

Reclaim The Records is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit activist organization founded in 2015 by Brooke Schreier Ganz and headquartered in Mill Valley, California. The organization files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), state FOIL, and Open Records requests against federal, state, and municipal government agencies to acquire historical vital records (births, marriages, deaths, naturalizations) that are wrongly restricted, paywalled, or otherwise unavailable to the public. When agencies fail to comply, Reclaim The Records litigates - it has filed more than fifteen lawsuits to date, with notable wins including a $12,000 fine against the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, a $12,000 attorneys' fee award from USCIS, and a 2025 landmark victory at the New York State Court of Appeals ordering release of the New York State Death Index.

The organization's core products are a portfolio of free, searchable public-record databases hosted on dedicated websites, including NewYorkDeathIndex.com (~10.5 million records), BIRLS.org (~18 million veteran records), ConnecticutGenealogy.org (~5.5 million records), and the Maryland Motherlode (~5+ million records). These databases are built using conventional web/database technology, are published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 licensing, and require no registration or payment. A notable proprietary technical component is the integrated free-FOIA-filing-by-fax system embedded within BIRLS.org search results, which lowers friction for users to request additional government files on relatives and research subjects.

Reclaim The Records has 1-10 employees, is supported by 1,000+ financial donors plus occasional grants (including two John Stedman Memorial Grants from IAJGS), and provides all services free of charge. Its target users are amateur and professional genealogists, historians, academic researchers, journalists, and open-government advocates. The organization is recognized by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (2017 Director's Award), IAJGS (2017 Outstanding Project of the Year), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (2017 Foilies Award), and the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. Geographic coverage currently spans 11+ US states and federal agencies, with active FOIA litigation in progress in additional jurisdictions.

Name

Reclaim The Records

Legal name

Reclaim The Records

Website

https://reclaimtherecords.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Reclaim The Records is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 that uses FOIA requests and litigation to reclaim and publish historical genealogical vital records for free public access, serving genealogists, historians, researchers, and journalists across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Records Advocacy and Genealogical Databases

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

akta.pro primary industry

Records Digitization & Archiving (Legacy Files, Retention Support) (BPAAAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

National Archives, Records & Information Governance (BPAIAAAG)

Keywords

• Public records advocacy
• FOIA litigation services
• Genealogical records databases
• Open government records
• Vital records digitization

Headquarters

HQ city

Mill Valley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Reclaim The Records is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that files Freedom of Information (FOIA/FOIL) requests and pursues litigation against government agencies to acquire historical vital records, then digitizes and publishes them as free, searchable online databases. The organization has reclaimed over 60 million records across more than a dozen datasets including state death indexes, marriage licenses, veteran records, and naturalization indices.

