Archives & Libraries
I love archives, libraries, and bookstores, don't you? These are grouped by what they're best for, not by what they call themselves, since so many of the best ones are honestly both.
National & Federal
The National Archives
Have you checked out the National Archives? They have a wonderful genealogy section, but my bucket list includes in-person research at their facility.
Library of Congress
I can seriously get lost for hours on end at the online Library of Congress. Their Resource and Reference Services Center is mind-boggling, but the LOC resource I use most often is Chronicling America. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my great great grandfather had been killed in a shootout that he, himself, instigated:
Public Ledger, 24 August 1866
One Eli Staggs, a brother-in-law to Berry and a witness for him – rode up to McKinney and commenced abusing him, and finally challenged him to a pistol combat or duel on the ground. McKinney readily accepted; and, leaping from his wagon, pistol in hand, about twenty feet apart, the firing between the parties commenced. . . .
State & Regional Archives
Colorado State Archives
This is where I had one of the most incredible days ever as a novice family researcher! The folks at the Colorado State Archives helped me find the original court records of my great great grandparents' divorce. If you're from Colorado or have ancestors from Colorado, this office is a treasure! I've used their online search engine for years, but nothing compares to having an actual file pocket containing historic pleadings and orders from 1899 gingerly handed to me with the caution, "Careful, ma'am, these are very delicate." And it's right across the street from the Denver Central Library, another Colorado treasure.
University & Special Collections
University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Books Library
I'd wanted to visit the University of Cincinnati Archives and Rare Books Library for years. Their online records only go back to 1865, and my brick wall ancestor, Annie E. Chaney, was born in Cincinnati in 1858, just early enough to fall outside everything I could search from home. When researchers there invited me to come in and dig through what only exists on paper for the years before 1865, I finally made the trip. It was one of the most amazing, surreal research experiences of my life. If your family's story runs through Cincinnati, this is the place to go!
Public Libraries with Genealogy Collections
Denver Central Library
A branch of the Denver Public Library system, the Denver Central Library is absolutely breathtaking! I first visited the library while working on an assignment for my Genealogy Studies Program through Boston University. I spent an entire day up in The Western History Collection. You have to see it to believe it!
Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library
The Genealogy & History Department at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library sits right downtown, with all the historical color of that part of the city. The people working here are top-notch, so helpful and accommodating. I can't wait to go back with all the questions I've accumulated since my visit.
Digital Collections
Digital Public Library of America
From a diverse collection of cultural organizations, the Digital Public Library of America provides photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, government documents, and much, much more — all free and available in digital format. Let's all donate to help keep this wondrous resource available for everyone!
The Internet Archive / Wayback Machine
I used to refer my students to the Internet Archive when I was teaching. It's a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and so much more. These days, I head over there when I'm looking for a resource that's out of print or elusive for various reasons. Here's an example of a book I came across while researching my Chaney family: The Cheney Genealogy compiled by Charles Henry Pope (1897).
The Hathi Trust Digital Library
Another go-to site for rare books and research resources, the Hathi Trust Digital Library is made possible through a global partnership of major research institutions and libraries. Their collections include millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. Read online or download full books and other resources. Oh, my goodness! Look at this title! I've got to read this! The Lives and Bloody Exploits of the Most Noted Pirates, Their Trials and Executions by Ezra Strong (1836).
Newspapers
See also Chronicling America, above, under Library of Congress.
Newspaper Archive
A large, paid newspaper database — expensive enough that I wouldn't subscribe to it directly. I get access through my National Genealogical Society membership, and it's offered through plenty of libraries and other genealogical societies too. Worth checking those routes before you pay full price for it.
Elephind
A free search engine that pulls from digitized historic newspaper collections from around the world, not just one archive's own holdings. It won't have everything, but it's a good free first stop before paying for anything.
Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
A service of the Colorado State Library, this collection digitizes Colorado's newspapers through the end of their public domain years, free to search. I've turned up plenty of surprises here, but nothing quite like what surfaced about my great grandmother Selma, remembered in family lore as a devout, upstanding woman of impeccable principles:
The Creede Candle, vol. XII, no. 50, 5 December 1903, p. 8, col. 6
Miss Cann, who is teaching the Upper Creede public school, was assaulted Thursday evening while on her way home from her school by Mrs. W. J. Jackson, who was laying in wait for Miss Cann along the railroad track between the court house in this city and the D. & R.G. water tank. The reason for the assault was that Miss Cann punished one of the Jackson children, who has been giving the teacher considerable trouble. Mrs. Jackson used a quirt and struck Miss Cann several times about the body. . . . A warrant was issued for Mrs. Jackson's arrest and this morning she was tried in Justice Fairborn's court and after pleading guilty was fined $24.50.
Family memory told it as a prank gone wrong — her son Billy and his siblings faking a whipping with red-inked cloth, Selma rushing out before anyone could explain the joke. The record tells it plainer: a warrant, a guilty plea, and a $24.50 fine that would have hurt a family scraping by in a mining town. The documented version and the family version rarely agree, and the documented version usually wins.