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===History=== | ===History=== | ||
What is now known as the Genealogy Center opened as the Indiana History and Genealogy Room of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County on 3 January 1961. However the collection's history predates that time. As early as 1903, the Mary Penrose Wayne chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR sought shelf space in the library for the society's lineage books and other historical works. During the Great Depression, library administrators roamed used bookstores throughout the Midwest,bringing back to the library many books and periodicals of a local history nature that with the DAR books, became the core of the genealogy collection when it was formed in 1961. | What is now known as the Genealogy Center opened as the Indiana History and Genealogy Room of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County on 3 January 1961. However the collection's history predates that time. As early as 1903, the [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~inmpwcd/ Mary Penrose Wayne chapter of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)] sought shelf space in the library for the society's lineage books and other historical works. During the Great Depression, library administrators roamed used bookstores throughout the Midwest, bringing back to the library many books and periodicals of a local history nature that with the DAR books, became the core of the genealogy collection when it was formed in 1961. | ||
Library Director Fred J. Reynolds was instrumental in the growth of the genealogy collection from about 400 DAR books at its inception, to more than 100,000 volumes by the time of his retirement in 1978. The collection was renamed the "Reynolds Historical Genealogy Collection" in 1971. Ironically, Reynolds was not a genealogist himself, but saw the value in the study of family history. Some of his methods of expanding the collection were unorthodox, such as the trading of duplicate materials with other libraries, and photocopying partnerships. One such partnership was with the Newberry Library in Chicago, whose books were becoming worn from overuse. Reynolds arranged with Newberry's curator to borrow station wagon loads of books from the Chicago facility, which college students copied throughout day and nighttime hours. The library in Fort Wayne kept and bound a copy of each book and the Newberry received a new bound copy, plus its worn original, which was retired to storage. Through this partnership, the Genealogy Collection copied perhaps as many as 30,000 of the Newberry Library's books. Several other photocopying partnerships have been forged since that time. | Library Director Fred J. Reynolds was instrumental in the growth of the genealogy collection from about 400 DAR books at its inception, to more than 100,000 volumes by the time of his retirement in 1978. The collection was renamed the "Reynolds Historical Genealogy Collection" in 1971. Ironically, Reynolds was not a genealogist himself, but saw the value in the study of family history. Some of his methods of expanding the collection were unorthodox, such as the trading of duplicate materials with other libraries, and photocopying partnerships. One such partnership was with the Newberry Library in Chicago, whose books were becoming worn from overuse. Reynolds arranged with Newberry's curator to borrow station wagon loads of books from the Chicago facility, which college students copied throughout day and nighttime hours. The library in Fort Wayne kept and bound a copy of each book and the Newberry received a new bound copy, plus its worn original, which was retired to storage. Through this partnership, the Genealogy Collection copied perhaps as many as 30,000 of the Newberry Library's books. Several other photocopying partnerships have been forged since that time. | ||
The physical area covered by the Genealogy Center has | The physical area covered by the Genealogy Center has grown several times during the past 50 years. This included an expansion that nearly doubled seating capacity and floor space in 1990, and the most recent renovation of the main library building in the mid-2000s that resulted in "open stack" shelving for virtually all genealogy materials. | ||
During its nearly 50-year history, the Genealogy Center has been the recipient of a number of grants and many monetary and materials donations, large and small, from | During its nearly 50-year history, the Genealogy Center has been the recipient of a number of grants and many monetary and materials donations, large and small, from individuals. However, it remains overwhelmingly funded by local county taxes. The local chapter of the DAR and the [http://www.acgsi.org/ Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana] have been supportive in a variety of ways throughout the Center's history. | ||
=== Tips for Your Visit=== | === Tips for Your Visit=== | ||