By Katharine Andrew
Whether you have hit a brick wall in the online databases or are looking for hyper-local information and history, some of the most overlooked resources for genealogy research are local historical and genealogy societies. These organizations preserve records and artifacts that often don’t exist anywhere else.
Types of Societies
Historical societies focus on preserving the history of a specific area, community or region. They can be as small as a small-town local society that has a room in the public library to as big as a statewide organization.Genealogy societies are dedicated to family history research, usually within a specific area or geographical region, however many exist for communities or ethnicities as well. These groups often publish newsletters or journals, run educational programs, maintain surname files and provide research assistance.
Most historical and genealogy societies operate as not-for-profit organizations in the US, meaning that they rely solely on donations or grants for their funding.
There is a growing trend among both historical and genealogy societies to merge with neighboring or similar-focused organizations. This often happens with societies that serve overlapping geographic areas or have similar types of collections. By combining their resources, they can reduce administrative costs, strengthen membership and preserve their collections more efficiently. While these changes can sometimes make it harder to locate where certain collections end up, they are beneficial for both the societies and researchers: they ensure that the records remain accessible and well cared for, while also helping the societies remain sustainable in the long term (especially as volunteer bases shrink and operating costs rise).
Some historical societies also have genealogical collections, work with a genealogy society to house genealogical collections, or have genealogy focus groups.
What You Might Find
If you’re searching for old photographs of a specific town, biographical information on an ancestor, or history of a property, chances are good that there are resources tucked away in a society’s files.
Historical and genealogy societies are treasure troves for unique and hard to find materials. Their holdings often include: local newspapers and obituaries indexes; funeral home and burial records; land, tax and business records; school records and yearbooks; rare or out-of-print local history books; oral history interviews; and photographs and postcards.
Many local historical societies also have collections specifically for property records and house history files, especially if they run a “historic plaque program,” which recognizes historic properties around the area (usually a municipality).
In addition to smaller town, city or county groups, most states have statewide historical societies, which typically maintain larger archives and more extensive collections.
Depending on the size (and financial resources) of the society, they may have their collections searchable or browsable online. Larger organizations, like the Ohio History Connection, formerly the Ohio Historical Society, have huge digital collections, databases and catalogs available online. Others, have a lot of their collection and resources available on their website, such as the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, though much of it is available only to members in order to support their work.
Some societies choose to partner with a larger organization to digitize some of their collections, such as the Elgin History Museum (Illinois), which has three of their collections available on the Illinois Digital Archives website.
However, often because of resource limitations, many societies will list in general terms what their collections include on their website, have a limited digital collection or some indexes online.
Many historical societies also operate museums, sometimes in historic homes or former civic buildings. However, what visitors see on display is usually only a small portion of what these organizations actually hold. Behind the scenes, most historical societies maintain larger archival collections that may not be open for regular public browsing, but accessible with research requests or appointments. So, even if a society appears to focus on exhibitions, it is worth reaching out to ask if their off-display collections might have the information you are looking for.
Many societies also offer research services for free or at a minimal cost or hourly rate. Keep in mind, when you are contacting smaller societies, it may take time to get back to you on your inquiry because of staffing limitations.
Often, societies may have restrictions on access for digital collections, making them only available to members in order to increase their membership and fund their projects. This also goes for pricing for research or record lookups—usually, members get discounts on pricing for copies and hourly research rates. If you want to go to an event held by a society, the pricing difference is also similar unless it is a free event.
Where to Find Them
Online Directories
PreservationDirectory.com: A comprehensive directory of over 4,500 historic and cultural resource organizations across the United States and Canada. You can search for these historical societies and preservation organizations by state or province, and keyword. You can also browse by museum types, which is helpful if the historical society you are looking for operates a “house museum.”
National Genealogical Society’s Societies and Organization Directory: The National Genealogy Society has a robust database of member organizations and societies. It is searchable for free online by name, address city, address state and organization type. Many genealogy societies, historical societies and public libraries are members of NGS.
Cyndi’s List – Societies & Groups: Cyndi’s List is a massive categorized index of not just links to genealogical resources, but hundreds of links to historical and genealogical societies worldwide. You can browse these links by going to the Societies & Groups section, or by explore by location or another category, such as “Illinois” and then navigating to the subcategory of “Societies and Groups” for that state.
State or Regional Directories: Many states maintain their own directories of smaller historical societies through their archive or on the state historical society websites. For example, the Ohio Local History Alliance has a robust list of member organizations.
Research Wikis and Projects
US GenWeb Project: A volunteer-run project organized by state and county. Each local website often lists nearby societies, libraries and archives, which is especially useful for smaller or rural eras. For example, the Berrien County MIGenWeb “Berrien County Resources” page lists numerous local historical and genealogical societies, as well as museums and public libraries.
FamilySearch Research Wiki: The FamilySearch Research Wiki is also a great website for finding societies. Navigate to the page for the county you are researching in and you may find a list of societies, libraries, archives and museums under “Research Facilities” or “Societies.”
Also check out Family Tree Magazine’s 75 Best State websites, which includes some society websites and links to important collections.
A simple Google search can turn up many additional societies. Try phrases like “directory of historical societies [State]” or “[Town or County], [State] historical society.” The same approach works for genealogical societies.
Crowdsourced and Community Resources
Facebook groups and local forums are a great tool. Searching Facebook for “[Locale Name] Historical Society” or “[County/State] Genealogy” can reveal active Facebook groups that either supplement or represent smaller local societies without formal websites. Some groups exist for locations that do have societies, but are more of a forum with contributions from community members.
Local public libraries: many libraries partner with nearby societies and list them on their Local History or Genealogy pages. Some historical societies and genealogical societies operate out of a public library. Additionally, many local libraries have their own local history collections, so make sure to look for information on the library’s website regarding those as well.
Reprinted from Family Tree online