Pennsylvania Archives and Libraries
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These repositories preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in Pennsylvania.
Wiki Articles on Major Repositories for Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
American Swedish Historical Museum · Bristol Public Library (Bristol, VA) · Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh · Citizens Library · Erie County Library · Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society · Franklin and Marshall College Library · Free Library of Philadelphia · Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania · German Society of Pennsylvania · Handley Regional Library (Winchester, VA) · Haverford College Library · Historical Society of Pennsylvania · Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania · Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia · Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society · Library Company of Philadelphia · Library of Congress (Washington, DC) · Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia · Luzerne County Historical Society Bishop Library · National Archives at Philadelphia · New York Public Library (New York City, NY) · Pennsylvania Department of Health · Pennsylvania State Archives · Philadelphia City Archives · Presbyterian Historical Society · State Library of Pennsylvania · SUNY Fredonia Reed Library (Fredonia, NY) · Swarthmore College Friends Historical Library · Temple University Urban Archives · University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center · Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, OH)
Online Records of Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
Links to online databases and indexes that may include vital records, biographies, cemeteries, censuses, histories, immigration records, land records, maps, military records, naturalizations, newspapers, obituaries, or probate records.
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Nationwide Repositories[edit | edit source]
National Archives at Philadelphia[edit | edit source]14700 Townsend Road
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American Swedish Historical Museum[edit | edit source]
1900 Pattison Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Telephone: 215-389-1776
E-mail: info@americanswedish.org
Website
- New Sweden colony, and Swedish heritage in the Delaware Valley (northern Delaware, southern New Jersey, and southeast Pennsylvania).
Evangelical and Reformed Historical Society[edit | edit source]
Lancaster Theological Seminary Library, 2nd floor
555 West James Street
Lancaster, PA 17603
Telephone: 717-290-8734
Email: info@erhistoricalsociety.org
Website
- Official repository for the former Reformed Church in the United States, the Hungarian Reformed Church, the Evangelical Synod of North America, and the combined Evangelical and Reformed Church. The historical society maintains two repositories that include parish registers, leaders' biographies, and photos. Check website for hours and visiting tips.
Franklin and Marshall College Library[edit | edit source]
450 College Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17603
Telephone: 717-291-4216
Online email form
Website
- "Hessian" (German) soldiers in the American Revolution, history, government, Pennsylvania-German culture, U.S. Civil War.
Haverford College Library[edit | edit source]
Quaker and Special Collections
James P. Magill Library
370 Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041-1392
Telephone: 610-896-1175
Fax: 610-896-1102
Email: hc-special@haverford.edu
Website
- Quaker Collection of diaries, photos, family papers, meeting and organizational records; 35,000 books, 2,400 linear feet of manuscripts.
Lutheran Archives Center at Philadelphia[edit | edit source]
Brossman Learning Center (in the undercroft)
7301 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19119-1794
Telephone: 215-248-6383
Fax: 215-248-6327
Email: mtairyarchives@ltsp.edu
Website
- ELCA archives for Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Upstate New York (excluding New York City) and New England. Includes clergy and synod papers, and some parish registers (baptisms, marriages, funerals, confirmations) (many written in German).
Presbyterian Historical Society[edit | edit source]
425 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Telephone: 215-627-1852
Email: refdesk@history.pcusa.org
Website
- National archives of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Includes biographical files, foreign missionary index, congregation vertical file index, congregation histories, and records of American Presbyterian congregations.
Swarthmore College Friends Historical Library[edit | edit source]
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081
Telephone: 610-328-8496
Fax: 610-690-5728
Email: friends@swarthmore.edu
Website
- Documents the history of the Society of Friends (Quakers) from the 17th century to the present; 45,000 books, 60,000 photos, and 9,000 volumes of original Quaker meeting records, plus local history of the Mid-Atlantic states, and social reform movements.
