Coinciding with this year's Local History Month, Historic England has launched a new Local Heritage Hub. With nearly 400 locations, every county, city, district, major town, and national park in England now has a dedicated digital page that uncovers its rich and layered history.

Offering a wide range of content, from fascinating aerial photographs showing towns and villages through time, to curated selections of listed buildings, videos, blogs, and podcasts, the Local Heritage Hub invites members of the public to discover their local area through a new lens.

Understanding and connecting with local heritage is an important part of building strong communities. With this new service, we hope people across England will be able to explore hidden histories, reconnect with their surroundings, and feel a sense of pride in their local area. I’d encourage everyone to explore the new Local Heritage Hub and see what they might discover about a place that means something to them.

Duncan Wilson, Chief ExecutiveHistoric England 

With 71%¹ of people wanting to see more recognition of heritage in their area and 58%² agreeing that local heritage enhances their daily lives, this new platform reflects what people are looking for in their local areas. It’s designed not only to inform, but also to also encourage people to see familiar places in unfamiliar ways.

The new service - which will continue to expand with new places, information, and sections added over time - will make local heritage and histories more relevant, relatable, and engaging to more people's everyday lives, inspiring conversations, unlocking memories, and sparking new interests.

Local history is full of surprises, from unexpected stories to long-forgotten views of familiar streets. With the Local Heritage Hub, we’re excited to bring those moments of discovery to more people throughout the country.

It’s a chance to see our everyday surroundings in a new light and to connect with the past in ways that feel relevant today. We are looking forward to exploring new ways to engage with our heritage and seeing how Local Heritage Hub grows over time.

