Ancestry Magazine

At the center of the BYU campus, in Provo, UT, is one of the largest genealogical collections in the United States, housed in the Harold B. Lee Library.

EDITOR’s NOTE: Each year people interested in genealogy and family history come form all across the United States and Canada, as well as many foreign countries, to do research in Salt Lake City’s Family History Library. Many, if not most, do not know of another set of vast resources available to them at nearby Brigham Young University.

Brigham Young University, owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the nation’s largest privately owned university, and is located forty-five miles south of Salt Lake City in Provo, Utah. At the center of the BYU campus is one of the largest genealogical collections in America, housed in the Harold B. Lee Library. This article describes the genealogical holdings of the Lee Library.

Located within the Lee Library in the microforms area is the Utah Valley Regional Family History Center, the largest family history center (a family history center is a branch of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City). Here microfilms may be borrowed from the main library. Approximately 100,000 researchers use these genealogy facilities at BYU each year.

The holdings of the Utah Valley Regional Family History Center, combined with the genealogical and historical holdings of the main library, make the Harold B. Lee Library one of the largest genealogical collections in America. Within this integrated collection are c ountless genealogical and local history titles, newspapers, and manuscripts which exceed those at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Although emphasis is on U.S. records, BYU’s collection is international in scope and includes numerous English parish registers, census records, and other foreign sources on microfilm and microfiche, and in print. Many computer databases are available for researchers.

The library’s collection of over 250,000 maps is a major part of the research facilities, far exceeding similar holdings at the Family History Library. Numerous maps are also available on microfiche and microfilm, while others are available in computerized map programs. The scope of the map collection is worldwide and includes international cartographic maps, U.S. topographic maps, geographic maps, road maps, and over 5,500 published atlases and gazetteers.

Among the treasures of the Lee Library are the manuscripts in Special Collections, consisting of diaries and journals, historic photographs, rare books, unpublished sources, LDS church history, Utah and Mormon Americana, Western Americana, Victorian literature, and more. A large government documents collection and a separate Law Library are also available for researchers. Many genealogical and historical periodicals are also housed in the Lee Library (national, regional, state, and surname titles).

The two major automated catalogs which identify genealogical holdings at the Lee Library are BYLINE, BYU’s online public access catalog, and the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC). BYLINE uses normal catalog commands (author, title, subject, and keyword) and is also available through the Internet at www.lib.byu.edu. It is useful in identifying book and microfiche call numbers in the library.

The Family History Library Catalog is available on compact disc, microfiche, and local network at BYU. The FHLC is especially valuable in identifying microfilm and micro fiche call numbers at the Lee Library. Researchers need to use both BYLINE and the FHLC to identify genealogical sources at the Lee Library. Unlike BYLINE, the FHLC is not available on the Internet.

Reference notebooks and registers for each U.S. state, Canadian provinces, and foreign countries assist in identifying book, microfilm, and microfiche call numbers of genealogical sources, not only at the Lee Library but also at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City as well. Separate notebooks identify National Archives, newspapers, and call numbers of other microfilms at the Lee Library.

A new library addition is presently under construction and will greatly add to the existing library building. It will provide additional space for BYU’s genealogical and historical collections and its computer facilities. It will be one of the largest library buildings in the Intermountain West.

The following is a summary list of some of the major genealogical sources and collections available at the Harold B. Lee Library, in printed form, microfilm, microfiche, compact disc, and a selected listing of computer systems.

