Effectively trace ancestors in genealogical and historical libraries and societies tutorial.
Over many generations, the history of a family lies buried in different sources and places. Like a good detective, the historian and genealogist must search for the pieces of a family’s past in those many sources such as books, documents, and manuscripts. The historian and genealogist must also be patient and imaginative, for the search can take years and involve a string of clues that lead to new sources. The facts–names, dates, events–that a genealogist gathers through the years are like pieces of a puzzle. Gradually those pieces can be fitted together to make a picture of a family, its many members, and its unique history.
For many researchers and genealogists, historical societies and university and state libraries are a vast reservoir of information, tools, and experts that will enhance and magnify your research by leaps and bounds. Use the information to build individual and family profiles and write narratives about ancestors.
Table of Contents
Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
- Where to Find Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
- Interwoven Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
- The Mission of Genealogical and Historical Societies
- The Mission of University and State Library Archives and Special Collections
- Strategy for Searching Libraries and Societies
- Available Resources in Libraries, Societies, and Archives
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
Where to Find Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
Where can I find lists of genealogical libraries and societies in the United States?
The following matrix is a listing of the best genealogical and historical libraries and societies in each state. Click on the state and you will be taken to the article that contains the listing of genealogical and historical libraries, societies, and archives for that state.
What does each state’s listing of genealogical libraries and societies include?
As this article was being researched, it became apparent that lists and links to genealogy and historical societies, libraries, and archives are scattered throughout the web. None of the resources are complete, yet all must be reviewed to ensure you have not overlooked a possible source. For each state, I will provide the resources for the following categories:
- Statewide Resources
- University Archives and Collections
- Public Library and Community Resources and Archives
- Historical Society and Special Interest Resources and Archives
- Finding State Digital Resources and Collections
- Digital Library Collections
- Historical and Genealogical Society Online Web Pages
While I have sought to provide you with a detailed compilation, I know I have missed some resources. If you don’t find what you’re seeking, I suggest you contact the library or society nearest your place of interest and see if they can help you locate resources that may not be online but can be contacted via other means.
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
Interwoven Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
As a researcher and storyteller, I have focused much research on online microfilm records and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Naively, I thought I had reached most of the available resources that pertained to my family. Then my perception changed with a trip to the roots of my family— Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and. Virginia. What started to be a 10-day trip ended up being a month-long discovery of who I am, where I came from and Whose I am.
Before my trip, I thought I had done extensive preparation through online searching at the Library of Virginia, spoken with and made arrangements to visit a few county historical societies, and identified where my family lived. I searched my records to see my information and collaborated with fellow family researchers and genealogists.
By the end of my trip, I had traveled 2,500 miles, taken 24,000 digital images, identified 150,000 plus ancestors from direct and collateral lines; visited and researched university archives and special collections; public and regional libraries; state, regional, and local historical, and ethnic societies; and state, county, and local government agencies. I had also spoken and counseled extensively with subject matter experts, walked my family’s land, visited the graves and cemeteries of my family, never found before known records, and met cousins both of Anglo- and African-American descent.
This experience came about because of interwoven historical and genealogical resources dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting artifacts and documents. They included:
- Colleges and universities archives and special collections
- Corporate archives
- Federal, state, and local government
- State, county, local, and ethnic historical societies
- Regional and community public libraries
If I learned one thing, it was a combination of all the resources to effectively help me learn and tell the story of my ancestors. I found that each organization had information shared by more than one organization; furthermore, I found each had unique and precious elements of my past. Finally and probably most importantly, I found a deep appreciation for the resources of individuals who freely gave of their time, expertise, and donations to acquire collections and make them available. I was also grateful to institutions and organizations for their dreams and vision to coordinate, collect, preserve, and manage history.
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
The Mission of Genealogical and Historical Societies
The mission of historical societies is to nurture and promote awareness and appreciation of state, regional, and local history and culture. This is done by identifying, collecting, studying, and preserving materials (i.e., common, rare, and unique) that include printed, manuscript, map, and photographic collections available to the public, researchers, and genealogists. Societies receive over 75 percent of inquiries from genealogists.
