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Family History and Genealogy

The Duke University Libraries do not provide genealogy research services, but this research guide is useful in pursuing your own genealogical journey.

To search for all kinds of resources about Genealogy at Duke University Libraries, please click this link.

General Guides and Bibliographies -- Duke University Libraries has many general guides and bibliographies for genealogy. The following are especially noteworthy, click the links to see the library catalog information.

Doane, Gilbert and James Bell. Searching for Your Ancestors: The How and Why of Genealogy. 1992.

Fitzhugh, Terrick V.H. Dictionary of Genealogy. 5th edition, revised by Susan Lumas. London: A & C Black, 1998.
Part 1 of the book, "Guide to Ancestry Research," describes, step by step, the main sources of information and techniques to be used in tracing families back through time. Part 2, the dictionary, contains more than 1,000 entries. The work focuses on genealogical research in England and Wales.

The Handy Book for Genealogists. 10th ed. Logan, UT: Everton Publishers, 2002.
The most popular genealogical book ever printed, this work is now in its tenth edition. Sections on each state and the District of Columbia follow a general section on the United States. Each state entry includes a brief history; a list of genealogical archives, libraries, and societies; sources for printed census records and mortality schedules; a list of valuable printed sources; and the availability of county data. The volume includes maps of migration routes in the eastern U.S. and color maps of each state with county boundaries and names, rivers, and lakes.

Hey, David. The Oxford Guide to Family History. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
The first part of this guide includes chapters on the history of names, emigration patterns, and the family and society. The second part is a guide to records. It includes censuses and civil, parish, church, real estate, legal, military, and tax records. All of the information is for England.

Kemp, Thomas J. International Vital Records Handbook. 4th edition. Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co. 2000. Ref. CS42.7 .K46 2000.
This work includes instructions and a complete, up-to-date collection of vital records application forms from the nations of the world. Part 1 contains information for each of the fifty states of the U.S.; part 2 is international.

The Library of Congress: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research. 1990.

The Library of Congress: Genealogical Research at the Library of Congress. 2001.

Szucs, Loretto Dennis and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. 1997. Ref. CS49 .S65 1997
This publication identifies, locates and interprets all of the basic manuscripts, microforms, and published record groups available for genealogical research between the beginning of the European colonization of America and 1910.

Wright, Raymond S. The Genealogists' Handbook: Modern Methods for Researching Family History. Chicago: American Library Association, 1995.