State Repositories[edit | edit source]
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
2100 Byberry Road, Suite 111
Philadelphia, PA 19116
Telephone: 267-686-2296
Email: info@genpa.org
https://genpa.org/
- A FamilySearch Affiliate Library. FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries offer access to about 90% of the “locked” collections on FamilySearch.org or about 700,000,000 records! Admission to the GSP FamilySearch Affiliate Library is always free.
- Appointments are required. Schedule appointments for research at the GSP FamilySearch Affiliate Library or the GSP Library by emailing info@genpa.org or calling 267-686-2296. Admission to the GSP Library is free for members and $5 for the public. The GSP Library provides access to over 1400 books and over 200 collections of records, including indexes and transcriptions of church, cemetery, and funeral home records. Check website for hours.
- GSP maintains over 200 online collections in the Ruth Bitting Hamm Digital Library. Many of these collections can be found in the Member Collections section of the website. Featured member collections include: the Berryman Collection (extensive collection of church and cemetery records and other transcriptions and family history information from several Pennsylvania counties compiled by Mrs. Walter A Berryman), Philadelphia Public Ledger Newspaper Indexes Collection (fully searchable indexes to origins of immigrants, local affairs, marriages, and deaths from the Philadelphia Public Ledger: 1836 – 1878), and the John T. Humphrey collection of Pennsylvania birth records. Mr. Humphrey's collection consists of baptisms extracted from early Pennsylvania church records. John T. Humphrey, the late noted Pennsylvania genealogist, left the rights to his collections to the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. The online collection includes all 16 books representing 15 counties and the records are fully-text searchable. A helpful GSP Website Tips page gives more information on how best to use the website and learn about GSP's collections.
- The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Library includes books and collections of church, cemetery, and funeral home records, family records for early GSP members, and reference books for Pennsylvania research. The library catalog appears on the website, with new books and collections being added regularly. GSP has several manuscript collections and collections not yet listed online, however, the website is regularly updated. Many of GSP's old tangible materials created in the 19th and 20th centuries are now located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
German Society of Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
611 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Telephone: 215-627-2332
Fax: 215-627-5297
Email: librarian@germansociety.org
Website
- 60,000 volumes, mostly in German. This is the largest private collection of German books in the United States outside of universities. Their purpose is to document German-American history, culture, and organizations, including biographies and publications.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699
Telephone: 215-732-6200
Fax: 215-732-2680
Email: ReadyReference@hsp.org
Website
- Has early Quakers, Germans, Scots-Irish, and other settlers in William Penn's colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Records which have been published are normally well-indexed. This society also has 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century manuscripts (letters, diaries, account books, deeds, minutes, and scrapbooks), passenger arrival lists and indexes, local and regional history, ethnic and immigrant studies materials, 600,000 books, 20 million manuscripts, over 300,000 graphics items, and 300 years of newspapers.
Pennsylvania Department of Health[edit | edit source]
Philadelphia Public Office (other public offices in Erie, Harrisburg, New Castle, Pittsburgh, and Scranton)
110 North 8th Street, Suite 108
Philadelphia, PA 19107-2412
Telephone: 215-560-3054
Birth and Death Certificates
- Birth and death records 1906-present. Order in-person, order online via VitalChek, or order births by mail, or order deaths by mail.
Pennsylvania State Archives[edit | edit source]
1681 North Sixth Street
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Telephone: 717-783-3281
Email: ra-statearchives@pa.gov
Historical and Museum Commission
- Collection has indexes and original sources associated with the Pennsylvania Archives series, such as vital, military, prison, naturalization, land records, census, ships lists, railroads, mines, and 1.5 million online records including online genealogy guides.
State Library of Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
400 North Street, Keystone Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0600
Telephone: 717-783-5950
Fax: 717-772-8268
Contact list and emails
Genealogy and Local History
- Indexes, genealogy surname files, state and county histories, atlases, land records maps, ship lists, church and cemetery records, federal censuses, regimental histories, ethnic and religious group records, newspapers, heraldry, adoption, obituaries, naturalizations, military, railroads and mines, historical Pennsylvania city directories.