Societies can be private or operated as a government agency. If they are managed through the government, they will be required to follow all state government rules, regulations, and statutes.
Many historical societies make these collections available through on-site, online and inter-library loan resources. The types of services you will see historical societies provide include:
- Public lectures
- Seminars
- Conferences
- Consulting services
- Arrange school and general group tours
- Support scholarly research
- Maintain museums of changing, permanent, and traveling exhibitions
- Operate a research library
- Publish books, magazines, and newsletters
In addition to Historical Societies, other categories of “Societies” can provide a wealth of knowledge and information to the researcher.
Lineage/Hereditary Societies
A lineage society is an organization whose membership is limited to persons who can prove lineal, documented descent from a qualifying ancestor. Hundreds of such organizations exist in America, such as those who fought in the American Revolutionary War (Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR), who came across the plains as Mormon Pioneers (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, DUP), or those who arrived on the Mayflower.
Many lineage societies publish books of interest to their members and interest to other researchers. These books are found in most major genealogical libraries and can help you determine if society might have information about a possible ancestor. An excellent resource to identify such societies includes:
Immigrant and Early Settler Societies
Dozens of societies have been established focusing on specific immigrant groups or early settlers of some locality. While these societies are interested in immigrants, they do not always know where they came from in the old country. Their objectives do not include establishing the immigrant or settler’s ancestry, only their descent to current persons. Examples of these societies include:
- Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford (Connecticut) requires the ancestor to live in Hartford in early 1640.
- Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters, those persons who arrived in Virginia before 1616.
- General Society of Mayflower Descendants, descendants of the Mayflower passengers.
- The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America (pre-1657) founders who established families in America, among whose descendants, of the same surname line, were persons who fought for American independence in the Revolutionary War.
European Ancestry Societies
Some lineage societies focus on ancestors who were notable long before the American colonies were established. Therefore, descendants who wish to join need to trace their ancestry back to the immigrant (called the “gateway” ancestor) and trace that immigrant’s ancestry back to the qualifying ancestor in the old country. Usually, the qualifying ancestor was part of British royalty or nobility. Examples include:
- Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the United States of America requires documented descent from that early emperor. This means tracing your ancestry back more than 1,000 years.
- Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain
Nationality or Ethnic Lineage Societies
These are societies that focus on an entire ethnic group. They gather information, teach their members, and publish stories, findings, and sources, about that group. A small number of such societies, and the oldest such societies in America, are actual lineage societies. Membership is limited to those persons who can prove descent from an early settler of a specific ethnic group. Examples include:
- Dutch in New York
- Germans in Pennsylvania
- Scots-Irish in the Carolinas
Special Interest Societies
These societies focus on research and archives on specific areas of interest where large groups of individuals generally are interested. For example:
Genealogical Societies
Genealogical societies exist throughout the United States and Canada in every state or province, most counties and many major cities. The people in these societies share the same interest you do: individually discovering a heritage. They gather together, usually monthly, to learn how to trace their ancestry from each other. They recognize that together they have much more knowledgeable about the ins and outs of family history research than they do individually.
Contact the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) to locate societies in a specific area or more information about genealogical societies in general; contact the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). This umbrella organization of more than 525 genealogical groups throughout North America.
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
The Mission of University and State Library
Archives and Special Collections
The mission of library archives and special collections is to grow, organize, care for, and manage collections of records that are of local, regional, state and national interest – many of which date back to the early colonial period. They are responsible for those items that are especially rare and unique in the Library’s collections, including rare books, broadsides, sheet music, photographic images and fine art. These collections are made available to researchers from across the country and the world through on-site, online and inter-library loans. In addition to managing and preserving its collections, the libraries provide
- Research and reference assistance
- Consulting services
- Administers numerous federal, state, and local grant programs
- Publishes books, magazines, and newsletters
- Offer public exhibitions, lectures, and other educational programs
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
Strategy for Searching Libraries and Societies
As outlined, societies and libraries collect books, manuscripts, reference files, maps, newspapers, photographs, and other historical value items. The following outlines steps you might consider to unlock and find your family’s history and genealogy.
