Genealogy
SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES - DPPL library card required from home.
General Sites
These sites are great jumping-off points for new or seasoned genealogists. Read our GENEALOGY GUIDE [link to file in AS Drive - PDF flyers] for more tips on how to do genealogy research.
Ancestry Library Edition
This is the library version of Ancestry.com. It allows you to search billions of genealogy records from the U.S. and around the world in a single search. In Library only.
Heritage Quest Online
Explore local histories, mine census data and search thousands of other records to find your ancestors and build your family tree.
World Vital Records
Find your ancestors in this huge collection of family trees and family history records. Search the censuses from 1790-1949 as well as military, birth, death and marriage records.
Obituaries/Newspapers
Find more ancestors to add to your family tree when you search for obituaries and newspaper articles in these databases.
America's Obituaries and Death Notices
Find newspaper obituaries and death notices from newspapers across the country. Chicago Tribune obituaries are in Chicago Tribune from ProQuest.
Chicago Tribune - ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Read the newspaper full text from 1849-1989. The pages include photographs and advertisements.
Chicago Tribune
Read the newspaper full-text from 1985 to the present. Obituaries from 2000 to the present are included.
Chicago Tribune Historical Archive
Find obituaries from 1849-1989 with the easy-to-use obituary search box.
Obituaries from ProQuest
Obituaries from Atlanta Constitution (1868-1922), Boston Globe (1872-1922), Chicago Defender (1921- 1975), Chicago Tribune (1852-1984), Los Angeles Times (1881-1984), New York Times (1851-1994) and Washington Post (1877-1950).
Local - Des Plaines If you have ancestors who lived in Des Plaines, these resouces may help you find out more about them and link you to more family members.
Des Plaines Memory
Check out this fabulous collection of local newspapers, photographs, letters, postcards and more, all detailing Des Plaines' rich history. Join the many who have found their relatives in these images. In library only.
Des Plaines Telephone Directories
Track down your relatives and ancestors who lived in Des Plaines and neighboring communities. In library only.
OUR FAVORITE WEB SITES FOR GENEALOGY
In addition to the subscription databases we've listed above, there are lots of excellent sources on the web for doing genealogy research. These are some of our favorites.
Good places to start
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
This site categorizes genealogy sites to make your searching easier. It's a great starting point for doing genealogy research.
Search millions of records from arounc the world and create a family tree at this free site provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Registration is required.
Illinois ancestors
You can find and share information about Chicago history here. This is a project of the Newberry Library.
Find Illinois resources including museums, libraries, archives, cemetery records and more.