Guides: Genealogy Resources: UNT Databases

Introduction

This page describes American genealogical related journals and databases available through the UNT Libraries.

Databases

Genealogy

These resources provide access to records and documents relevant to genealogy research, including U.S. Census, immigration records, military records and more.

Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition is an institutional subscription version of the normal fee-based site and is publicly accessible for free on-site at UNT Libraries and from home with an EUID and password. It includes international record collections as well U.S. records making it especially useful for world-wide research. Records of interest can be emailed to you through the use of the Send My Discovery Home function listed on the right side of the screen for all records. It will send you one email with a link to your discovery page on Ancestry with a link to the records you saved while using Ancestry Library Edition.

Tips for using Ancestry Library Edition

Users of Ancestry Library Edition can view public family trees and message boards, but cannot create their own or post messages. Library Edition users are also not able to create a log in for saving groups of records. These tools are only available to individual Ancestry subscribers.

When searching Ancestry Library Edition -

Start broad. Trying to be too specific may not return any results. Start broad and use tools within the database to narrow your search.
Be flexible. Sometimes names and dates are wrong. Census enumerators may have misspelled your ancestor's name or your ancestor may be listed under a nickname or less commonly used name. Dates for ancestors may be off slightly as birth and death records were not always well documented or officially reported.
Pay attention to Suggested Records. The system works to find connections to your ancestors. When you're offered a suggested record, follow the lead as it may be a connection on your tree.
Verify your records. Genealogy is often inexact and something of a guessing game. Because of the age of many records inferences are drawn to complete your family tree. To help be as sure as possible do what you can to verify your records.
Don't give up. Though many historic records are available online via Ancestry or other databases. Many more have not been digitized or indexed online. Some connections may require a trip to a county courthouse, cemetery, or state or federal archive.

Newspapers

Newspapers provide genealogists information about their ancestors including birth, marriage, and death records, as well as information that provides context to where and how they lived.

Access Newspaper Archive
This site provides access to the archives of a variety of newspapers from across the U.S.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-1922)
CRL Catalog
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) provides access to microfilmed newspapers from around the world. These newspapers are not indexed but can be borrowed from CRL.
Newspaper Source Plus
Newspaper Source Plus provides a full-text digital collection of the world's major news content.
Hispanic American newspapers, 1808-1980
Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 Created in cooperation with the University of Houston, this digital resource represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Contact:Lisa Brown ( Lisa.Brown@unt.edu)

Other Notes: With the digital publication of Hispanic American Newspapers, these important primary documents can now be easily browsed, searched and read. Users can easily compare and contrast Hispanic views on nearly every major theme in American life with those appearing in other America's Historical Newspapers series, including Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender provides full text and full-image articles from Chicago Defender from 1905-1975.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail
This resource provides patrons access to an online archive of The Globe and Mail through ProQuest. This historical newspaper can provide genealogists, researchers, and scholars with access to first-hand accounts and coverage of politics, society, and historical events of the time. Date coverage of this newspaper ranges from 1844 to 2011.

Other Resources of Interest

Government documents offer information for genealogists. The U.S. Congressional Serial Set contains military records, immigration records, land records, lists of government employees, pension records, as well as much, much more. Private Law introduced or passed by Congress may offer information about an ancestor. Additionally, government record collections may include court documents, investigations or interviews?

ProQuest Congressional
ProQuest Congressional Includes information on bills, laws, regulations, Congressional publications, current and previous Members of Congress, campaign finance information, financial disclosures, voting records, and committee membership. Also includes the full text of some Congressional reports, documents, and testimonies. Dates of Coverage: 1789 - present
ProQuest History Vault
ProQuest History Vault unlocks the wealth of key archival materials with a single search. Researchers can access digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and many more primary source materials taken from the University Publications of America (UPA) Collections. The collections are organized into modules within these popular subject areas. UNT is subscribed select modules and collections, and not the entire platform.

UNT Hosted Digital Collections

Available to users outside the UNT community, the UNT Digital Library and Portal to Texas History provide access to a wealth of content including newspapers, city directories, school annuals and more.

UNT Digital Library
UNT Digital Library is home to materials from the University's research, creative, and scholarly activities, and also showcases content from the UNT Libraries' collections. Materials include theses, dissertations, artwork, performances, musical scores, journals, government documents, rare books, and historical posters some materials are available only to members of the UNT community. UNT DL contains a wide variety of collections, most of which have a historical aspect, including images, chemical information, LGBT resources, environmental policy, films, maps, literature, music, biology, library science, digitized newspapers, newsletters, photographs, fashion, and scholarly works. Dates of Coverage: Varies by collection.
Portal to Texas History
Portal to Texas History a gateway to Texas history materials for educators, lifelong learners, and researchers. It includes collections from museums, archives, historical societies, and libraries throughout the state of Texas. It is maintained by the University of North Texas Libraries' Digital Projects Unit. The Portal continues to grow as additional partners contribute digital versions of their collections. We hope you'll return often to discover our latest additions. By 2010, the Portal hosted over 900,000 digital images. Dates of Coverage: pre-1519 - current

Journals

JSTOR
This database provides access to a variety of historical journals including some such as "The William and Mary Quarterly" which include genealogy and family history related articles.

Annals of Genealogical Research
This site provides access to this open-access genealogy journal.

Genealogy Resources