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) presented awards to those whose work highlights excellence in genealogy scholarship and service at a plenary session on Saturday morning, 24 May, during its Family History Conference, Tales & Trails, at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. Felicia Jamison, PhD, assistant professor of history at the University of Louisville, gave the keynote address, “Recovering Louisville’s African American History Using Genealogical Research.” Awards Committee Chair Judy Nimer Muhn presented the Awards of Merit, Awards of Excellence, and Certificates of Appreciation. The Award of Merit is presented to an individual or non-profit genealogical or historical organization to recognize exceptional contributions to the field of genealogy over a period of five or more years. Their work must have significantly aided research or increased interest in genealogy. This year the NGS board of directors presented the award to the following distinguished leaders in our sector. The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) is recognized for its outstanding work to connect, educate, share, and inspire people in the pursuit of genealogy. It supports researchers in Canada and beyond with effective research methods and practices focused on the British Isles. Its broad scope of programming includes in-person meetings, online education, publications, indexes to special populations of those of British Isles descent, and access to presentations of international speakers. The BIFHSGO continues to provide its members valuable content, a vibrant community of fellow researchers, and access to high-quality resources. Valerie-Anne Lutz, MSLIS, is president of the board of directors of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania (GSP) and a longtime member of NGS. Since at least 2008, Lutz has been an enthusiastic and indefatigable volunteer for the GSP. She is a past chair of its Membership Committee and currently chairs its Technology and Website Committee and the Library and Collections Committee. She has served on the GSP Board of Directors since 2011, was secretary in 2014, and is its current president. Annie S. Mabry has dedicated more than thirty years to the field of genealogy. Her contributions have significantly aided research and increased public interest in family history. Perhaps Mabry’s greatest impact has been through her education initiatives. She has trained 3,250+ individuals in beginner, intermediate, and advanced genealogical methods. Through partnerships with the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, she has made genealogy more accessible to diverse communities, equipping participants with tools to uncover and preserve their family stories. Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal, CG, has been active in the genealogy community for the past decade. Since 2019, she has served in a volunteer capacity as the director of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) Study Groups, which meet monthly to discuss the publication’s case studies. O’Neal is a leader in the Association of Professional Genealogists and has served as president of the South California Chapter since 2021. She is a past president of the Second Life Chapter and served as vice president and president of the Second Life Virtual Genealogical Society. She is currently the education and programs director for Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society. She was the Genealogical Speakers Guild secretary and a ProGen Study Group Coordinator. For the Daughters of the American Revolution, she has acted as genealogy consultant, national chair of Congress Online, and national chair of Volunteer Information Specialists. Ilmo. Sr. D. Pablo Antonio Pérez was born in Argentina and began researching his family history at the age of 14. He is dedicated to preserving the genealogy records, heraldry, history and ethnography from the island of Chiloé (Chile) as well as from Spain and other regions under historical German influence. He holds a Diploma in Genealogy, Heraldry and Nobility from the Instituto Español de Estudios Nobiliarios as well as Master in Nobility and Awards Law, Heraldry and Genealogy from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain. Pérez is a prolific researcher and writer. He researched and published the first genealogies of Indigenous families from Chiloé, and has published three books and numerous scholarly articles in academies, universities, institutes, and research centers. His research has been published in ten languages and fourteen countries. Donna Potter Phillips has been a strong supporter and volunteer of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society since 1975. She has held multiple leadership roles on the Board and initiated the Annual Board Retreat. She launched online classes and multi-class workshops and spearheaded an Obituary Project. which added over 100,000 records to the society’s online research index. She led the Walking with Ancestors event for several years and taught many beginning genealogy classes. Phillips has been a guest speaker at local sister societies and is a published author of her former newspaper column, Heritage Hunting, which ran for ten years. Allen Thomas, a former Clerk of Court in Laurens County, Georgia, undertook and completed a herculean, fifteen-year project to preserve the records found three cardboard boxes in an old vault at the courthouse, which held 31,895 original documents from the nineteenth century. Original documents such as these have great historical value. The majority of the documents are estate records. Numerous other types of documents included guardian bonds, sheriff bonds, jury commissioner oaths, oaths of numerous elected officials, etc. These documents were bundled in separate categories. Thomas rearranged the documents into 3,800 files based on given and family names. He then spent years keying an abstract of each document into the computer. The documents are now housed at Laurens County, Georgia Public Library, where they are available for historical and genealogical research six days a week. Barbara West, is a ninety-three-year-old volunteer who has been actively involved in the Roscommon County Genealogical Society of Michigan for over twenty years. A trustee on the Executive Board, she administers the society’s research center on Mondays and Wednesdays, offering her years of expertise and knowledge to patrons needing assistance. West recently retired as editor of the society’s quarterly newsletter. Over the years, she has collected and maintained a regional surname file sorted alphabetically and recorded on a database. When a historian in France contacted the center, West helped her trace the family a soldier who had landed the beaches of Normandy in WWII. The historian had found the soldier’s duffle bag and wanted to return it to his family. Thanks to West, the society was able to contact the man's family and put them in touch with the historian. Awards for Excellence Awards for Excellence are presented for a specific, significant single contribution in the form of a family genealogy or family history book, a publication discussing genealogical methods and sources, or an exemplary article published in the NGS Quarterly. The winners demonstrate scholarship and excellence in genealogy. Genealogy and Family History Book First place: Jenifer Kahn Bakkala and Eileen Curley Pironti (co-authors), Ancestral Lines of Iain W.F. Shepherd and Helen Waugh (Gray) Shepherd. Boston: Newbury Street Press, an imprint of American Ancestors, 2023. Methods and Sources Book First place: Jane E. Wilcox. New York State Archives Guide for Family Historians, Biographers, and Historical Researchers. New York: New York Genealogical & Biographical Society, 2024. Second place: Mary Blauss Edwards. Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Freeperson Families in 1790. Boston: Newbury Street Press, an imprint of American Ancestors, 2024. National Genealogical Society Quarterly Article The article recognized for this award is selected from all of the articles submitted in the previous year and is chosen by the NGSQ staff team. The 2025 winners are Patricia Lee Hobbs, CG and Barbara J. Garrison, PhD, for the March 2024 article, “DNA Merges Families of Stephen Stilwell of Dutchess County, New York; Cornwall, Upper Canada; and Coshocton County, Ohio.” Certificates of Appreciation The conference team from the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) were awarded Certificates of Appreciation for their volunteer work in preparing for the conference. The conference would not have been possible without their efforts and commitment. The honorees included Publicity Chair Drew Hight, Local Events Chair William Burchfield, and Local Host Society Chair Rae Ann Sauer. Volunteer Chair Melissa Thatcher, with FamilySearch, was also honored with a Certificate of Appreciation. #   #   #

Ever wonder how government documents, once locked away on tiny sheets of microfiche, become searchable and accessible online? Now you can see it happen in real time.

