Research Guides: Family and Local History: Resources

Background Info

Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups
Location: Bates Reference E184.A1 H35

Published: 1980
The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy
Location: Bates Reference CS49 .S65 2006

Published: 2006

Excellent summaries of the kinds of sources available for family history: census, church, tax records, etc. Outdated on how to access materials.
On Doing Local History by Carol Kammen
Location: Available online

Published: 2014

*United States History American History
by Christine Murray Updated Apr 6, 2025 93 views this year
Lewiston History
by Christine Murray Updated May 8, 2025 17 views this year

Ancestry Library
Contains a huge collections of different kinds of records relevant to local and family history. You can search for people by name across all these record collections, or you can search the different kinds of records in turn. Some of the most important record types are listed below.
Unlike individual subscriptions to Ancestry.com, does not include the option of developing a linked online genealogy.

Immigration Records
Includes passenger lists and naturalization records. Though these record collections are not as comprehensive as census records, the naturalization records in particular can contain fascinating information.
Census Schedules
The Census is the most comprehensive source for information on U.S. residents. Conducted every ten years, the Census has always been a huge undertaking. Census schedules, the forms on which census enumerators recorded data, are available from 1940 and earlier.
City Directories
Before there was Google, there were phone books. And before phone books, there were...city directories. These aimed to list residents of a city, sometimes with occupation and other info. The directories on Ancestry can be searched, but also browsed; they often contain maps, images, and statistics on a town.
Scanned city directories can also be found on Google Books, HathiTrust, and Internet Archive.

America's Historical Newspapers
Local and national newspapers from all 50 states. Publication dates: 1690-1999.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Newspapers from 1836-1963 (most pre-1925) and a directory of American newspapers published between 1690 and the present.

Contact:

Ladd Library 132
(207) 786-6268
cmurray2@bates.edu

I am usually at the Research Desk Mon. 10-1, Tues. 6-9, and Thurs. 1-4

Subjects: African Studies, Anthropology, Asian Studies, Chinese, Economics, Environmental Studies, History, Japanese, Languages and Literatures, Legal Studies, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, U. S. History