Printed Sources
A partial summary of genealogical and reference printed sources found among the more than 3 million books at the Lee Library includes the following:
The American Genealogical-Biographical Index
Atlases
Bibliographies
Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Biographies
Census Indexes
CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch, Documents, 1789-1909
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, 1789-1897
City directories
DAR Lineage Books
DAR Reports (graves of soldiers of the Revolution)
Dictionaries and encyclopedias
English parish registers
Gazetteers
Genealogies (family histories)
Genealogical indexes (such as indexes to military records and many others)
Genealogical research materials (vital records, gravestone inscriptions, church records, wills, co urt records, Bible records, and others)
Genealogical and historical reference books and indexes
Government documents
Guidebooks (how to do research)
Immigration records (published passenger lists)
Indexes to periodicals
Local histories (county, state, and city or town histories)
LDS church sources
Massachusetts town vital records
Membership of the LDS church, 1830-1848, 50 vols. (also on microfiche and compact disc)
Military records and indexes
Periodicals (genealogical, historical, and family publications)
Religious reference books
United States Congressional Serial Set
The Victoria History of the Counties of England Microfilm
A summary listing of some of the records available at the Lee Library on over 650,000 rolls of 16 and 35 mm microfilm includes the following:
Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records
Census: U.S. schedules, 1790 through 1920 (complete)
Census Soundex indexes, 1880-1920 (complete)
Census Indexes, U.S. and foreign countries
Census: 1900 census enumeration district descriptions
Civil War Pension Index File, 1861-1934
Corbin Manuscript Collection (Massachusetts)
DAR Burial Index
Early American books
Early Church Information File (ECIF)
England and Wales census: 1851 (complete); also parts of 1841, 1861, and 1871 censuses
England and Wales: Index to Civil Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1837-1906
Family Group Records Collection (8 million records)
Genealogies and family histories
Hale Collection (Connecticut newspaper notices and cemetery inscriptions)
Hamburg, Germany Passenger Lists and Indexes, 1850-1934
Index to New England Naturalization Petitions, 1791-1906
Index to Utah probate records (selected counties) and Utah probate records
Ireland Householders Index, 1820-1864
Ireland: Index to births, 1864-1959; Marriages, 1845-1959; and Deaths, 1 864-1899
Journal History of the (LDS) Church
LDS church census
LDS church ward and branch records
Land records and indexes
Local histories (town, county, and state histories)
Military records and indexes (mostly Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War 1898)
Mortality schedules, 1850-1880
Native American records and indexes, including some censuses
National Archives microfilms (military records, immigration records, territorial papers, Indian Affairs, and many others)
Newspapers (local, national, and international)
Passenger lists (immigration records and indexes) for selected ports and years-especially Baltimore, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia
Periodicals
Probate records and indexes
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Utah
State census schedules (some states and years)
Temple Records Index Bureau (30 million index cards)
Territorial Case Files of the U.S. District Courts of Utah, 1870-1896
USGS Topographic Maps
Utah Immigration Index
Utah sources
Vital Records for various states and foreign countries Microfiche
A selected listing of some of the extensive sources available on over 2 million microfiche housed at the Lee Library includes:
Accelerated Indexing Systems (AIS) U.S. census indexes
California index to deaths, 1940-1983
Cemetery records
Church records
CIDOC Project (The Nineteenth Century, Chadwyck-Healey)
City directories
Cross-index to selected City Streets and Enumeration Districts, 1910 Census
Early American Imprints, American Antiquarian Society (Shaw-Shoemaker)
England, Scotland, and Wales 1881 census index
England 1891 census
England, Scotland, and Wales 1841-1891 census registers
Family History Library Catalog (FHLC)
Family Registry (Family History Library)
Gazetteers
Genea logical Research Papers (Family History Library)
Genealogies (family histories)
Genealogy and Local History (GLH) Collection (University Microfilms) containing genealogies, local histories, genealogical serials, vital records, biographies, gazetteers, inventories, church histories, city directories, and other sources
The German Biographical Archive
Government publications
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
Illinois Death Name Index, 1916-1938
Immigration records and passenger lists
Indexes to genealogical records
International Genealogical Index® (IGI) for U.S. and foreign countries
Land record indexes
LDS historical and biographical sources
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Land Ownership Maps