Today, the Internet Archive has launched a livestream from our microfiche scanning center(https://www.youtube.com/live/aPg2V5RVh7U), offering a behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous work powering Democracy’s Library—a global initiative to make government publications freely available to the public.

“This livestream shines a light on the unsung work of preserving the public record, and the critical infrastructure that makes democracy searchable,” said Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive. “Transparency can’t be passive—it must be built, maintained, and seen. That’s what this livestream is all about.”

Watch the livestream now:

What You’ll See

The livestream features five active microfiche digitization stations, with a close-up view of one in action. Operators feed microfiche cards beneath a high-resolution camera, which captures multiple detailed images of each sheet. Software stitches these images together, after which other team members use automated tools to identify and crop up to 100 individual pages per card.

Each page is then processed, made fully text-searchable, and added to the Internet Archive’s public collections—completed with metadata—so that researchers, journalists, and the general public can explore and download them freely through Democracy’s Library.

 Live activity occurs Monday–Friday, 7:30am-3:30pm U.S. Pacific Time (GMT+8)—except U.S. holidays—with a second shift coming soon.

What Is Microfiche?

Microfiche is a flat sheet of film that holds dozens—sometimes hundreds—of miniaturized document images. It’s been a common format for archiving newspapers, court documents, government records, and more since the 20th century.

Why Is Microfiche Digitization Important?

“Materials on microfiche are an important part of our country’s history, but right now they are often only available online from expensive databases. We are excited that this project will digitize court documents from our collection and make them freely available to everyone,” said Leslie Street, Director of the Wolf Law Library of William and Mary College.

“Thousands of documents and reports from across the federal government were distributed in microfiche to Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) libraries around the country from 1970 – 2022. While important for space-saving and preservation, microfiche has long been problematic for public access. So this digitization work of Democracy’s Library is incredibly important and will unlock free access to this essential historic public domain corpus to readers and researchers around the world!” noted James R. Jacobs, US government information librarian and co-author of the recently published book, Preserving Government Information: Past, Present, and Future.

About Democracy’s Library

Democracy’s Library is the Internet Archive’s ambitious project to collect, digitize, and provide free public access to the world’s government publications. From environmental impact reports to court decisions, these materials are essential for accountability, scholarship, and civic engagement.

The microfiche collections that will be digitized in this process include US GPO documents, Canadian government documents, US court documents, and UN publications. We are always looking for more collections to be donated.

Meet the People Behind the Work

From left: Internet Archive’s digital librarian, Brewster Kahle, with microfiche scanning operators Dylan, Louis, Elijah, Avery, and Fernando.

This digitization livestream was brought to life by Sophia Tung, appmaker & designer behind the viral robotaxi depot livestream on YouTube.

The digitization is overseen by scanning operators who are trained to handle physical library materials and digitization equipment.

Thanks also to Internet Archive staff who assisted this project, including CR Saikley, Merlijn Wajer, Brewster Kahle, Derek Fukumori, Jude Coelho, Anastasiya Smith, Jonathan Bloom, Andrea Mills, Richard Greydanus, Louis Brizuela, Carla Igot Bordador, and Ria Gargoles.

Thanks to Our Partners

Thank you to Wolf Law Library at the William & Mary Law School, University of Alberta, and Free Law Project for donating microfiche and helping advise this project.

If your library has microfiche or other materials to donate to the Internet Archive, please learn more about donating materials for preservation and digitization.

Support the Work

Preserving and digitizing these fragile, analog records is resource-intensive—and deeply worthwhile. Donate today to support the Internet Archive and Democracy’s Library.

The decision is final: in a sweeping move to reduce the volume of dual citizenship applications, the Italian Parliament has enacted a law that effectively shuts the door on millions of Italian Americans and Italian descendants around the world.

Moving forward, only the children or grandchildren of Italian citizens will be eligible to apply for dual citizenship. Great-grandchildren, and all who come after them, no longer qualify.

On March 28, 2025, the Italian government issued an emergency decree known as the “Citizenship Package.” Championed by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the measure took immediate effect. Parliament confirmed the law on May 20, making the restrictions permanent.

