JENNIFER LIBER RAINES
Genealogical and Historical Researcher.
Preservation & Access Advocate.
Marketing & Communications Consultant.
email: jliberraines@bridgeandcase.com | phone: 716-550-2439
CONCENTRATIONS
Genealogical and Historical Research
Preservation and Access
Presentations (in-person and online)
Project Management
Community Outreach and Advocacy
Marketing and Communications
PROFILE
Jennifer Liber Raines has always loved a good story and a problem to solve.
After a successful career in marketing and communications, her curiosity and passion for research and storytelling led her to genealogy. For the past twelve years, she has been helping clients, researchers, and community members explore and document history. Deeply committed to preservation and partnerships, Jennifer is a member of the New York State Archives Advisory Committee and a past member of the New York State Historical Records Advisory Board (2018-2023). She was a member of The Buffalo History Museum’s Board of Managers, where she served as Board Vice-President and Advancement Committee Chair. A long-time volunteer for the Western New York Genealogical Society, Jennifer previously served as President and Preservation Chair; she is currently their webmaster.
Jennifer’s personal research focuses on the history of Western New York’s institutional poor; specifically, her work documents the lives and experiences of individuals who worked and received care at the Erie County Poorhouse (1851-1926) as well as those children bound out and placed at local orphanages by the County of Erie. From 2013-2019, Jennifer served as a member of the University at Buffalo’s Erie County Poorhouse Cemetery Project.
Jennifer is a frequent lecturer and a past contributor to such publications as the Western New York Genealogical Society Journal, Swedish American Historical Quarterly, and Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy in the United States. She is a recipient of the New York State Archives’ William Hoyt Award for Excellence in Advocacy (2019), the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society’s Empire Service Award (2018), and the Buffalo History Museum’s Owen B. Augspurger Award for Local History (2016).
A member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Jennifer received her professional certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University and her B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
VOLUNTEER SERVICE
New York State Archives 2018-Present
Member, Archives Advisory Committee 2023-Present
Member, New York State Historical Records Advisory Board 2018-2023
Workgroup Member, Every Voice | Every Story: Achieving Greater Agency, Equity, and Social Justice in New York’s Historical Record Initiative 2020-2021
Western New York Genealogical Society 2012-Present
Board President 2017-2019
Library Volunteer 2012-Present
Preservation Chair 2017-2024
Programming Chair 2013-2017
Publicity & Community Outreach Chair 2013-2019
Webmaster 2015-Present
Board Member 2013-2016
Buffalo History Museum 2017-2022
Board Vice-President 2020-2022
Chair, Advancement Committee 2019-2022
Member, Advancement Committee 2017-2022
Member, Strategic Planning Committee 2019-2022
University at Buffalo 2013-2019
Member, Erie County Poorhouse Cemetery Project 2013-2019
Volunteer Researcher, National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program Grant: Battle of Scajaquada Creek Bridge 2017-2018
PUBLICATIONS
Liber Raines, J.L. “Early Buffalo (New York) Tax and Assessment Roll Books: 1815 to 1823.” Western New York Genealogical Society JOURNAL, volumes 46 (March 2020) through 48 (June 2021).
Liber Raines, J.L. “Children Bound Out by the Erie County Superintendents of the Poor, 1864-1868.” Western New York Genealogical Society JOURNAL, volumes 45 (June 2018) through 46 (September 2019).
Nystrom, K.C., Sirianni, J., Higgins, R., Perrelli, D., & Liber Raines, J.L. “Structural Inequality and Postmortem Examination at the Erie County Poorhouse.” K.C. Nystrom, ed. The Bioarchaeology of Dissection and Autopsy in the United States. Switzerland: Springer International, 2017. Pages 279-300.
Sandy, D., Jones, J.E., & Liber Raines, J.L. “The Buffalo Orphan Asylum and the Settlement of Swedes in Northern Pennsylvania and Western New York.” The Swedish American Historical Quarterly, 67 (October 2016): 216-240.
Liber Raines, J.L. “Erie County Children and Orphans Placed at Local Charitable Institutions (1875-1882). Western New York Genealogical Society JOURNAL, volumes 41 (September 2014) through 42 (March 2016).
CONFERENCE POSTERS & PRESENTATIONS
Liber Raines, J.L. “Forgotten People, Forgotten Places: The Lives & Lessons of the Erie County Poorhouse Cemetery Project.” Lecture. New York Archives Annual Conference: Rochester, NY, 2019.
Liber Raines, J.L. (2014, April 14). “The Importance of Documentary Evidence in Understanding Demographic Patterns at the Erie County Poorhouse (1851-1926).” Symposium poster. Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Conference: Calgary, AB, Canada, 2014.
Higgins, R. & Liber Raines, J.L. “Confirming Burial Location in the Erie County Poorhouse Cemetery Using Death Certificates and Mortality Records from 1880 – 1913.” Symposium poster. Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Conference: Calgary, AB, Canada, 2014.
Higgins, R., Liber Raines, J.L., Perrelli, D., & Sirianni, J. “Using Documentary Evidence to Study the Erie County Almshouse Skeletal Collection: Problems and Potential.” Conference presentation. New York State Archaeological Association Annual Conference: Watertown, NY, 2013.
MEMBERSHIPS
Association of Professional Genealogists
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
Ohio Genealogical Society
National Genealogical Society
New York Association of Local Government Records Officers
New York Genealogical & Biographical Society
Western New York Genealogical Society
