Since genealogy is the second-most popular hobby in America, what better way to celebrate Family History Month than to share some of the incredible resources we have at CLP?

Genealogy Databases:

First off, Ancestry.com is a great starting point to begin searching for those elusive relatives. Other Library databases include Fold3 for US military and naturalization records. Genealogy Connect provides access to 1,500 reference books and how-to’s to help you build a family tree. Also, Heritage Quest is a comprehensive source of information for conducting genealogy and local history research. All of these are available via the Resources page of our website.

Newspaper Collections & More:

CLP’s newspaper collections contain local papers on microfilm from Pittsburgh and beyond. Our collection begins with the first newspaper west of the Alleghenies, The Gazette (1786), and include the Pittsburgh Gazette, Gazette Times, Sun Telegraph, The Leader, The Pittsburgh Press, and many others from Pittsburgh and surrounding counties.
Newspapers.com is available in the Library to search the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and several other early papers. Additional online resources include the Pittsburgh Courier, Jewish Criterion, and the Jewish Chronicle. Finally, we have Newspaper Archive, an historical newspaper database with papers from every state and seven countries. Newspapers in this resource date from 1759 to the present.

Microform Collections:

Pittsburgh, Allegheny City, and Allegheny County Birth and Death registers from 1870 and later can be searched by Library staff. (Exact beginning and ending dates vary.) Another useful microfilm is the Index to Allegheny County Marriage Licenses, 1885-1925. Indexes for death notices from local newspapers exist for 1786-1913 and 1963-1998; and Pittsburgh City Directories (1813-1975) and telephone directories (1880-2009), are also useful tools.

All of CLP’s genealogy and local history books can be found in the catalog. You can also contact genealogy staff at padept@carnegielibrary.org for specialized assistance.