The new law does not affect those who have already acquired dual citizenship or who submitted their applications on or before the March 27 cutoff. Many who have spent years collecting, translating and notarizing documents now find themselves at a dead end.

According to Italy’s Interior Ministry, over 80 million people worldwide are of Italian descent, and more than 60,000 legal cases remain pending related to citizenship applications.

Government officials claim the move is necessary to restore order to an overwhelmed system, citing concerns about fraud and improperly submitted documentation, though such issues have been reported in countries like Argentina and Brazil — not the United States.

Those who are now ineligible can only obtain Italian citizenship by moving to Italy and applying through residency, a multi-year process that has become even more difficult due to stricter visa requirements for non-European Union citizens.

“For Italian Americans, the path to dual citizenship is an almost sacred journey,” said ISDA National President Basil Russo. “It’s a painstaking, yearslong and expensive process — a way to reconnect with our roots, with the people and places who built our culture at home and abroad. Closing the door on this process is a regrettable and mistargeted solution to a problem we didn’t create.”

U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Peter Welch (D-VT) on Thursday introduced the Carla Walker Act, which would dedicate existing federal grant funds to support forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) DNA analysis and help solve previously unsolvable cold cases. The bill is named for Carla Walker, a Fort Worth native whose murderer was finally identified 46 years after her death with the help of this advanced technology.

“Fort Worth native Carla Walker was abducted in a bowling alley and tragically murdered in 1974, but it took more than four decades and the advent of forensic genetic genealogy DNA analysis for her killer to be identified and brought to justice,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I am proud to have authored this legislation, which would make this cutting-edge DNA testing technology more widely available to law enforcement so they can better identify and prosecute offenders, solve cold cases, and bring closure to victims’ families.”

“Advancements in forensic DNA technology have revolutionized our ability to combat crime. In Vermont, detectives were able to use forensic genetic genealogy analysis to help provide answers to a family who thought they might never come. We’ve also seen how this technology can be a powerful tool in giving those wrongly accused a chance to clear their names,” said Sen. Welch. “Our bipartisan bill will help investigators across the country harness the incredible power of FGG technology to crack cold cases and deliver justice to countless victims and families, and I’m thankful for Senator Cornyn’s leadership on it.”

U.S. Congressman Wesley Hunt (TX-38) is leading companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

Background:

Typically, when a suspect’s identity is unknown, a crime laboratory uploads the genetic material recovered from a crime scene into the FBI’s national database to search for DNA matches between the forensic sample and any known offenders. While this traditional form of forensic DNA profiling only examines 13-20 Short tandem repeat (STR) DNA markers, forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) technology examines over half a million Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that span the entirety of the human genome. It does so by cross-referencing shared blocks of SNP markers to identify relatives of the genetic profile by uncovering shared blocks of DNA. This enables criminal investigators to build family trees that ultimately help determine the sample’s identity and solve cases.

Carla Walker was abducted from a bowling alley parking lot in Fort Worth, Texas, on February 17, 1974. Her body was found three days later in a drainage ditch 30 minutes south of Fort Worth. The Fort Worth Police Department was able to collect a few forensic samples and clothing items from the crime scene, but law enforcement could not solve the murder due to limited forensic technology at the time. Carla’s brother, Jim Walker, never stopped searching for answers and nearly 50 years later, FGG DNA analysis was conducted on the last remaining DNA on a piece of Walker’s clothing, which led to a successful DNA match with the McCurley family and ultimately identified Glen McCurley, Jr. as the killer, who confessed in 2021 and died in prison on July 14, 2023.

Sen. Cornyn’s Carla Walker Act would create a pilot program to make this cutting-edge FGG DNA analysis more widely available to investigative agencies to:

• Aid in resolving previously unsolvable cold cases;
• Assist in the identification of criminals;
• Seek justice for previously unidentified victims;
• Help exonerate wrongly accused suspects;
• And bring closure for the victims’ loved ones.

Various bones that washed up on New Jersey beaches starting 30 years ago were finally determined to belong to the captain of a 19th-century shipwreck, officials revealed Wednesday.

The remains found on several South Jersey shorelines between 1995 and 2013 were connected to Henry Goodsell, the 29-year-old captain of the doomed schooner Oriental, according to the Ramapo College Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center.

