Newberry Library

The Newberry Library is located at 60 West Walton Street in Chicago, off of Interstate 90/94. Again, you are on your own for parking but there are meters surrounding the library. The building is beautiful and the wide, marble steps are well-worn, a testament to their years of service.

Highlights of the collection are the newspapers, city directories for many major American cities, microfilmed censuses for the federal as well as territorial and state level, church and synogogue records, the Genealogical Index of the Newberry Library, local histories, and Family Resource Files. I personally did not enjoy my research time at the Newberry because it is so difficult to find resources- three different cataloguing systems were in operation and there are no plans to form one joint cataloguing system anytime soon, due to budget constraints, I was informed. This factor is discouraging for even a dedicated researcher!

Again, local access is usually a factor for a beginning researcher and I would suggest that you go to a local Family History Center before tackling the Newberry Library. Once you have a clear idea of which resources the Newberry has that could be of assistance to you in your research, go with another researcher who has been to the Newberry before to help you negotiate the collections and keep you focused and optimistic about your success! You can access the "Genealogy at the Newberry Library" webpage at: http://www.newberry.org/nl/genealogy/L3gabout/html.