Step 1. Consult Handbooks on Genealogical Research
Handbooks on genealogical research offer both beginning and advanced researchers instruction, advice, and helpful information. Topics covered by these books include getting started, types of records to consult, research in other states and foreign countries, and record keeping. Those reference books focused on research in the locale of your interest are of particular value. Look under the headings such as “Genealogy-Handbooks, Manuals, etc.”
Step 2. Check Genealogy Surname Card Files
This physical and online card file is arranged alphabetically by surname and references births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. These cards were compiled from newspapers printed before 1850, books, journals, church records, and other sources.
Step 3. Search Family History Files and Published Biographies and Genealogies
The Family History Files contain unpublished notes and charts on lineages specific to the state, region, local and compiled by other researchers.
Published genealogies are part of the Library’s book collection and are listed by author, title, and family name in the book catalog. Books giving information on more than one family are cross-referenced under all the essential surnames.
Biographical encyclopedias, often published during the nineteenth century to flatter prominent business people and politicians, contain valuable genealogical information.
Step 4. Check Books on State and Local History
A wealth of genealogical information is contained in state and local history books.
Step 5. Search Journals and Periodicals
Often bits and pieces of family history can be found in articles in historical and genealogical journals. A name index often appears at the end of each volume. These are inbound volumes on the library shelves, sometimes microfilmed and online.
Step 6. Search Original Source Material
Collections include books, manuscripts, reference files, maps, newspapers, and photographs on all aspects of history and people. Not all of their collections are indexed or reproduced online, and contact them for research assistance if you don’t find what you are looking for. A detailed overview of the type of source material you can expect to find in your discovery of societies and libraries follows.
A Few Definitions. As you begin working with societies and libraries, you will hear vocabulary used to discuss and describe the type of material you will be researching. The following are a few definitions.
- Archives. Archives have two meanings: 1. Archives is the maintaining collections of documents (e.g., books, journals, newspapers, and music) and facilitating the use of such documents (recorded information regardless of its physical form and characteristics) as are required to meet the informational, research, educational, or recreational needs of their user. 2. Archives are usually unpublished, primary source material that documents the activities of an individual or organization. These unique materials are preserved in an archival setting because the information contained therein has enduring value. They provide evidence of the role and activities of the individual or organization that created them. Archival materials that document an individual’s activities are often referred to as manuscripts.
- Archivist. An archivist is a title used to describe a person responsible for managing archival and manuscript collections. An archivist’s job may include appraising, acquiring, arranging, describing, preserving, and providing access to primary sources. By carrying out these activities, archivists protect the authenticity and context of the materials in their care.
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- An archivist is often the best person to approach for in-depth information about the collections they oversee.
- The terms archivist and curator are often used interchangeably. Archivists may also have additional descriptors in their titles to explain specific areas of responsibility. For example, the University Archivist is the person who cares for the permanent records of the university. A project archivist has been hired to work in a concentrated area, such as a subject area, or on a specific collection.
- Finding Aids. Finding aids are tools that assist researchers in locating items in a unique collection. A finding aid can be as simple as listing folders (often called an inventory or preliminary inventory). A finding aid can also be a complex document that places special collections materials in context by consolidating information about the collection, such as history or biographical notes and a description of the arrangement of the collection.
- • Manuscripts. Manuscripts are usually unpublished, primary source material documenting an individual’s activities. These unique materials are preserved in an archival setting because the information therein has enduring value and provides evidence of the individual’s role and activities. In modern usage, the term archives can also refer to the papers of an individual.
