About Ralph Crandall

Ralph J. Crandall is the Executive Director Emeritus of the NEHGS and is currently overseeing "Preserving New England's Records: An Initiative for Family and Local History." A native of Connecticut, Ralph joined the NEHGS staff in 1974 as editor of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. In 1982 he was appointed Executive Director of the Society and served in that capacity until December 2005, with the exception of one year spent with his family in Thailand. Ralph received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in History at the University of Southern California. He is a member of the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the Massachusetts Historical Society, Pilgrim Society, the Society of Colonial Wars, and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, past Recording Secretary of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, former Director of the Bay State Historical League, and formerly served on the Advisory Committee of the Boston Public Library. In addition to his many years as editor of the Register, Ralph has published articles in a variety of publications, including Ancestry, Library Trends, and Family Chronicle. He is the author of the now-classic guidebook Shaking Your Family Tree (revised, 2001); editor of Genealogical Research in New England (1986); co-editor of Generations and Change (1985); and the contributor of “Family Types: Social Structure and Mobility in Early America: Charlestown, Massachusetts” in Changing Images in America (1979). His genealogical interests include the Crandall and Watrous families, and patterns of geographical and social mobility in early New England. Ralph and his wife Linda live in Harvard, Massachusetts, and have three daughters and three grandchildren. View all posts by Ralph Crandall →