Railroad Retirement Board records moved to NARA Southeast

In his 3 May 2011, column Ken Thomas reports that the great records from the Railroad Retirement Board have been moved from Chicago to the National Archives Southeast Region in Morrow, Georgia. Morrow is just outside Atlanta.

This is FANTASTIC news. I will do some further checking to see if this means we are now able to personally view a file or have a professional researcher do that at NARA Southeast.

The Railroad Retirement Board was created in 1936 and has no records for workers who retired or died before 1937. If an ancestor still worked for or began service for a railroad after that date, there may be a file. To see if a file exists, it is best to have that person's social security number. Other helpful details would be the complete name, the railroad(s) worked for, time period of employment, birth and death dates. Common surnames may need additional details. Recent files are not included.

The social security number generally begins with a 7 and may be found in some old records left by the worker. It is also likely you will find it on the official death record. I have files I obtained for two of my great granduncles and they were helpful with many genealogical details.

Read the NARA Southeast page on the RRB records by clicking here.

Read Ken's full column in the Atlanta Journal Constitution by clicking here.