- Personal Papers. Personal Papers is another term used to describe manuscript material. In the broad sense, a manuscript can refer to any unpublished document, and MSS is a common abbreviation for the manuscript.
- Primary Sources. Primary sources are usually defined as accounts or artifacts generated by an eyewitness or participant in past events. Interpretation and evaluation of these primary sources become the basis for historical narrative. Evaluating whether something can be used as a primary source depends on two things:
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- Proximity to the source. Ideally, the best source material comes from a person or process that is closest in time or proximity to the event, person or place under study. Usually, the creator of this type of primary source is an eyewitness who left a record for personal or procedural purposes. The reliability of sources declines as one gets farther away in time and proximity.
- Questions asked. Determining whether a source is a primary source often depends on the researcher’s questions.
- Rare Books. Rare Books are usually either old or unusual books and are considered valuable due to their unique qualities. An old book is not necessarily considered a rare book.
- Secondary Sources. Secondary sources are entirely removed in proximity from the actual event, person or place but seek to provide an interpretation based on primary sources. There is a continuum from primary to secondary sources, and many sources show elements of both.
- Special Collections. Special collections have characteristics that set them apart from other collections in libraries. These unique aspects may include:
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- Rarity: books, manuscripts, and other old, scarce or unique materials.
- Format: photographs, slides, films, audio recordings, maps, artworks, artifacts and other objects that need special handling.
- Comprehensiveness: accumulation of individually not unique materials, but collectively make up an essential resource because of their relevance to a particular topic or individual.
These characteristics also mean that special collections are not readily replaceable and require higher security and unique preservation environments to ensure their survival. In contrast to museum collections assembled for visual display, special collections focus on research as their primary mission. Thus, they complement general research collections and are often located in institutions that house both kinds of collections.
Step 7. Research Other Libraries
Become aware of all the state, regional, and local resources that might have collections for you to research. Simply by asking the society and library reference staff, you will be able to secure a list of resources to consult for your research.
Step 8. Make Your Research Available to Others
Societies and libraries are glad to accept gifts of published books and notes and charts relating to research on families from their locale. You can help future researchers by donating copies of your work.
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
Available Resources in Libraries, Societies, and Archives
The following is a brief overview of the type of resources and collections you can expect to find at societies and libraries. Secured and managed items are particular to communities, counties, regions, and states. While some items may be duplicated across collections, many are unique and can only be found in specific locations. It then becomes essential that you gain a comprehensive understanding of all the available resources collectively.
Audio-Visual
Audio-visual recordings are often valued for the authenticity and sense of closeness they bring to the speeches, sporting events, interviews, newscasts, and performances they document. One example you’re probably familiar with is Ken Burns’s Baseball or Civil War documentaries. In many cases, the media has been digitized and is made available to researchers.
Audio Recordings
Commonly encountered recording media include wax cylinder recordings, recordable disk records, recording wire, open reel-to-reel, cassettes and digital disks. Many of these recordings have been digitized and available for review. Subject matter ranges from music to speeches and presentations.
Bible Records
Bible Records are usually located in Manuscript Collections. They include birth, marriage, and death records, which were never recorded in official vital records and unavailable elsewhere.
Cemetery Records
Cemetery Records often come in the form of tombstone inscriptions which can often supply exact dates of birth and death, maiden names of women, and family relationships.
Census Records
A government-sponsored enumeration of the population in a particular area; and contains a variety of information from names, heads of household or all household members, their ages, citizenship status, ethnic background, etc.
Non-population Census Records
Agriculture, mortality, and social statistics schedules are available for the census years of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. Manufacturing schedules are available for 1820, 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. They are arranged by state, then by county, and then by political subdivision (township, city, etc.). These schedules can add “flesh” to ancestors’ bones and provide information about the communities in which they lived.
Church Records
Church registers are often the only way to determine birth and death dates in the years before states started to keep vital records. Most churches keep their records, but libraries usually have several books, copies of church records, a few manuscript volumes of original records, and microfilmed church records. You can request a current list of the churches for which records are available.