The incredible breakthrough was made thanks to a group of Ramapo College students who worked the cold case for nearly two years by tapping into DNA testing and combing through records that were hundreds of years old.

“The ability to bring answers to families — even generations later — shows how far science and dedication can take us,” New Jersey State Police Superintendent Patrick Callahan said in a statement.

Five crew members, including Goodsell, were sailing from Connecticut to Philadelphia to deliver marble to a yet-to-be-opened college preparatory boarding school in 1844 when the ship likely sprang a leak and submerged less than a mile from the coast of Brigantine Shoal, killing everyone aboard.  

A skull, which was initially deemed a John Doe, first washed ashore in Longport in 1995 before more bones were discovered in Margate four years later — both towns in Atlantic County.

More bones were unearthed in 2013 in Ocean City, in neighboring Cape May County, but despite the growing evidence, the typical methods of investigation couldn’t lead to an identification.

A decade later, state police tapped the Ramapo College IGG Center for help.

A newspaper article regarding the incident was published in the Boston Daily Bee on Christmas Eve in 1844. Ramapo College of New Jersey Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center (IGG).

A genetic sample was sent in November 2023 to Intermountain Forensics, which then uploaded the DNA to different ancestry databases a few months later, Ramapo College said.

Ramapo undergrads and students part of the IGG Center certificate program then scoured through records, finding ancestry from the 1600s with genetic relatives who lived in a pair of Connecticut counties.

Students also looked into shipwrecks and found clips from two newspapers dated Dec. 20 and Dec. 24, 1844, that described the sinking.

Only one body was recovered at the time of the ship’s demise, according to one of the old articles.

It was also reported that Goodsell was the captain and left behind a wife and three young children.

The York Democratic Press reported the captain’s death on December 20, 1844. Ramapo College of New Jersey Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center (IGG).

State police were finally handed the case back and collected a family reference sample from a great-great-grandchild of Goodsell in March. The following month, the identification was confirmed.

“Using modern genealogy testing to identify bone fragments from the 19th century is a powerful reminder of our unwavering commitment to resolving cases no matter how old,” Callahan said.

This is one of the oldest cold-case identifications made with the help of investigative genetic genealogy, the college said.

“Identifying human remains is one of the most solemn and challenging responsibilities law enforcement is charged with,” said Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office Chief of County Detectives Patrick Snyder.

“Law enforcement works hard knowing that behind every case is a promise: that no one will be forgotten, and that we will pursue the truth until families have the answers they deserve.”

The following is a press release from the (U.S.) National Archived and Records Administration:

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. You can see iconic images from the conflict in "Casting Light: Photographs of the Vietnam War" at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. This new exhibit is on display at both the Library in Ann Arbor and the Museum in Grand Rapids until December 14, 2025. Pictured by the opening exhibit panel are members of the Ford Museum staff who are veterans. From left to right: Sales Operations Manager Brian Billett, Administrative Officer Peter Kalogiros, and Exhibits Specialist Kyle Perkins. National Archives photo by Andrea Mantakounis Presidential Libraries Paintings by former President George W. Bush are now on exhibit at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas. To see "A Shining City on the Hilltop," purchase your tickets in advance online. Painting by President George W. Bush showing the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in 2013. Image provided courtesy of President George W. Bush   Can You Read Cursive? In the billions of records in the National Archives, not everything is spelled consistently—and that can make Catalog searches challenging. Become a Citizen Archivist, join the National Archives' new tagging mission, and help tackle this challenge!    Watch the video below to see how easy it is to add tags to Revolutionary War Pensions. VIP Visitors Utah Gov. Spencer Cox tweeted about fulfilling his dream of visiting the Reagan Library this week—and he did! Governor Spencer Cox and his wife Abby Palmer Cox in front of a portrait of President Reagan.

A study published in the book Genìa Da Vinci revealed that Leonardo da Vinci has at least six living male descendants who share his Y chromosome, according to Il Giornale. For the first time, an international team of scholars managed to identify the Y chromosome shared by these descendants of the paternal line of the da Vinci family.

Through meticulous analysis of sources and archival documents, researchers Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato reconstituted branches of the family to which Leonardo belonged. By identifying 15 descendants in the direct male line, they traced genealogical links to Leonardo's father and half-brother, Domenico di ser Piero da Vinci.

