Tom Cook's Genealogical Research Projects

This page is an introduction to some of the family history projects I've undertaken over the past several years and displays some of the historical images collected during the course of these projects.

I began doing genealogical research in 1974 at the age of 16. This was back in the days before personal computers, when microfilm was still a novelty.

Today the Internet has driven genealogical research into everyone's home with breathtaking speed. The Internet is truly shrinking the planet--bringing distant cousins together across oceans.

One of the most rewarding endeavor's to that end, was the publication of the Chicago Irish Families database. Conceived in 1993 it was an attempt to compile as much information as possible that would give researchers in America--origin data on specific immigrants and their families. Published first at the website of the Irish at Home and Abroad (a now defunct genealogical journal), and presently accessible at the Ancestry.com website, the database brings together thousands of records relating to Irish immigrants of Chicago, culled from newspapers, out-of-print histories, church records and passenger lists making this one of the most useful databases for immigrant research on the Internet. Conversely, it has also been used by those living in Ireland doing "emigrant" research.

I invite comments, suggestions and additional material from family members to add to these pages.

--Tom Cook
Portland, Oregon

Tom's personal homepage

Cook and O'Keefe Family of Chicago's South Side: Historical Photographs

Last Update: 04/13/2001