Genealogy

• General How-To
• African American Genealogy
• Guide to family genealogies in the North Carolina Collection’s Vertical Files
• Index to names in family history books in the North Carolina Collection (PDF)
• Heritage Quest (If you’re not in a library building, you’ll need your DCo Library card number for access.)
• Ancestry.com (Available at any Durham County Library location.)
• FamilySearch.org: another resource similar to Heritage Quest and Ancestry, Family Search is free if you create an account. Millions of records and images are available. Explore Historical Images tool.
• North Carolina land grants – searchable data for all 217,000+ NC grants.
• Tips for using obituaries
• Death, birth, marriage, and divorce announcement indexes
  Downloadable indexes of publication dates for announcements of deaths, births, marriages and marriage licenses, and divorces in Durham. All items listed can be found on microfilm in the Main Library.
• State Library: resources and guides for genealogy and family history research provided by the State Library of North Carolina.
• Search existing unpublished family trees and genealogies in the North Carolina Collection.

Videos and Webinars

The below training sessions are freely available online:

Public Library Association:

• Digging Deeper into Local and Family History with Census Data

State Library of North Carolina:

• A Matter of Life and Death: Researching North Carolina Vital Records
• Family History Starts Here: Using the State Library and State Archives in Your Research
• Introduction to African American Genealogy