The analysis revealed that these descendants have common portions of the Y chromosome, an essential marker for determining male inheritance. This confirms the genetic continuity of the male line of the da Vinci family starting from the 15th generation.

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The book Genìa Da Vinci documents a family tree that dates back to 1331, encompassing 21 generations and including more than 400 individuals. The volume provides an account of the da Vinci family lineage, offering readers a journey through genealogy, history, geography, documents, places, and historical figures to rediscover the environment that shaped Leonardo.

"Studying Leonardo's DNA can lead us to discover the biological bases of his genius, his visual acuity, creativity, and perhaps even his health and the causes of his death," said Vezzosi, a Leonardo scholar and co-author of the volume, according to Il Giornale. This discovery opens the way to the possible reconstruction of the genetic profile of the Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci.

"A more detailed analysis is needed to determine if the extracted DNA is sufficiently preserved," said David Caramelli, President of the Museum System of the University of Florence and coordinator of the project for anthropological and molecular aspects. "Based on the results, we can proceed with the analysis of Y chromosome fragments to compare them with current descendants."

Archaeological excavations have started in the Church of Santa Croce in Vinci, historically documented as the burial place of the da Vinci family. The authors confirmed the existence of a da Vinci family tomb in the church, which may be the burial site of Leonardo's grandfather Antonio, his uncle Francesco, and several half-brothers: Antonio, Pandolfo, and Giovanni. The excavation is being conducted in collaboration with the University of Florence.

Anthropologists Alessandro Riga and Luca Bachechi from the University of Florence, leaders of the excavation, made progress in efforts to identify the DNA of Leonardo da Vinci and his ancestors. They recovered bone fragments, some of which were dated by radiocarbon. Preliminary investigations conducted by Martina Lari and results from Caramelli indicate that the recovered fragment belongs to a male individual compatible with the age of Leonardo's presumed relatives.

A specimen, whose age corresponds to that of the supposed relatives of Leonardo, was submitted to paleogenomic analysis. The next step in the project is to compare the DNA taken from the remains with that of individuals considered to be the living descendants of Leonardo da Vinci. If the Y chromosome of living descendants is also found in the older remains from the tombs in the da Vinci churches, this would support the accuracy of the paternity records and allow a more in-depth examination of the biological material attributed to Leonardo.

Launched in 2016, the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project is supported by the Municipality of Vinci and is coordinated by Rockefeller University in New York, involving institutions such as the University of Florence and the J. Craig Venter Institute in California. The research aims to shed light on the biological traits of the Renaissance master.

"Leonardo is not just the creator of the Mona Lisa. He is a challenge to redefine the limits of historical and cultural knowledge," said Jesse H. Ausubel of Rockefeller University, according to Il Giornale. The research will also be the basis of an international documentary and a future film production.

The guiding principle of the project is the traceability of the Y chromosome, which has remained unchanged for centuries. If successful, the sequencing of DNA fragments could reveal biological traits such as left-handedness, visual perception, diet, health predispositions, and physical appearance. This would also support the historical reconstruction of the lineage established through death records.

Credit: Othram

In 2006, a man who had gone by the name "Steven A. Mason" for at least 10 years before his death, died of natural causes in his home in Apopka, a northern suburb of Orlando, Florida. He was identified visually by his wife, and his identity was confirmed with fingerprints. However, after he died, it was discovered that he was living under a fake name and his real identity was unknown.

He was described as a white man with blue eyes and short graying hair.He was between 45 to 65 years old when he died and his left earlobe was pierced twice and his right ear was not pierced. On his right forearm, he had a tattoo of "Yosemite Sam." On his left forearm, he had a tattoo of the "Tazmanian Devil" and near his left wrist, he had a tattoo of a heart with an arrow through it. Despite efforts by investigators to determine who he was, his real identity was a mystery and details of the case were entered into NamUs as UP9397.

In 2024, the Orange County Sheriff's Office teamed with Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could help identify the man. Othram scientists developed a DNA extract from the forensic evidence and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile that can be used for forensic genetic genealogy analysis. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) team used this profile to conduct extensive genetic genealogy research, ultimately providing new investigative leads to law enforcement to identify the man.

