(August 2009). News from the Special
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NEWS AND TIPS FROM THE ST. LOUIS COUNTY LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT VOL. 2, No. 8—AUGUST 2009 PastPorts is a monthly publication of the Special OF NOTE Collections Department located on Tier 5 at the Calling the library? Call Customer Connect! St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. St. Louis County Library has upgraded its telephone system, resulting in changes in Lindbergh in St. Louis the handling of calls. All calls to the library are now answered by Customer Con- County, across the street nect, the library’s new centralized call center. The Customer Connect staff will hap- from Plaza Frontenac. pily supply library branch information (such as hours of operation), renew books, check library accounts, take registration for classes and events, and provide other general information over the phone. Callers will still be transferred to the CONTACT US appropriate branch or department as needed. To subscribe, unsubscribe, The telephone number for the entire library system is now 314-994-3300. Individual change email addresses, branch telephone numbers and department extensions have been discontinued. Pa- make a comment or ask trons can still reach the Special Collection Department by asking the Customer Con- a question, contact the nect operator to transfer the call. Department as follows: Check them out! Circulating books BY MAIL in the Special Collections Department 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63131 Although it is primarily a research collection, the Special Collections Department has numerous books that may be checked out or requested through interlibrary loan BY PHONE (they “circulate,” to use library terminology). In the library’s online catalog <http:// 314-994-3300 webpac.slcl.org>, circulating books are ones whose call numbers begin with “Q” or a number. Call numbers beginning with “R” are for reference use inside the Special Collections Department only. Circulating books include all those in the National BY EMAIL Genealogical Society Book Loan Collection. A limit of two books per person may [email protected] be checked out at the same time. Next time you visit the Special Collections Department, take a look at the circulat- Regularly scheduled tours ing book display on the cabinets near the entry stairs. The display features a sam- of the Special Collections pling of books that may be checked out, including some new acquisitions. Items Department are conducted may be removed from the display and checked out from the Department. on the first Wednesday and third Saturday of Learn about records for genealogical research the month at 10:30 am. No advance registration The Special Collections Department continues its series of workshops with is required. Group tours “Ancestral Timelines: Records for Researching Your Family History.” The work- shop will be offered on two dates: are gladly arranged with advance notice. Please Saturday, August 22, 9:30 – 11:30 am, call the Special Collections Headquarters Auditorium Department at 314-994-3300, Wednesday, August 26, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, for scheduling information. Headquarters Auditorium (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE) Published genealogies The Special Collections Department offers more than New researchers or those wanting a refresher will find this 15,000 published genealogies and family histories. Check workshop useful. The presenter will offer an overview of the online library catalog <http://webpac.slcl.org> for the basic records used in genealogical research, including birth, histories of families with the surnames you are researching. marriage, death, immigration and naturalization, census, To search, choose “subject” in the drop-down box next the city directories and newspapers. The session will include word “search.” Type in the surname and lively discussion and hands-on activities. Participants “family” (“Kleinkamp family,” for example) and click should compile and bring with them existing genealogical “submit.” Be sure to search on possible variant spellings, information or documentation (please do not bring valuable also. A list of genealogies in the collection for that surname originals). will result. Family histories are located in the closed stacks This workshop is appropriate for beginning researchers and will be retrieved by a staff person upon request. who have little or no previous experience. Registration is limited to 20 participants. Church records Church records are a rich source of genealogical informa- Pre-registration required tion, and German-American Protestant records can be espe- Workshops are free and open to the public but space is lim- cially detailed. Birthplace information is commonly found ited. Registration will be taken on a first-come, first-served in baptismal, marriage, death, and other records. The Spe- basis beginning four weeks in advance of the workshop cial Collections Department has church records on micro- date. To register for a workshop or for more information, film for many German Catholic and Protestant Churches in call the library at 314-994-3300. the St. Louis area. Guides to Lutheran and German Evan- gelical (United Church of Christ) records in the collection are on the Department’s website <http://www.slcl.org/ More to come branches/hq/sc/>. Click on the “Guides” tab and scroll The Special Collections Department workshops have re- down to “Church resources.” ceived an enthusiastic reception. Some workshops will be repeated, and the staff is working to develop others on vari- For Catholic records, the Department has microfilm copies ous topics. Check future issues of PastPorts and the Special of all available parish records in the Archdiocese of St. Collections Department website <http://www.slcl.org/hq/ Louis. Consult Guide to St. Louis Catholic Archdiocesan sc> for workshop announcements. Suggestions regarding Parish Records, a finding aid available in the Department topics are welcome. Send an email to [email protected] (copies are also available for purchase). Additionally, the to suggest a topic. Department has microfilm of parish records for the diocese of Belleville, Ill. For other locales, many church record abstracts and indexes FOR THE RECORDS are available in the Department’s book collection. Of note is the series German Immigrants in American Church Re- Find German hometowns in the cords (Call no. R 929.3089 G373). Volumes extract data from German Protestant church records, with many entries Special Collections Department stating emigration year and place of origin. Volumes cur- rently cover Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska. Ad- Although finding an ancestral hometown can be a challeng- ditional volumes will be acquired as they become available. ing task, the Special Collections Department has sources Other indexes and abstracts are shelved with materials per- that can offer clues and perhaps even the exact village or taining to individual counties. To find them in In the library town name. The following is a brief discussion of key catalog, choose “keyword” in the drop-down box next to sources available in the Department, including those on the word “search.” Type “[name of county] county [state] Ancestry and Footnote. Both databases can be used for free church records.” For example, to find church records for in the Special Collections Department and any St. Louis Madison County, Illinois, type “Madison County Illinois County Library location. church records.” (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) (CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE) U.S. passport applications—Passport applications sometimes list the exact place of birth. If your ancestor re- Emigration lists turned to the Old Country for a visit, this would be a source Some German provinces kept emigration records, some of to check. Searchable databases for passport applications, which have been published as abstracts or indexes. Some, 1795 – 1925 are available on Ancestry and Footnote. An such as The Württemberg Emigration Index (call no. index is also available on microfilm in the Department. R 943.47 S324W and circulating copies) and The Baden Emigration Book (call no. R 943.46 S377B and circulating Passenger lists—Passenger lists occasionally state the copies), are also available as searchable databases on An- exact place of origin. Lists with images of original docu- cestry. If you know the province from which your ancestor ments are available on Ancestry. The Department has New emigrated, such indexes can help locate the exact point of Orleans passenger lists and indexes to a few others on mi- origin. Search the library catalog, check Ancestry (browsing crofilm. for available databases does not require a subscription), or Census records—The chances of finding the ancestral contact the Special Collections Department to find out village in census records is slim but not out of the question. which emigration lists are available. Until 1900, census schedules commonly gave at least the principality or kingdom where the person was born. Other possibilities Though not generally reliable for finding ancestral home- What next? towns, the following sources still offer possibilities and Once the village has been discovered, the Special Collec- should be checked: tions Department can often help find more information. Obituaries—The Special Collections Department has One excellent resource is the Map Guide to German Parish microfilm copies of German St. Louis newspapers, includ- Registers series (call no. R 943 H249M). Each volume fea- ing Anzeiger des Westens, 1842 – 1898, Westliche Post, tures maps of parish boundaries