Start Your Family Research at Our Library.
About the Collection
The Library’s Genealogy Collection is located in our Fairview Park Branch. The collection contains nearly 6,000 books, 100 journals and newsletters, and thousands of microforms. The collection emphasizes resources for Cuyahoga County, Ohio and portions of the eastern United States. Many excellent beginner’s guides are available for visitors getting started in genealogy, while the extensive number of bibliographies, indexes and abstracted items are useful to the advanced researcher.
Online Resources
Premium Online Resources
Your Library card gives you free access to genealogy databases in our Premium Resource collection, including:
Must-See Websites for Genealogists
Cyndi's List
Follow 250,000 links to high-quality websites in more than 150 topical areas.
FamilySearch
A mammoth site containing hundreds of millions of names and much, much more. Created and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints.
Rootsweb
The oldest and largest free genealogical website, Rootsweb contains searchable databases like the Obituary Daily Times and maintains thousands of mailing lists, bulletin boards and surname lists.
The USGenWeb Project
A clearinghouse for local genealogical information such as transcribed (copied) marriage, obituary and tombstone information. Visitors may post questions and requests for assistance with like-minded researchers.
The WorldGenWeb Project
The international counterpart to The US GenWeb Project.
Genealogy in Cuyahoga County
Genealogy Beyond Cuyahoga County
Linkpendium
The definitive directory to genealogical resources on the web.
National Archives and Records Administration
Because the National Archives’ records come from every branch of the federal government, almost all Americans can find themselves, their ancestors or their community in the archives.
vitalrec.com
Provides instructions for ordering vital records (birth, marriage, death, divorce) from every U.S. state.
Your Immigrant Ancestor
Castle Garden Records
Find information on 10 million immigrants who arrived from 1830 to 1892, the year Ellis Island opened.
Ellis Island Records
Search and view passenger lists of the 20 million immigrants who arrived here between 1892 and 1954.
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
Offers transcribed lists of passengers arriving in the United States on more than 4,000 ships.
Ship Passenger Lists and Records Online
An inventory of passenger lists and records, including domestic and international arrivals and departures.
United States passenger lists & records (arrivals international passenger lists
One-Step webpages by Steve Morse
Employ this search utility for dramatically improved results on more than 100 genealogy websites.
Making Connections
- Blogs for Genealoby
- Queries & Message Boards
- Chat & IRC
- Professionals, Volunteers, and other Research Services
- Finding Living People
- Lookups & Free Searches by Volunteers
- Social Networking for Genealogy
- Free Stuff
- How To (Tutorials & Guides)
- Wikis for Genealoby
Rootsweb
One-stop shop for mailing lists, message boards, surnames, queries; excellent for researchers new to making connections online.
Must-Have Forms
Recommended Reading