Regional Repositories[edit | edit source]
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh[edit | edit source]
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080
Phone: 412-622-3114
Email: info@carnegielibrary.org
Website
- Large book collection, newspapers, manuscripts, and county histories most of which are indexed. Also family histories, family folders, local histories and genealogies.
Citizens Library[edit | edit source]
55 South College Street
Washington, PA 15301
Telephone: 724-222-2400
Fax: 724-222-2606
Email: citlib@citlib.org
Website
- The Washington County, Pennsylvania area was an important staging area or gateway for travel into the Ohio River Valley and the West. As such, many records of travelers can be found here, and this library has the best biographical collection of these records.
Erie County Public Library[edit | edit source]
160 East Front Street
Erie, PA 16507
Telephone: 814-451-6927
Email: reference@erielibrary.org
Website
- Biographical section for migrants who traveled here via the Erie Canal before moving on to Ohio and farther west. Holdings include obituary index, family histories, county histories, computer genealogy databases, and on microfilm Erie newspapers and censuses.
Free Library of Philadelphia[edit | edit source]
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1157
(between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway)
Telephone: 215-686-5322
Ask a Librarian form
Website
- Large book collection, periodicals and indexes, genealogies, city directories, maps, family folders, local newspapers since 1719, naturalizations, vertical files, manuscripts, photos, government publications, and histories for all of Pennsylvania.
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
Senator John Heinz History Center, Library and Archives
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Telephone: 412-454-6364
Email: library@heinzhistorycenter.org
Website
- Large collection for western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, including the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society records. 700,000 photos, 40,000 books, 3,500 individual archival collections of families, organizations, businesses, and industries, 600 periodicals, and 500 maps and atlases.
Jewish Genealogical and Archival Society of Greater Philadelphia[edit | edit source]
Tuttleman Library-Gratz College
7605 Old York Road
Elkins Park, PA 19027
Telephone: 215-635-7304
Email: library@gratz.edu
Website
- Hebraica and Judaica, Jewish genealogy research manuals, society newsletters, regional cemeteries for south Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society[edit | edit source]
2215 Millstream Road
Lancaster, PA 17602-1499
Telephone: 717-393-9745
Fax: 717-393-8751
Email: lmhs@lmhs.org
Website
- Center for studying the Pennsylvania Mennonites and Amish heritage. Historical and genealogical materials of southeast Pennsylvania, focusing mostly on Lancaster County, including an 800,000 person card index, 3000 genealogies, secular local histories, congregational histories, biographies, directories, passenger lists, atlases and maps, cemetery transcripts, censuses, databases, deeds, obituaries, orphans court records, periodicals, surname files, tax records, and wills.
Library Company of Philadelphia[edit | edit source]
1314 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Telephone: 215-546-3181
Fax: 215-546-5167
Email: cking@librarycompany.org
Website
- Large German-American collection; helpful for documenting Civil War ancestors from Pennsylvania. Half a million rare books, manuscripts, and graphics documenting American history and culture to 1900 including African Americana, American Judaica, women's history, and photography in Philadelphia. Many early Philadelphia records.
Luzerne County Historical Society Bishop Library[edit | edit source]
49 South Franklin Street
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701
Telephone: 570-823-6244
Fax: 570-823-9011
Website
- Research New England migrants into Pennsylvania and places farther south. 13,000 family folders, transcribed wills 1787-1896, personal papers and correspondence, 10,000 photos, county and local histories, church histories, family histories, biographies, Native Americans and ethnic groups, city directories, maps, births 1893-1905, marriages 1885-1950, deaths 1886-1962, newspapers and obituaries, land records 1787-1907, and index to Orphans' Court wills, land sales, and guardians 1787-1866.