Civil Vital Records (Birth, Death, Marriages, Divorcees)
Civil vital records—for births, deaths, and marriages—mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of family history research. Chronicling the personal moments of our lives through the objective perspective of the public record, vital records can offer details often found through no other genealogical resource.
Diaries and Journals
Diaries and journals are used interchangeably today. No matter what you call them, these accounts are the autobiographies of ordinary people like your ancestors, and these may be the only existing records of their personal lives. Along with genealogical data, diaries give you an extraordinary glimpse into someone’s daily life, thoughts, and attitudes. A diarist may also record feelings on national events, such as a war or its impact on family and the community. The following attempts to define meanings as used over the last several centuries.
Directories
Directories and member lists are the predecessors of the modern-day phone book. They listed the inhabitants of a locality, with their addresses and occupation (and sometimes business address).
Electronic Discussion Groups
Many societies and libraries sponsor electronic discussion groups. For example, Virginia History and Virginia Genealogy are open to interested researchers worldwide.
Electronic Recordings
Although most archival materials are still paper-based, the number of electronic records entering archives increases. Whether the electronic records are in the form of e-mail, databases, text documents, spreadsheets, digital images, or web pages, archives look for metadata, or information about the records, to help them better understand the content and context of the materials they have received. Since electronic records are, in most cases, simply an alternate format of evidence traditionally created in paper form, they can be either a primary or secondary source depending on when, how, and why they were created.
Ephemera
Ephemera are materials created for a specific, temporary purpose. Although individuals often save these items for sentimental reasons or by chance, they can contain valuable information concerning people, places, and dates associated with events and the culture and economy of the time.
Genealogical Notes
Some researchers have donated research notes to libraries, often cataloged with Manuscripts.
Immigration Records
Naturalization Records. Naturalization is the legal procedure by which an alien becomes a citizen of a state or country. Naturalization records were not required to be reported to the U.S. Government until the Basic Naturalization Act of 1906; naturalization forms became standardized and were sent to the U.S. Bureau of Immigration (later the Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS]). Before that, federal, state and local courts could naturalize citizens. Each court keeps the records or, in some cases, sends them to be stored elsewhere. Immigrants often filed their first application for naturalization as soon as they came off the boat or other places on their journey to their final destination.
The formalized process required that prospective citizens file a declaration of intention that they renounced allegiance to foreign sovereignties. Following a waiting period of five years, an immigrant could then petition a federal court for formal citizenship.
Land Records
Many land records- title abstracts, land purchases, grants, and more. Land records are typically kept from the early days of settlement in an area and may be available when other records are not. These records provide information on relationships between individuals, approximate relocation dates, and the financial state. The types of land records you will find include:
Tax Records
Tax records include assessment lists, which give the names of property owners and the value of each property, and tax lists, which record the taxes due and paid.
Deeds
Deed books record the ownership and transfer of property, usually real estate.
Bounty-land Records
The federal government offered land to those who would serve in the military during the Revolutionary War, and some states also offered their land as an enticement for military service. The federal government reserved tracts in the public lands, and most of the original thirteen states set aside tracts of bounty land in their western holdings.
Donation Land Records
In 1850, in an attempt to lure settlers to the new western lands, the government gave lands to would-be settlers in Florida, New Mexico, and Oregon and Washington Territories, known as Donation Lands.
Homestead Records
The first Homestead law was enacted in 1862 and intended to encourage settlement in the West. As with the Donation Lands, the only requirement was to live on and improve the land through cultivation. Only a small filing fee was required.
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States Office supervises the public land states east of the Mississippi River and the states that border the western side of the river.
Local and Family Histories
The historical society is usually an excellent source for finding local and family histories, which are invaluable as you discover the roots of your ancestors.
- Family History. Family history is a book or document that gives facts and information about one or more generations of a family.
