Premium Research Databases – Library Card Required
| Name | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| African American Heritage | Specialized | Search essential historical records for African Americans, including Federal Census, Marriage and Cohabitation records, Military Draft and Service records, Registers of Slaves and Free(d) Persons of Color, Freedmans Bank and More. |
| American Ancestors | Specialized | Library Use Only Online access to the resources of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The collection includes over 200 million records for New England, New York, and beyond. |
| Ancestry Library Edition | General | Library Use Only U. S. Census records; military records; court, land and probate records; vital and church records; directories; petitions for naturalization; passenger lists and more. |
| Fold3 | Military | Convenient access to military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. |
| HeritageQuest Online | General | Provides access to primary documents, unpublished manuscripts (census indexes, family and local histories, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications), and access to Freedmans Bank for African-American genealogical research. Also includes access to the Periodical Source Index (PERSI), which features more than 1.6 million citations from 6,500 genealogy periodicals and a fully searchable collection of more than 25,000 family and local history books and city directories. |
| Newspapers.com Ohio Collection | General | The largest online newspaper archive, established in 2012. Used by millions for genealogy and family history, historical research, crime investigations, journalism, and entertainment. Search for obituaries, marriage announcements, birth announcements, social pages, national and local news articles, sports, advertisements, entertainment, fashion and lifestyle pages, comics, and more. Everything you’d expect in the paper—and maybe something you didn’t! |
| Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps | Specialized | Large scale street plans produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance company from 1867 to 1970. Used by local historians to locate and identify buildings and neighborhoods, urban historians to study the growth of towns and cities, and environmentalists concerned about impact of new developments. |
Other Genealogy Resources
| Name | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Access Genealogy | General | Contains a large collection of free U.S. genealogy resources, including sources for birth records, death records, marriage records, census records, tax records, church records, court records, military records, historical newspapers, cemeteries and ethnic records. The website specializes in Native American genealogy and research. |
| Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center | General | The ACPL Genealogy Center is a unique and valuable resource for the Northeastern Indiana community and the entire genealogical community at large. We have one of the largest research collections available, incorporating records from around the world. Our staff specializes in genealogy and is always available to help. |
| Billion Graves | Obituary | Database allows you to search by individual name or cemetery, app provides GPS directions to grave site. |
| Castle Garden | Immigration | Access to a database of information on 11 million immigrants from 1820 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened. |
| Chronicling America | Newspaper | Free online access to over 17 million digitized high quality, full-text searchable, public domain historic newspaper pages covering 1789-1963 from over 50 U.S. states and territories. Made possible through the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library of Congress, and state partners, like the Ohio History Connection. |
| Cleveland Necrology File | Obituary | Local cemetery records and newspaper death notices for the following years: 1833, 1847-1848, 1850-1975. |
| Cleveland Press Collection | Local | Digital database of news clippings and photographs of the Cleveland Press newspaper. Also contained are oral histories, videos and other local history resources. |
| Cyndi’s List | Resources | A categorized and cross-referenced list of genealogical resources on the Internet. |
| Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Local | Joint project between Case Western Reserve and the Cleveland Historical Society, this online database contains articles written by many Cleveland scholars. A useful reference for anyone interested in any event in Cleveland history. |
| Family Search | General | Offers free family history, family tree and genealogy records and resources from around the world. The site features an online searchable database of many different records including the United States Census and the U.S. Social Security Death Index as well as military, church, and vital records from the United States and from many different countries. |
| Family Tree Magazine | Resources | *Physical copies available in the archives* Research tips and tools for beginners, as well as genealogical charts and forms. |
| Find a Grave | Obituary | Search through 80 million grave records. |
| Freedmen’s Bureau Records | Specialized | The United States Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was created by Congress in 1865 to assist in the political and social reconstruction of post-war Southern states and to help formerly enslaved people make the transition from slavery to freedom and citizenship. In the process, the Bureau created millions of records that contain the names of hundreds of thousands of formerly enslaved individuals and Southern white refugees. Currently crowd sourcing transcription of over 1.5 million images of records. |
