The Library will be closed on Monday, November 11, 2024, in observance of Veterans Day.

Julie Huffman, Librarian, History & Genealogy Department

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photo composite of old family photos, postcards and documents

Genealogy Garage...Now Online

October 12, 2021

One of the good things to come out of our COVID year was the explosive popularity of online programming. Genealogy Garage—the library's monthly genealogy session—has taken the plunge, too, and we now have recordings of our presentations for you to watch whenever you want!


Freedman’s Bank

The Freedman’s Bank Was a First Step for Newly Freed Black Citizens

June 17, 2020

The notion of having one’s own savings account is commonplace to us modern folk. But for former slaves—many of whom had never even seen money—it was an alien concept. And, in a country that runs on capitalism, getting the hang of money management was (and is) essential to survival.


Groovy, complicated heraldic achievement

The Language of Heraldry

August 08, 2016

I recently completed an online heraldry class conducted by the University of Strathclyde, and I learned a great deal that will be helpful to me as a genealogy librarian.


Slave Premiums table

An Unusual Resource for African American Genealogy

February 24, 2016

Insurance companies have long provided policies to cover losses of property but, before the end of the Civil War, this also included pay-outs for injury and death of the formerly enslaved.


4 covers of old city directories

A Powerful Genealogical Resource: City Directories

October 01, 2015

These annual precursors-to-telephone directories display a person’s home address, but also often a spouse name, occupation, and work address. And since they were largely published every year, they can be powerful tools used to find where your ancestors lived and worked between the decennial U.S.


Dr. Strangelove Meets Genealogy

How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the 1890 Census and Love the County History

January 01, 2015

To the bane of many genealogists, the eleventh census of the United States was heavily damaged by a fire at the Commerce Department in 1921. Less than one percent of it survived, which means we have census data (e.g., age, place of residence, family members, etc.) on only 6,160 Americans in 1890.


simple hand drawn comic showing a confused girl looking at a family tree

Search for Uncle Ebeneezer, Rather Than Grandpa Joe!

November 01, 2014

My grandmother was born June Eileen Lavonne Nystrom, and her husband called her Patty. I know this because my mom told me, and my mom knows this because her mom told her.


[photo of great grandmother]

Beginning Genealogy

September 01, 2014

Am I related to anyone famous?

What is my ethnic background?

How far back can I go? 1800s? 1600s? Adam and Eve?!


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