- Local History. The overwhelming majority of local histories address how a particular region and its citizens handled and reacted to every central state and national happening.
- Biography. A biographical sketch can include almost any aspect of a person’s life but generally contains information about the individual’s family, education, and occupation.
- Institutional Histories. Look for histories of the institutions that may have relevance to your family: churches, orphanages, charitable institutions, schools, hospitals and dispensaries, cultural institutions, cemeteries, businesses.
- Important: Look in the Notes. As a genealogist, the family and personal histories will provide clear documentation for statements made; footnotes and bibliographies can indeed provide critical data if one engages in a process known as citation analysis. This process involves taking a critical look at all notes and bibliographic references to analyze them for evidence of previously unknown record groups, publications, court records, and other papers which might document the life of an ancestor.
Maps & Gazetteers
The use of maps, gazetteers, atlases, and related resources provides the genealogist with essential information about the family and directions to continue your research. For example, You are looking for vital records of a particular city, usually kept in the county courthouse. Over time many counties have changed and subdivided, and in most cases, records have remained with the original courthouse. Maps can help you define what county your ancestor lived in at a specific period. If the city were in multiple counties over time, you would gain clues of which courthouses to search, given the original courthouse does not have the records you seek.
It also pays to study the area around that of your forebears. What was the region like? If a mountain, river, or other topographical feature between them and the county seat, they might have taken a more leisurely route and created records in the next county. This is also true of areas with differing regulations. In states with less stringent marriage laws, “marriage mills” sprung up. Lake County, Indiana, is a well-known example of this. Many couples from the Chicago area crossed the border into Indiana to get married.
Memorabilia
Memorabilia are objects containing historical value that does not fit into any of the standard categories of special collections. These items often commemorate events or the achievements of an individual or group. Memorabilia collections frequently include badges, plaques, paintings, trophies, and coins, including pens, name tags, office equipment, clothing, and even hair. In many cases, memorabilia are materials that would likely be found on display in a museum and thus are often used by archivists and curators for exhibits.
Military Records
Military records kept by the U.S. Government about soldiers and sailors who served their country are a significant source of information about individuals. The four significant wars of interest to are:
- American Revolution (1775-1783). Approximately one out of every seven Americans fought in the American Revolution.
- Civil War (1861-1865). Approximately one out of every ten Americans fought in the Civil War.
- World War I (1918-1919). Over 4.8 million served in World War I
- World War II (1942-1945). Over 16 million in World War II.
Newspapers and Periodicals
- Newspapers. Newspapers can contain a multitude of genealogical information-obituaries; notices of births, marriages, and deaths; legal notices; estate transactions; biographies, military, immigration.
- Periodicals. Through periodicals, the researcher can begin to gain access to data contained in vital records, court records, plat maps, family Bibles and day books, declarations of intention and naturalization certificates, local census and tax lists, church records and cemetery inscriptions, as well as the dozens of few-of-a-kind local items.
- Genealogical Society Publications. City, county, regional, and state genealogy societies write and publish journals, newsletters, and quarterlies that focus on the area of interest to the genealogical organization. They are published monthly, quarterly and annually, and these range from a few pages to hundreds of pages. These publications tend to index, abstract, and transcribe the region’s records where they are published.
- Historical Society Publications. Society publications can be a significant aspect of immigrant research, and any local record may be the subject of publication by a local society. Whenever you contact a genealogical or ethnic society, be sure to inquire about their publications. Even when such publications do not identify an immigrant’s hometown, they may provide further identification about your immigrant or instruct you on additional sources specific to a locality or ethnic group.
- How to Locate Newspapers and Periodicals. There are thousands of local, county, regional, state, and national periodicals currently being published or having been published. The task of finding specific geographic and surname data may, at first, appear daunting. The following are several good and reliable sources.
- WorldCat. WorldCat is a catalog of the holdings of thousands of libraries worldwide. Many of these libraries have cataloged their periodical holdings, and WorldCat can be searched by family name or geographic location.