Philadelphia City Archives[edit | edit source]
3101 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Telephone: 215-685-9401
Fax: 215-685-9409
Website
- Births 1860-1915 (a few starting 1829), marriages 1860-1915, divorces 1851-1875, deaths 1803-1915, naturalizations 1793-1930, city directories 1785-1935, county deeds 1683-1952, county mortgages 1736-1963, constables 1854-1925, and some court records. They have indexes to early Philadelphia materials, such as tax records, prisoners, commissioners reports, mayors warrants and appointments, as well as cemeteries, board of health records, and streets.
Temple University Urban Archives[edit | edit source]
Samuel Paley Library
Berks and 13th Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Telephone: 215-204-5750
Ask a Librarian form
Website
- Church records, fraternal groups, ethnic groups, unions, guilds, and people-oriented collection of organizations, clubs, businesses, and societies related to the growth of the Philadelphia area since the 1800s. 4 million images, 7 million news clippings, city directories, Philadelphia atlases, and Sanborn fire insurance maps.
University of Pennsylvania Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center[edit | edit source]
3420 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
Telephone: 215-898-7556
Ask a Reference Question form
Website
- Large manuscript collection, newspapers, county records and histories, biographical sources, ethnic resources, church records, and government records. Subject specialties include Africana, Asian Americans, Chinese, French, Germans, history, immigration, Italians, Japanese, Judaic studies, Koreans, Latin Americans, Philadelphia studies, religions, Russians and East Europeans, South Asians, and Spaniards.
For early colonial immigrants in nine southeast Pennsylvania counties see:
- Adams County Historical Society Library
- Bucks County Historical Society Library
- Historical Society of Berks County Library
- Chester County Historical Society Library
- Delaware County Historical Society Library
- Lancaster County Historical Society Library
- Lebanon County Historical Society Research Archives
- Historical Society of Montgomery County Library
- Historical Society of York County Library and Archives
Repositories Outside of Pennsylvania[edit | edit source]
Bristol Public Library[edit | edit source]
701 Goode Street
Bristol, VA 24201-4199
Telephone: 540-645-8780
Fax: 276-669-5593
Email: bplref@yahoo.com
Bristol Public Library
- Small family folder collection; important resource for settlers coming from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and northern Virginia along the Great Valley Road into Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.
Handley Regional Library[edit | edit source]
100 W. Piccadilly Street
PO Box 58
Winchester, Virginia 22604
Telephone: 540-662-9041
Fax: 540-722-4769
Email: archives@handleyregional.org
Website
- Large collection about Germans and Scots-Irish who traveled the Great Valley Road from Pennsylvania to Virginia, including manuscripts, newspapers, biographies, and histories, and people of the Lower Shenandoah Valley since 1732, emphasizing Winchester and Frederick County in 4000 books, county court abstracts, county histories, genealogies, regimental histories, battles, newspapers since 1787, censuses, 600 linear feet of manuscripts, maps, photos, and oral history tapes.
Library of Congress[edit | edit source]
101 Independence Ave. SE
Thomas Jefferson Building, LJ G4
Washington, D.C. 20540-4660
Telephone: Reading Room: 202-707-5537
Fax: 202-707-1957
Email: Ask a Librarian
Website
- Genealogical guides and indexes. Part of the world's largest library including 50,000 genealogies, 100,000 local histories, and collections of manuscripts, microfilms, maps, newspapers, photographs, and published material, strong in North American, British Isles, and German sources. Includes one of the best Pennsylvania collections in the world.
New York Public Library[edit | edit source]
U.S. History, Local History & Genealogy Division
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, Room 315S
New York, NY 10018-2788
Telephone: 212-930-0829
Ask a librarian form
Website
- One of the largest research libraries in the world, including excellent genealogical resources for Pennsylvania. The library has city and telephone directories, vital records indexes, local histories, genealogies, federal and state censuses, passenger lists, genealogical collections (including DAR transcripts), and church records. For maps, write to the Map Division at the same address.