Product overview

Reclaim The Records is a nonprofit activist organization that operates a platform of free, searchable public records databases focused on genealogical and historical vital records. The core offering consists of multiple searchable websites including the New York State Death Index (1880-2017) at NewYorkDeathIndex.com, BIRLS.org for veteran records, ConnecticutGenealogy.org, and the Maryland Motherlode. These databases are acquired through Freedom of Information requests and subsequent litigation against government archives, libraries, and agencies. The organization digitizes won records and publishes them online for free public use without paywalls or copyright restrictions, making previously inaccessible historical vital records (births, marriages, deaths, naturalizations) available to genealogists, historians, and researchers. Their model combines legal advocacy (FOIA filing and litigation services) with technology (building and hosting searchable databases) to reclaim public records for the public domain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• New York State Death Index (1880-2017) A searchable online database of approximately 10.5 million death records spanning three centuries of New York State history (1880-2017). Published free to the public at NewYorkDeathIndex.com after a landmark Freedom of Information Law victory at the New York State Court of Appeals. Most records had never previously been available online.
• BIRLS.org (Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem Death File) A searchable database containing over 18 million names of deceased US veterans from the late 19th century through mid-2020. Built with an integrated free-FOIA-filing-by-fax system enabling users to request government files for their relatives directly from search results.
• Connecticut Genealogy Index A searchable website hosting indices to more than 5.5 million Connecticut birth, marriage, death, and civil union records. Completely free to use with no paywall or registration required.
• The Maryland Motherlode A collection of over five million Maryland birth, marriage, death, and naturalization indices and vital certificates spanning more than a century, including both text indices and full vital records certificates. Most records never previously available online.
• New Jersey Marriage Index (1901-2016) A searchable database of the first-ever complete dataset of all marriages recorded in New Jersey from 1901 to 2016. Acquired through legal negotiation without full litigation.
• Index to New York City Marriage Licenses (1908-2017) A searchable database of NYC marriage license indices covering 1908-2017, published in multiple phases (1908-1929, 1930-1995, 1996-2017). The organization's pilot project that started its activism work, won through FOIL litigation against the NYC Clerk's Office.
• Missouri Birth and Death Index The first-ever free public copies of Missouri statewide birth index (1920-2015) and death index (1968-2015), won through successful Missouri Sunshine Law litigation after the state attempted to charge $1.5 million for the records request.
• FOIA Filing and Litigation Services The organization's core advocacy service: filing Freedom of Information and Open Data requests to government agencies to acquire public records, and litigating against agencies that fail to comply. More than fifteen FOIA lawsuits have been filed against various federal, state, and local government agencies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60 million historical records published online for free
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FamilySearch: Operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch is the largest free genealogical records platform in the world. Directly comparable to Reclaim The Records in providing free public access to historical vital records, though it relies on volunteer indexing of records rather than FOIA-driven legal acquisition.
• Internet Archive: Non-profit digital library archiving public domain and freely-available cultural artifacts. Comparable in mission of providing permanent public access to public-domain materials, operating under Creative Commons and similar open licensing, with searchable web interfaces — sharing the 'public data for public use' philosophy with Reclaim The Records.
• MuckRock: Non-profit newsroom and FOIA request platform that helps journalists and researchers file public records requests and publishes government responses. Directly comparable to Reclaim The Records' FOIA filing and litigation services, though focused on journalism use cases rather than genealogical records.
• Digital Public Library of America (DPLA): Non-profit digital library aggregating cultural heritage materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the US. Directly comparable as a free public-access digital archive platform, sharing open licensing, digitization, and public records access goals with Reclaim The Records.
• Public.Resource.Org: Founded by Carl Malamud, this non-profit advocates for public access to government records and public domain materials, including through FOIA litigation. Highly comparable mission and legal-activist approach to Reclaim The Records, though focused on legal codes, standards, and government documents rather than genealogical vital records.

Broad incumbents

• Ancestry.com: Largest commercial genealogy platform, holding exclusive digitization deals with state archives (e.g., Pennsylvania, NY) that Reclaim The Records frequently challenges. Comparable as a genealogical records aggregator, but operates a paywalled subscription model opposite to Reclaim The Records' free model.
• MyHeritage: Major commercial genealogy platform with global vital records collections. Comparable in providing genealogical search tools over vital records datasets, but operates a paid subscription model and competes for the same end users (genealogists) that Reclaim The Records serves for free.
• FindMyPast: UK-headquartered commercial genealogy platform with significant US vital records holdings. Comparable as a competitor for end-user genealogists and as a holder of paywalled records Reclaim The Records seeks to liberate, though its primary coverage and market are UK/Ireland-focused.

Others

• U.S. National Archives (NARA): Federal agency that is itself the target of active Reclaim The Records FOIA requests (e.g., Digitization Partnership Program records). Comparable as the institutional holder of the public records Reclaim The Records seeks to publish, though as a government body rather than an advocacy organization.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Major digital civil liberties non-profit that awarded Reclaim The Records the 2017 Foilies Award. Comparable in advocating for government transparency and FOIA access, though with a broader technology/privacy mandate rather than genealogical records focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/reclaimtherecs

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Reclaim The Records