Iowa Societies and Archives

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Iowa Genealogical Archives

 

It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.

Iowa Public Libraries - In Iowa, within the entire library system, there is an interlibrary program that can be called upon for many printed materials. The reference librarian at the local library, for a small fee, can request assistance in locating a particular book through this system.

• Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, 210 Parkside Drive, West Branch, IA 52358; 319-643-5301
• State Historical Society of Iowa Research Library, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City, IA 52240
  The second largest research collection in the state is located at the Iowa City branch of the State Historical Society's research facilities. Holdings include local, state and national histories, biographies, government documents, and current historical periodicals not all identical to the facility at Des Moines. Microfilm holdings are loaned between the collections. Of specific interest to genealogists are county histories, census data, cemetery records, atlases, and plat books. Iowa newspapers, beginning in 1836, can be found in 10,000 bound volumes and 12,000 microfilm rolls (microfilm available on interlibrary loan). Fire insurance maps include more than 700 Iowa communities. Over 100,000 photographic images can be located by standard subject headings, geographical designations, or the portrait index.
• State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, IA 50319
  This state-wide organization encompasses all the state historical operations including the historical libraries; State Archives (including manuscript, maps, school and institutional records, and photographs); museum; and membership and development of publications. The extensive holdings of the research library at the Des Moines location are the largest in the state. The staff is very responsive to written request for general information.
• National Archives; Central Plains Region, Kansas City, 2312 East Bannister Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64131-3011; Email: kansascity.archives@nara.gov; Phone: 816-268-8000

Historical & Genealogical Societies

 

Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book (2nd Edition). It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.

For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.

• State Historical Society of Iowa, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, IA 50319
• Iowa Genealogical Society, 6000 Douglas, P.O. Box 7735, Des Moines, IA 50322
  Maintains an extensive genealogical reference library (shelf list available), publishes the quarterly Hawkeye Heritage and a member newsletter, and publishes in cooperation with its chapters a variety of genealogical reference works, primarily Iowa vital records. State and national speakers are featured at the annual conference in Ames.
• Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60610
  Although in Illinois, this repository should be considered as a source for Iowa research. According to Peggy Tuck Sinko, author of Guide to Local and Family History at the Newberry Library (Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1987), “The Iowa holdings of The Newberry Library are surpassed in size, scope, and quality only by the library's Illinois collection.” The Iowa collection includes considerable genealogical and local history material, plus a number of very rare books and manuscripts included in the Graff Collection.
• North Central Iowa Genealogy Society, PO Box 237, Mason City IA 50402-0237
  [Researching in nine area counties Cerro Gordo, Mitchell, Floyd, Butler, Franklin, Worth, Winnebago, Hancock, and Wright]
• National Genealogical Society, 4527 17th Street North, Arlington, Virginia 22207-2399; (703) 525-0050 or (800) 473-0060
• International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry, P.O. BOX 436937, CHICAGO, IL 60643-6937; Phone: (773) 238-2686
• Iowa Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
• National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006; Phone: (202) 628-1776
• Iowa Society of Sons of the American Revolution
• National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776

Iowa Genealogical Publications

See specific county page for Individual County List

Iowa has several valuable historical periodicals. The State Historical Society of Iowa has published the Annals of Iowa, a scholarly quarterly in three series—1863–74, 1882–83, and 1893 to present; Iowa Historical Record (1885–1902); and the Iowa Journal of History and Politics, renamed Iowa Journal of History, 1903–61; and the Palimpsest, a popular quarterly, published continuously since 1920. Volume and cumulative indexes are available.

Hawkeye Heritage, the quarterly publication of the Iowa Genealogical Society, contains a wealth of local information from various parts of the state. For example, issues from 1987 included the following articles: “Iowans Allowed Pensions 02 March 1887”; “Tombstone Inscriptions in Cass Cemetery, Hamilton County”; “Genealogical Excerpts, Diary of Rev. Frederick C. Bauman” (German immigrant—excerpts were for 1890, 1891, 1892); and “Index to the 1856 Special Census of Franklin County, Iowa.”

• Search The PERiodical Source Index
• Newspapers & Periodicals - The Newspapers & Periodicals Collection lets you discover a wealth of information about your ancestors from many historical newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals. These types of sources can often supplement public records and provide information that is not recorded anywhere else. Here, you can learn more about your ancestor's possible daily activities by placing them in the context of their time.

Iowa Newspapers

 

While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.

Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.

Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.

The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).

The Du Buque Visitor, Iowa's first newspaper, was published in 1836 at Dubuque, followed a year later by The Western Adventurer at Montrose. The State Historical Society of Iowa has been collecting the newspapers of the state extensively for quite some time. Currently archived are over 22,000 reels of microfilm. Papers cataloged as part of the United States Newspaper Project are on the OCLC database and can be obtained on interlibrary loan from either the Des Moines or Iowa City facilities. Suggested references include the following:

• Cheever, L. D., comp. Newspaper Collection of the State Historical Society of Iowa . Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1969. An update file to this listing is available at the State Historical Library, Iowa City.
• Iowa Pilot Project of the Organization of American Historians, The Library of Congress, United States Newspaper Project. A Bibliography of Iowa Newspapers, 1836–1976. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa State Historical Department, 1979.
• Petersen, W. J. The Pageant of the Press, The Pageant of the Press: A Survey of 125 Years of Iowa Journalism, 1836-1961 . Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa State Historical Society, 1962.
• Pitman, Edward F. Index to bound newspapers in Iowa State Department of History and Archives . Des Moines, Iowa: State of Iowa, 1947.

Available for purchase from the State Historical Society of Iowa Library (Iowa City) is Bibliography of Iowa Newspapers, 1836–1976 (Iowa State Historical Department, 1979).

• Search Historical Newspapers at Ancestry.com
• Find your family history In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive! Find News, Births and Deaths - Find tens of millions of historical newspaper articles, dating back to 1759. Search for newspaper articles about a deadly earthquake or one that mentions a past relative. Newspaper articles are easily accessible with online research tools.
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• Search Historical Newspapers (1690 - 1980) - Quickly find names and keywords in over 450 million articles, obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements and other items published in over 2,800 historical U.S. newspapers. New content added monthly!