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- Search many libraries at once for an item and then locate it in a library nearby
- Find books, music, and videos to check out
- Find research articles and digital items (like audiobooks) that can be directly viewed or downloaded
- Link to “Ask a Librarian” and other services at your Library
- Post your review of an item, or contribute factual information about it
- PERSI. The Periodical Source Index, or PERSI, is the most significant subject index to genealogical and historical periodical articles globally. Created by the foundation and department staff of the Genealogy Center of the Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, PERSI is widely recognized as a vital source for genealogical researchers. With more than 1.1 million entries, researchers and genealogists can search for articles about the United States, Canada, and overseas locations, surnames, and research methodology topics.
Oral Histories
Oral histories are recordings of people’s memories. It is the living history of everyone’s unique life experiences. They record people’s experiences on sound and videotape. Oral histories enable people who have been hidden from history to be heard and those interested in their past to record personal experiences and those of their families and communities. It is a vital tool for our understanding of the recent past. Many societies and libraries have begun such projects in recent years.
Photo Collections
Photograph archives consist of collections ranging from a few to several million images. Depending on the collection, images will date back to the 1860s and track the expansion of the community, county, region, and state. You will see contributions of various ethnic groups, people and organizations to the geographical formations of the region. A decade after decade, commercial, journalistic or family photographers have focused on familiar neighborhoods, geography, and buildings.
Photograph collections are essential from a regional, national and international significance. From a national perspective, it’s a collection of what became an area as it was settled. Issues relating to water in arid climates, Native Americans, air and automobile transportation, suburbanization, agriculture, and recreation are addressed and presented through the work of many late nineteenth and twentieth-century photographers.
Probate Records
County courts generate probate Records. Societies and libraries will have probate records for some counties; others can be obtained by contacting the county clerk in the county where the will was probated.
Rare Books
Although a common misconception holds that rare books are always old and that scarce books are always rare, there are, in fact, many factors that contribute to a book’s rarity. In the broadest sense, a book is rare if its demand exceeds its supply. Demand for certain books is based on intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics, such as the book’s age, scarcity, association, condition, physical features, and popularity of author or subject.
Reference Guides/Brochures/Leaflets
Many state organizations provide reference guides, brochures or leaflets in print and online that discuss specific aspects of their collections and how to use or how to conduct research in a particular state, region, or locale. Look for guides such as:
- A Guide to Genealogical Research at the (State) Historical Society
- Population Census Records at the (State) Historical Society
- Index to Naturalizations in (State)
- List of Basic Sources on (State) History
Scrapbooks
The scrapbook is one of the few types of archival materials created to preserve the memory of an individual, organization, or event. Often comprised of photographs, newspaper clippings, and annotations, scrapbooks can offer valuable information about the past but are also susceptible to a loss of material caused by inadequate adhesive or items sticking together.
Subject Based Collections
Although archival materials often make up a large part of an institution’s special collections, many published unique collection materials are maintained together not only because of their rarity but also based on their subject matter, author, or some other unifying theme. Most subject-based collections consist of secondary materials that, brought together in one place, constitute a valuable and unique research collection. Subject-based collections attempt to collect exhaustively in their subject area and will often include primary source material in the form of official documents and archival and manuscript materials that have been published for wider dissemination.
Conclusion
Well, you have made it through the article; I hope you have realized that many new doors that will now open to you as you begin to experience and explore the interwoven historical and genealogical resources that await you at:
- Colleges and universities archives and special collections
- Corporate archives
- Federal, state, and local government
- State, county, local, and ethnic historical societies
- Regional and community public libraries
You will gain, as I did, a deep appreciation for the resources of individuals who freely will of their time, expertise, and donations to acquire collections and make them available to you. And don’t forget to let the institutions know how grateful you are for having the vision to coordinate, collect, preserve, and manage the history we all share.
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Genealogical and Historical Libraries and Societies
