| Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley
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Email:
Address:
- The Bancroft Library
- University of California
- Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Telephone:
- 510-642-3781 Administrative Office
- 510-642-6481 Ask a librarian - basic reference and research questions
Hours
Directions, maps, and public transportation:
Internet sites and databases:
- The Bancroft Library general information, collections, research programs, reference and access services, events, exhibits, and publications.
- Online Archive of California (OAC) - locate collections at Bancroft Library
- UC Library Search - explore most UC Berkeley collections and many collections across the UC campuses and beyond
The Bancroft Library is the University's main special collections library. It is one of the largest and most heavily used libraries of manuscripts, rare books, and unique materials in the United States including more than 600,000 volumes, 60,000,000 manuscript items, 8,000,000 photographs, 43,000 microforms, and 23,000 maps. Of interest to genealogists are the premier Western Americana, and Latin Americana collections, including Native Americans, Spanish encounter and colonial settlement, exploration of western America, maps and atlases, the Mexican War, westward migration, the Gold Rush, mining, land surveys, religious and Utopian communities, and ethnic communities. Themed collections include African Americans in California, CalHeritage, California Cultures, California Loyalty Oath, Chinese in California, Italians in California, Japanese Relocation, and private land claim cases in California (ca. 1850-1890).
- Bancroft Library's finding aids (OAC).
- Genealogy Resources at the Bancroft Library including books, manuscripts and other printed materials, newspaper and periodical indexes for California, handbooks and manuals.
- Dale L. Morgan, and George P. Hammond, A guide to the manuscript collections of the Bancroft Library, 2 vols. (Berkeley : Published for the Bancroft Library by the University of California Press, 1963-1972). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 979.467 A3b.
- Charles Faulhaber, and Stephen Vincent, eds, Exploring The Bancroft Library (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Bancroft Library in association with Signature Books, 2006). At various libraries (WorldCat).
- Barbara Lee Hill, Genealogy: A Guide to the UC Berkeley Library (Berkeley, CA: The Library Associates, The General Library. University of California, Berkeley, 1984). At various libraries (WorldCat). FS Library Book 979.465/B1 A3h.
If you cannot visit or find a source at the Bancroft Library, a similar source may be available at one of the following.
Overlapping Collections
- National Archives Pacific Region (Riverside) holding records of southern California, Arizona and Clark County, Nevada. CA Indian enrollments, Asian immigrants, naturalizations, land records, AZ taxes, sailors, censuses, military post returns, Five Civilized Tribes, Revolutionary War, Civil War records, passenger arrival lists, Mexican and Canadian border crossings, passport applications.
- National Archives Pacific Region (San Francisco) holding records of California (north & central), Nevada (except Clark County), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Marshall, Caroline, and Northern Mariana Islands, overseas Pacific naval bases, Asian-Pacific immigration, American Indians.
- California State Library (Sacramento) censuses, great registers, city directories, CA historical newspapers, genealogical periodicals, death index 1905-1995, marriage index 1949-1986.
- FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 3.1 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, and records pertaining to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Similar Collections
- New York Public Library Genealogy Division has an outstanding collection of American history at national, state and local levels; international genealogy and heraldry in Roman alphabets; Dorot Jewish collection; photos; New York censuses, directories, and vital records.
- Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, features a premier genealogical periodical collection, genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, American Indians, African Americans, and Canadians.
Neighboring Collections
- Alameda County Clerk-Recorder births, marriages, deaths, deeds, military discharge papers.
- Alameda County Superior Court civil records, adoptions, probate, family, and criminal records.
- Berkeley Historical Society archives, library, and exhibits.
- African American Museum and Library at Oakland interprets their experience in CA and the West.
- Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society meetings, writers group, computer user group.
- Repositories in surrounding counties: Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Stanislaus
- California State Archives, Sacramento, has county records, such as court records, prison records, wills, deeds, as well as military records, state census records, and school records.
- Sutro Library, San Francisco, most extensive genealogy collection west of Salt Lake City.
- California Historical Society, San Francisco, economic, social, political, and cultural heritage including 50,000 books, 4,000 manuscripts, photos, maps, newspapers, and artifacts.
- California Genealogical Society and Library, Oakland, family, local, and state histories, maps, reference books, periodicals, the Bay Area, Gold Rush, New England, mid-Atlantic states and others.
- Chinese Historical Society, San Francisco, Chinese-American history, including art, and artifacts.
- Repositories in other surrounding states: Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Baja California, Sonora.
- State Library of Arizona, Phoenix, censuses, genealogical periodicals, immigration and naturalization records, New England town vital records, DE PA and NJ Archives, Internet sites.
- Hawaii State Library, Honolulu, federal documents, Hawaii and Pacific, language, and history.
- Nevada State Library and Archives, Carson City, births, marriages, deaths, censuses, military.
- Oregon State Archives, Salem, country records and histories, territorial papers, early settlers database, adoptions, census, land, military, naturalization, probate, and vital records.
- Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), Mexico City, church, civil, census, court, history, military, migration, land.
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