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American Ancestors logo

American Ancestors

From the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Collections of early American genealogical records (vital, church, and town records) from New England states, England, Ireland, and beyond. In-library use only.

Ancestry logo

Ancestry Library Edition

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.

A to Z Maps logo

AtoZ Maps

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.

NewsBank logo

Chicago News Collection

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.

Chicago Tribune logo

Chicago Tribune

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.

FamilySearch logo

FamilySearch

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. Access is permitted within the library only.

Fold3 logo

Fold3

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

ProQuest logo

Global Newsstream

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.

HeritageHub logo button

HeritageHub

Explore your family history with U.S. obituaries and death notices from 1704 to today. Identify relatives and uncover new information and potentially unknown family members. Includes coverage from all 50 states, hard-to-find content from the mid-1900s, and original obituary images.

HeritageQuest logo

HeritageQuest

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.

Newspaper Archive logo

Newspaper Archive

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.

Newspapers dot com logo

Newspapers.com

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. 

Digital Sanborn Maps of Illinois

Sanborn Maps of Illinois

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.