Using those leads, the Orange County Sheriff's Office continued to investigate and were able to locate possible relatives of the unknown man. Investigators then interviewed some of those possible relatives. One person submitted a reference DNA sample which was compared to the unidentified man's DNA profile using KinSNP Rapid Relationship Testing. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man as David D’intinosanto, who was born September 12, 1958. He was estranged from family in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and had been known to use fake identities.

The identification of David D’intinosanto is the 41st case in the State of Florida where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Visit DNASolves to learn about other Florida cases, where your support can help bring long-awaited answers to families.

On the eve of Juneteenth, American Ancestors® and the National Urban League® present the profound, free virtual program 10 Million Names: A Conversation About African American Family History and Healing, on Wednesday, June 12, 5:00 to 6:30 pm EDT. 

This online gathering features a compelling conversation between two prominent figures: Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, and Kenyatta D. Berry, acclaimed genealogist, entrepreneur, television host of PBS’s Genealogy Roadshow, and author.  Registration for the virtual event is open at tinyurl.com/2pz3uauf.

This isn’t just an event. It’s a homecoming.  This special event honors the lives, stories, and legacies of the 10 million enslaved African American men, women, and children whose names and histories were systematically erased by slavery—and celebrates the modern descendants reclaiming those stories today.  Together, we will Recover. Restore. Remember.

10 Million Names is a collaborative project dedicated to recovering the names of the estimated 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America (specifically, the territory that would become the United States) between the 1500s and 1865. The project seeks to amplify the voices of people who have been telling their family stories for centuries, connect researchers and data partners with people seeking answers to family history questions, and expand access to data, resources, and information about enslaved African Americans.

There are at least 44 million descendants of enslaved individuals living today, but slavery separated families, erased names, and obscured facts. The 10 Million Names Project, launched by American Ancestors and its partners in 2023, aims to connect the family stories of these descendants to the 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in the U.S. prior to emancipation and to restore their names to history.

Featured Guests and Highlights:

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, will share personal reflections on his own ancestry, identity, and legacy in a live conversation with Kenyatta D. Berry, a pioneer in African American genealogy and a passionate advocate for the power of knowing one’s roots.  The conversation will culminate in a special live reveal by Kenyatta Berry—sharing new research into Marc Morial’s personal family history.

The evening will also feature the debut of a short impact reel showcasing the progress of 10 Million Names, including the more than one million names already recovered.

About 10 Million Names

10 Million Names is a collaborative project dedicated to recovering the names of the estimated 10 million men, women, and children of African descent who were enslaved in pre- and post-colonial America (specifically, the territory that would become the United States) between the 1500s and 1865. The project seeks to amplify the voices of people who have been telling their family stories for centuries, connect researchers and data partners with people seeking answers to family history questions, and expand access to data, resources, and information about enslaved African Americans.  For more information, visit 10millionnames.org.

About American Ancestors   

American Ancestors® is a national nonprofit center for family history, heritage & culture based in Boston, Massachusetts that has been setting the gold standard for genealogical research since its founding in 1845. Today, American Ancestors serves 400K+ members and subscribers through AmericanAncestors.org, one of the world’s largest online collections of family history resources. In 2025, American Ancestors launched the Family Heritage Experience, an interactive, state-of-the-art exhibition that introduces visitors to the joy of family history research, located at 97 Newbury Street at our headquarters in Boston. American Ancestors is also home to the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center, which preserves New England’s Jewish history, and 10 Million Names, a project dedicated to finding the names of the enslaved men, women, and children in pre- and post-colonial America before emancipation.   For more information,

visit americanancestors.org.

About National Urban League

The National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment, equality, and social justice.  Founded in 1910 and headquartered in New York City, the Urban League collaborates at the national and local levels with community leaders, policymakers, and corporate partners to elevate the standards of living for African Americans and other historically underserved groups. The organization spearheads the efforts of its local affiliates through the development of programs, public policy research, and advocacy. Today, the National Urban League has 92 affiliates serving 300 communities in 37 states and the District of Columbia, providing direct services that impact and improve the lives of more than two million people nationwide.  The League promotes economic empowerment through education and job training, housing and community development, workforce development, entrepreneurship, health, and quality of life.  

For more information, visit nul.org.

Photo credit: Marc H. Morial