| Hudson Library Newspaper Index | Local | Subject index to major news items in Hudson, Ohio, newspapers and news sources from 1903 to present day. Publication list: Ex Libris (Bulletin of the Hudson Library & Historical Society), Hudson Herald, Hudson Hub, Hudson Hub Times, Hudson Life, Hudson Monthly, Hudson Observer, Hudson Times, North Summit Times, North Summit Independent, and Yesterday in Hudson. |
| Imperial War Museum: American Air Museum in Britain | Military | The Imperial War Museum has provided online access to records of American air service men stationed in Britain during World War II. Search for relatives of fighter and bomber units in this online database. |
| Jewish Genealogy | Specialized | JewishGen serves as the global home for Jewish genealogy. Featuring unparalleled access to millions of records, it offers unique search tools, along with opportunities for researchers to connect with others who share similar interests. |
| Legacy.com | Obituary | Global leader of online obituaries, with more than 1,500 newspapers and 3,500 funeral homes throughout the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK and Europe. |
| Library Internet Archives | General | This database has many city directories digitized from across the United States. Useful for tracking down a relative that doesn’t appear in the census records. |
| Library of Congress | General | The Library of Congress has one of the world’s premier collections of U.S. and foreign genealogical and local historical publications. The Library’s genealogy collection began as early as 1815 with the purchase of Thomas Jefferson’s library. |
| National Archives and Records Administration | General | Census records; governmental and military history records; military pension files; product patents; also passenger lists, early naturalization records, and much more |
| The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor | Military | A museum dedicated to the history of the Purple Heart medal. Although not comprehensive, there is also a database of recipients of this award. |
| New York Public Library | General | The NYPL has of the finest collections of maps from around the world. Many have been digitized and allow you to see New York in a previous century, as well as other locations from the Untied States. |
| Ohio Death Certificate Index | Obituary | Death certificates of individuals who died in Ohio between 1913-1944. The database provides the date of death and a certificate number. Researchers can purchase photocopies of the death certificate online. |
| Ohio Genealogical Society | Local | OGS has several free databases, such as obituary indexes, and information on the first settlers of Ohio. |
| Ohio Memory | Local | Explore thousands of other materials documenting Ohio’s rich history, from prehistory to present day, including: photographs, diaries, archaeological artifacts, books, and more! |
| Ohio Obituary Index | Obituary | An index to over 3,700,000 obituaries, death & marriage notices & other sources from Ohio from the 1810s to the present day. Actual obits may be ordered from over 65 partner libraries; only Hayes Library has online ordering. |
| Ohio University: The War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Civil War | Military | A digitized version of the 127 volumes of The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, the Official Records. This resource is invaluable to any Civil War historian as these volumes contain virtually any aspect of the war. |
| Passenger Search – The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island | Immigration | Search passenger list for over 51 million list of immigrants, passengers, and crew members who came through Ellis Island and the Port of New York from 1892 to 1957. |
| Ship Passenger Lists and Immigration Records | Immigration | Passenger lists from about 1820 to the early 1950s. It includes suggestions for finding records for ports of arrival and immigration records. |
| Society of American Archivists | Resources | Guide on how to use archives and archival resources. |
| Summit Memory | Local | Summit Memory is an online, collaborative project capturing the history of Summit County, Ohio. Collections include historic photographs, documents, newspapers, artifacts and audiovisual resources contributed by partner organizations throughout the county. |
| U.S. Census Bureau | Census | Explanations on all federal census years and access copies of original forms and questions. Also see Census Online for links to state censuses; tools for research; and calculators to convert year of birth. |
| USGenWeb Project | Resources | The USGenWeb Project ® was established in 1996 by a group of genealogists who shared a desire to create free online resources for genealogical research. Originally beginning with online directories of text-based resources, their vision has grown into a network of over 3000 linked websites, all individually created and maintained by a community of volunteers. Today you may find a variety of unique county and state resources including photos, maps, transcriptions, historical documents, helpful links, and much more. |
| Veterans History Project | Military | The Library of Congress has helped to collect audio and video recording of veterans of our military. This website allows you to search for members who have submitted oral interviews, as well as resources to help you to interview a veteran: https://www.loc.gov/vets/kitmenu.html |
| WorldGenWeb Project | Resources | The WorldGenWeb Project is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization dedicated to providing genealogical and historical records and resources for world-wide access! |