Newspapers.com

Learn about the library's newest database, Newspapers.com, this Friday at 2 PM. Discover new search techniques and find your ancestors in historical and current newspapers.

Register online or call the Reference Desk at 847-729-7500.

Genealogy & Family History Day at Harold Washington

Celebrate Family History Month at the Harold Washington Library Center. They will be hosting a series of genealogy classes and events all day on October 21.

Drop by the Genealogy & Family History Expo to meet and talk with representatives from genealogical and heritage societies from across the region. North Suburban Genealogical Society will be there!

Dig Deeper with Ancestry

Want to learn more about Ancestry.com? Join us this Tuesday at 10 AM as we explore Ancestry’s special collections and offer techniques for advanced searching.

Register online or call the Reference Desk at 847-729-7500.

Create a Free Online Family Tree

If you're looking to put your family tree online for Family History Month, you have a few free options.

You can create a Ancestry Family Tree without a paid subscription to Ancestry.com. Create a free account here and then start adding names to your tree! You will not be able to attach documents to your tree like you would a paid account but you can organize all of those names, branches, and dates. You can even add photographs to your tree.

Ancestry Member Trees are searchable in Ancestry's database or you can adjust the privacy settings so the tree is only visible to you.

MyHeritage allows you to create a free family website and family trees. You can add documentation, photographs, calendars and family events. There are multiple options for adding all kinds of biographical data to your entries. You can also invite other family members to view and share information on the site or in the tree. There is also free family tree software that you can download to your computer if you're not interested in working through a web browser.