SUNY Fredonia Reed Library[edit | edit source]
State University of New York
280 Central Ave
Fredonia, NY 14063
Telephone: Library 716-673-3184; Special Collections 716-673-3183;
Special Collections Fax: 716-673-3185
Email: reedref@fredonia.edu
The State University of New York at Fredonia Daniel A. Reed Library
Holland Land Company historical background, contents, inventory, supplementary collections, and Holland Land Company records in other libraries.
- The State University of New York at Fredonia Daniel A. Reed Library has indexes to, and most of the original patents (first deeds) showing the transfer of land ownership between 1801 and 1840 from the Holland Land Company (1789-1869) to private individuals in western New York and Pennsylvania. Some names on the patents could be fictitious. Other collections include American Indian records including primarily the Seneca, with some for the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Tuscarora tribes, local histories for Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, and the bordering counties in New York and Pennsylvania, manuscripts including church papers, and databases.
Western Reserve Historical Society[edit | edit source]
10825 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106-1788
Telephone: 216-721-5722 x1509
Fax: 216-721-0645
Email: reference@wrhs.org
Family History and Genealogical Research
- The Western Reserve was a large part of Ohio at first intended for settlement by Connecticut Revolutionary War refugees. The Research Library at the Western Reserve Historical Society History Center is the premier repository for Cleveland, Ohio and the Connecticut Western Reserve history material. This important collection includes original land records, as well as many genealogies, biographies, histories, and Bibles from Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. Includes over 20 million manuscripts for genealogical research and northeast Ohio history. They have the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Shaker materials. Other important collections include the American Civil War, and the automotive industry.
- Kermit J. Pike, A Guide to the Manuscripts and Archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, Ohio: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1972). WorldCat 483574; FS Library Book 977.1 A3p.
- Western Reserve Historical Society. History Library. Card Catalog to the Manuscripts Collection in the Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974). WorldCat 865891564; FS Library Films 934566-69; 934617-18.
- Kermit J. Pike, A Guide to the Manuscripts and Archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, Ohio: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1972). WorldCat 483574; FS Library Book 977.1 A3p.
FamilySearch Centers[edit | edit source]
Some of the above collections are partially duplicated at the FamilySearch Library and its branch FamilySearch Centers around the world. Most centers can help you by:
- Giving you limited, personal, one-on-one research suggestions (but they do not do research for you)
- Providing access to genealogical records through the premium online Internet FamilySearch Center Portal.
- Offering free how-to classes (varies by location)
- Fostering contact between genealogical enthusiasts
There are several centers located in Pennsylvania, for example:
- Valley Forge Pennsylvania FamilySearch Center
721 Paxon Hollow Rd
Broomall PA 19008 USA
Telephone: 610-356-8507- Each center is staffed by volunteers and has varying hours and services. Telephone in advance to verify their hours.
- Valley Forge Pennsylvania FamilySearch Center
To locate one of these 4,500 centers in your own neighborhood, see Find a Family History Center.
Museums List[edit | edit source]
Museums sometime preserve genealogical sources. A List of museums in Pennsylvania is available on Wikipedia.
Guidebooks[edit | edit source]
- County Records Survey, 1985-1986 [of Pennsylvania]. ([Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Division of Archives and Manuscripts, 1986). At various libraries (WorldCat). On 7 FS Library fiche 6333952. Philadelphia County is not included, but Pittsburgh city is.
- Sylvester K. Stevens and Donald H. Kent, eds., County Government and Archives in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1947) At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Catalog book 974.8 N2s; FS Library film 1320887 item 10. This guide describes the records kept by each county, the information they contain, when most began, and important history of their development.
- Irwin Richman, Historical Manuscript Depositories in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania : Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Catalog book 974.8 H23r It provides a detailed description of the manuscripts in most libraries and archives in Pennsylvania in 1965, but dated.
- Irene E. Fink, Directory of Libraries and Information Sources in the Philadelphia Area (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Special Libraries Association. Philadelphia Chapter, 1973). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Catalog book 974.811 J54s; film 1036557 item 9. For eastern Pennsylvania libraries only.
References[edit | edit source]
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