Hi,
I'm fairly new to genealogy and would like to do some research at the MA registry of vital records in Dorchester. I haven't been there before, and since they're only open a few hours a day, I'd like to get an idea of what to expect so I can get the most our of the short time I'll have there.
I'll take my great-grandmother as an example. I know she died in the 1960s, but I don't have a specific date. Should I start searching for her in the death indexes at the Mass Archives, to get the year of her death?
If I'm able to find the year of her death, how would I find her death record at the registry?

Thanks,
Christine

It is best to have a date. If you have Ancestry and sshe was on Social Security you could find her death record there. If you don't have Ancestry ask some one on the board to look it up for you. Mass death index starts at 1970. I hope this helps.
Tina

Since you have limited time, and pay by the hour, your best approach is to get as much info as you can before going to the registry.

So using your GrGrandmother as an example, if she died in the 1960's, you wouldn't find her death information in the Archives. The Archives has records through 1915. Her record would be at the Registry. You would look her up in the index to identify the record location, and then go lookup the record. But to Tina's point, there might be more information available online in the Social Security Death Index. The SSDI is accessible though Ancestry. If your GrGrandmother had an uncommon name, it might not matter, but if it was common, SSDI could help you narrow down which record was hers. For example, if her name was Mary Smith, you might have to look at lots of indices/records until you came across the one that's yours. The SSDI can help narrow it down since there is often birth date information listed as well. Once you know when she died (lets say April 1965), it can optimize your lookups at the registry.

To second Tina' comment, don't be afraid to ask for help.

John

I've tried the SSDI, but I haven't had much luck yet. She was only in the US for a few years before she died, so I'm not sure she even applied for a Social Security Number.
Thanks for your help! I may have found the cemetery she was buried, so I'm going to try that route before heading to the registry.

Christine