Databases

Premier genealogy resource with federal and state census records, military and immigration records, birth, death, and marriage records, and other reference sources such as high school yearbooks.  In-library use only.

Explore 145,000 maps of the world, continents, countries, and states. Browse antique and historical maps, climate and ecology maps, flags of the world, and glossaries. Play geography games.

Search a wide variety of credible, vetted local and regional newspapers from throughout the Chicagoland area, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald, Naperville Sun, and more.

Comprehensive coverage from 1985 to the present. Search top news stories, local issues, obituaries, pop culture, and more. Note obituaries from 1985-1999 are missing.

Search for articles, obituaries, and more from the Chicago Tribune spanning 1849 to 1998. Find first-hand accounts and coverage of the politics, society, and events of the time.

As a FamilySearch affiliate library, we provide access to worldwide genealogical records, images, and documents. When searching from outside the library, some results show an icon with a key above a camera lens, indicating they are locked to the user. In-library use only.

Search Chicago city directories and US military records from the Revolutionary War onward. Includes stories, photos, and personal documents of those who served. 

Access over 3,000 U.S. and international newspapers such as Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, Financial Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Coverage from 1980s to present. Search by topic or browse an issue of a specific newspaper.

Search primary sources such as census records, city directories, family and local histories, Revolutionary War files, and Freedman’s Bank Records. Includes resources on towns and families from all 50 states, Canada, and the British Isles.

Contains millions of searchable newspaper pages published 1607 to present from more than 400 cities in the United States, United Kingdom, and more than 15 other countries. Enter search terms or browse newspapers by country, city, state, and year to discover obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, sports articles, and more.

Access over 4,000 newspapers dating from the early 1700s to the 2000s. Discover articles from local and regional papers as well as national and international resources. 

Fire insurance maps from 1867-1970 chart the growth and development of towns and cities in Illinois. They are large scale plans of a city or town drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch. The maps list street blocks and building numbers including numbers in use at the time the map was made and previous numbers.