Today the website formerly known as Footnote.com announced the intention to create the finest and most comprehensive collection of U.S. Military records available on the Internet. In the process, the website will become known as Fold3.
The official announcement continues:
Footnote Gets Focused
This announcement isn’t a complete change from what we’ve been doing. Some of our best and most popular work has been on military titles like the Revolutionary War Pension files, the Civil War Service Records and “Widows’ Pensions,” WWII Missing Air Crew Reports and the Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
This new focus will direct our content plans and allow us to organize the site around military records. In the future we’ll make other changes that will help us build the best online source for records related to the U.S. military, the men and women who have served and the families who support them.
You will still be able to access the great non-military records previously found on Footnote, but we’ll be adding millions of U.S. military records, like these that we’ve already begun work on:
Word War II “Old Man’s Draft” Cards
War of 1812 Pension Files
Mexican War Service Records
World War I Officer Experience Reports
Confederate Casualty Reports
One change that won’t impact how things work, but is significant and will probably get a lot of attention, is the site’s new name. Footnote has been a great name, but it doesn’t relate to military records and can carry a connotation of insignificance which doesn’t seem appropriate for a site focused on records related to the great sacrifices associated with military service.
New Name: Fold3
We wanted a name that would show respect for the records we are working on and for the people who have served in the armed forces. The name Fold3 comes from a traditional flag-folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honor and remembrance of veterans for their sacrifice in defending their country and promoting peace in the world.
We are excited for this new focus and name because it will help us continue to improve the site and bring you records that will help in your research.
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions, please let us know.
Updates
During the day following the announcement, people have provided feedback, and the website has issued some updates:
Many of the questions so far have been about what will happen to all the non-military content on the site. Sorry for any confusion we caused on that. We don’t plan to remove any non-military content from the site with the exception of some third-party newspaper content that may be removed at the owners’ discretion. The city directories, naturalizations, vital records, Native American records and other non-military content that we have created for the site will be available on Fold3. You can still find them through search, on the records list page, and in browse under the new “Other Records” category.
There have also been some questions about content moving back and forth between Ancestry and Fold3. We do plan to bring copies of some of Ancestry’s military records over to Fold3 (the World War II “Old Man’s Draft” Cards we are currently adding to the site are an example) and Ancestry may get copies of some Fold3 titles that make sense for their users, but when this happens, the records would be copied, not moved, Fold3 content added to Ancestry will still be available on Fold3 and vice versa.
Thank you for all your comments. We appreciate your passion and support for Footnote. We hope as the dust of this change settles, you’ll find that the site feels familiar and that the most important parts of Footnote are still part of Fold3.
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