Virginia Obituaries

ADOPT ME!!

 There are three levels of volunteering work involved in helping with this project:

1. Submitting whole obituaries as seen in the newspaper. Permission is required. See bottom of page for information and sample letter.

2. Indexing the information found in the obituary (Name, dob, dod, locations, parents, spouses, marriage date & location, cemetery, funeral home, date of source, picture availability) . If you live in Oklahoma or know someone who does that subscribes to a local paper, then you can help with this project! You can index the local paper. Permission is not required from the newspaper, so begin today. It is easy, not a lot of typing is involved, just a dedication to saving the obits and typing in the basic information for each one. Estimated amount of time five to ten minutes a day (or save them and do them on the weekend). More information available at bottom of this page.

3. Individual Obituaries also accepted. Permission is required to place the obit word for word. Otherwise a synopsis or index of the obit can be submitted without permission. Know the city and need the county?

Participating Newspapers

Counties with obituaries in the Archives are the only ones linked at this time. When I have the chance, I will add each county with the newspapers of the area and genealogical/historical society information. If you have such information and it isn't listed here, please send it to me at Maggie Stewart

Counties
**Only Counties with Obituaries are Linked**

Here is how you can help with the Obituary Project

• To volunteer send your name, email address, and the newspaper you will be working from, make a note if you are indexing or submitting whole obits. Once a month, you will email me your file of obit information. We will then place them online. Questions or comments, please contact me: Linda Simpson

• Contact local newspapers to ask permission for the USGenWeb Archives Project to archive their obituaries.  Here is a sample letter to send to the newspapers. Contact me with the name of the newspaper and name and title of person granting permission from the publication.

• Check with state archives and genealogical societies to locate microfilm or other sources of pre-1923 (public domain) newspapers to transcribe obituaries from.

• Something to think about, some newspapers offer subscriptions by mail.

• Volunteer to transcribe obituaries from newspapers already granting permission (must have access to their publication or website).

Copyright Law: The Virginia Obituary Project will abide by today's copyright laws. Obituaries published after December 31, 1924, unless:

1. you were the original author of the obituary, or
2. the newspaper in question grants permission to reprint the obituary, or
3. the obituary is that of a family member (you must give the relation), or
4. you submit an abstract/INDEX of your obituaries.

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