Exploring the Genealogy Center

The Genealogy Center is one of the best places to research your family history!

With one of the largest physical collections in the world, plus unrivaled access to world-class digital resources — and free, one-on-one help from professional genealogists — this is one of the best places in the country to research your family history.

From research guides in any state to collections on Native American and African American where you can easily access information from the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and beyond the Genealogy Center offers free on-site and online databases to assist with your family history research.

Let's Get Started

Start your visit to the Genealogy Center with a quick tour of the facility to get a lay of the land. With computer stations, open tables for book research, moveable bookshelves, microfilms, and other specialized areas, the Genealogy Center has plenty of room and services to make your research successful. 

We recommend you come to the Genealogy Center with a purpose in mind - a specific area of your family tree you want to research, maybe a specific person, or maybe you want to research some general basics of your family history.

Come prepared with your information or utilize the Genealogy Center’s one-on-one appointments to help you get started!

What to Bring with You

• Bring a USB drive to save images from computers, microtext, and books.
• Bring dollar bills for the copy machines.
• You may bring just about anything with you: files and notebooks, computers and tablets, scanner, camera, pens, pencils, etc. However, they do not allow food or drink in the Center. These may be stored in your bag, but not consumed in this area of the library.
• You might want to bring a sweater or light jacket. No matter the season, the rooms occasionally get a little cool.
• Wear comfortable shoes. The Genealogy Center covers about the same space as a football field.

More Materials

The Genealogy Center is world-renowned for its immense and accessible collection that totals more than 1 million physical items including:

• Thousands of completed family histories
• Census records
• Military records from the Revolutionary War to present
• Extensive passenger lists
• US local records
• Extensive international collections
• City directories
• Periodicals
• Vital records
• Native American and African American records
• And, much more!

The Genealogy Center is equipped not only to assist with family history research in the United States but also your international research. Everyone can find success with their family history research at the Genealogy Center for FREE!

Make your one-on-one appointment with a genealogist and start planning your research trip!