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, foreign maps
Local histories
Massachusetts town vital records (before 1850)
Membership of the LDS church, 1830-1848
Military records
National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS) finding aids and indexes for the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, and other countries (Chadwyck-Healey)
North Carolina Index to Marriage Bonds
Ontario (Canada) land records index
Pamphlets in American History
PERiodical Source Index (PERSI, Allen County Public Library index to periodicals)
Rhode Island: Vital Record of Rhode Island
Scotland Old Parochial Registers Index (OPRs)
Scandinavian LDS Mission Index
South Carolina DAR Name Index
State census records (selected localities)
Vital record indexes
Wales: indexes and abstracts of wills
Wills and probate records
Wisconsin: birth, marriage, and death indexes
Word lists Compact Discs
A selected listing of some of the sources available on hundreds of compact discs (CD-ROM) at the Lee Library includes:
America: History and Life (ABC-CLIO)
Australia vital records: New South Wales Pioneers Index, 1788-1918 (Pioneers Series and Federation Series)
Automated Archives (census indexes, marriage records, genealogies, land records)
CD Sourcebook of American History
Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective
The Constitution Papers
Dissertation Abstracts International database
The Electronic Encyclopedia of World War II
FamilySearch®: Ancestral File™ (over 29 million names), International Genealogical Index® (over 240 million names), Social Security Death Index, U.S. Military Index (Korean and Vietnam conflicts), Scottish Church Records, and Family History Library Catalog
General Land Office automated Records Project (pre-1908 index to federal land records)
GNIS: Geographic Names Information System
Handbook of Latin American Studies CD-ROM
Historical Abstracts (ABC-CLIO)
Index to American Periodicals, 1700-1850
Index to NIDS (National Inventory of Documentary Sources; Chadwyck-Healey)
LDS Collectors Library (Infobases)
LDS Historical Library (Infobases)
Maps
Native American Bibliography
Newspaper Abstracts, UMI (indexes newspaper articles in U.S. newspapers)
Niles’ Register: Cumulative Index, 1811-1849 (indexes people, places, and events)
The Nineteenth Century Bibliographic Records (Chadwyck-Healey)
Pro CD ProPhone (national telephone directory on CD-ROM)
Street Atlas U.S.A.
U.S. Atlas
Women’s Studies on Disc (G.K. Hall)
World Atlas Computer Systems
Computerized library catalogs, periodical indexes, full-text databases, informational databases, geographic data, and the Internet are available for student and faculty use, not only at the Lee Library, but also at the Law Library and elsewhere on campus. A Local Area Network (LAN) is available for researchers at the Lee Library; it provides access to indexing services and many databases. A few examples of computer indexes and databases at the Lee Library are:
America: Hi story and Life (an index to scholarly journal articles, books, and dissertations)
Bibliography of Native North Americans (indexes scholarly articles, books, and essays)
Biography Index (indexes biographical articles)
FamilySearch
FHIND (identifies many genealogical records at the Lee Library-books, microfilms, microfiche, newspapers, and maps)
Hispanic American Periodical Index (HAPI)
Historical Abstracts
Index to Legal Periodicals
Library Gateway (computer network access to online library catalogs of many libraries worldwide, including the Library of Congress, University of Michigan, Yale University, and many others, and access to periodical indexes)
LEXIS/NEXIS (legal research database of current federal and state appellate court decisions)
OCLC WorldCat database (nearly 30 million records cataloged by OCLC member libraries)
PC Globe Maps ‘N’ Facts
PC USA (Broderbund)
Periodicals Contents Index, 1770-1991 (Chadwyck-Healey)
RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network, Research Libraries Group computerized bibliographic database of over 20 million titles. RLIN is a national research library consortium catalog useful for identifying printed sources, newspapers, and manuscripts at many of the nation’s largest research libraries, including the Library of Congress)
Religious indexes
Utah Archives (guide to manuscript collections in Utah archives) Quick Reference
Address: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602
BYU Web site: www.byu.edu
Harold B. Lee Library Web site: www.lib.byu.edu
Information: (801) 378-2926
General reference: (801) 378-2927
History and religion: (801) 378-6198
FAX: (801) 378-6708
Library hours (during regular semesters): Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight, Saturday, 8:00 a.m.-12:00 midnight, 2nd and 4th Sundays, 9:00 a.m.-6:45 p.m. (family history)
Visitor parking near the Lee Library: Museum of Art, Wilkinson Center/Law Library
Family History Center location: 4th floor, Harold B. Lee Library
Family History Center Web site:www.lib.byu.edu
Family History Center: (801) 378-6200 Kip Sperry is an assistant professor of family history at Brigham Young University.