Guides
Why musicians' causes of death are not recorded
Musicians who died: causes of death are not recorded here. Why this archive keeps no cause field, what gets misread, and what the record holds instead.
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Guides
Guides
Career memorials this week: five earlier cases, 2023–2024
Career memorials this week: five earlier cases, 2023–2024, each with the office or archive that settles it — from Georgia vital records to the Irish GRO.
Guides
What the National Archives holds for historical American celebrity obituaries
Federal records confirm a famous life, not a famous death. Census, military and newspaper files at NARA and the Library of Congress do the checking.
Guides
National Center for Health Statistics death records
National Center for Health Statistics death records are de-identified. Learn what NCHS data can—and cannot—confirm about a celebrity death report.
Guides
How to use the Social Security Death Index to check a reported celebrity death
The public Social Security Death Index is closed to most users, so a celebrity death check now runs through an SSA Numident request and a state record.
Guides
Celebrity Probate Court Records Search: What Courts Publish
Celebrity probate court records search depends on state rules. This guide covers what US courts publish, what stays sealed, and how to request a file.
Guides
Cause of death guides: how records differ
Cause of death guides explain how US death certificates, investigative findings, notices, and obituaries differ, and how a cause may be certified or amended.
Guides
How a weekly deaths record is closed, rechecked, and frozen at the end of the week
The closing pass for a weekly deaths record: entries rechecked against sources, what verified means at close, what crosses the boundary, how a closed page is left.