Military Records

Military records provide lots of genealogical details. Even if your ancestor didn't serve in the military, you can still find useful information in draft records. Join us Tuesday, May 22 at 2 PM and discover how to find and use military records in your family history research.

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

Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific Railroad History

Join us at the Glenview History Center to learn about Glenview's place in railroad history!

Bob Storozuk, president of the Milwaukee Road Historical Association, will will discuss the history of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul & Pacific Railroad -- with special emphasis on Glenview.

This program will be on Sunday, May 20th at 2 PM at the Hibbard Library at the Glenview History Center. A suggested donation of $5 is appreciated.

Local Newspapers

Newspapers play an important role in genealogy and local history research. We have several resources to help you find local newspapers and articles.

To begin, search our obituary index for Glenview-area obituaries. You can also find local articles about specific topics, businesses, or people in our newspaper clipping file located in the Genealogy & Local History Room.

For more in-depth research, consult our online databases or browse our microfilm collection.

Newspaper databases:
Newspapers.com 
This covers the entire United States but you can find a variety of local newspaper coverage dating back to the 1800s. This includes the historic Daily Herald whose coverage includes Glenview. For more recent articles, try the following databases:

Chicago Sun-Times (1986-Present)
Chicago Tribune Archive (1849-1994)
Chicago Tribune (1989-Present)

Daily Herald (1995-Present)
Glenview Announcements (1995-Present)
NewsBank: Illinois

Local newspapers on microfilm:

1928-1929
The Niles Center Press

1931-1954
Northbrook News

1931-1954
Glenview View

1940-1954
The Announcements:
Glenview, Northbrook, Northfield

1950-1954
Glenview Post

1954-Present
Glenview Announcements

2001-Present
Glenview Journal

Tall Trees

Learn about the history of the Tall Trees neighborhood. In the latest episode of the Glenview TV's Off the Shelf, Yvonne Wolf interviews Dan Wassmann, the author of Tall Trees: An Illustrated History. Discover what makes this Glenview neighborhood unique. 

Italian Immigration

Italian Immigrants
Library of Congress LC-USZ62-87554

Italians Americans make up the fourth largest European ethnic groups in the US. Most Italian
immigration happened between 1880 and 1915 when about four million Italians emigrated to America.

The National Archives provides easy access to some Italian immigration records through the Italians to America Passenger Data File, 1855-1900. This collection consists of an index of 845,368 passengers who arrived in Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia between 1855-1900. The Data File includes information about passenger's name, age, town of last residence, destination, and gives you information on finding the ship's manifest.

After you find your ancestor's town of birth, visit Ancestors: Archives for Genealogical Research which is the official portal to the various State Archives in Italy. And don't forget to search for church records. The Italian Catholic Church website can help you locate your ancestor's parish church. 

The Glenview Naval Air Base and The Hangar One Foundation

Join us Saturday, April 14 at 1 PM for a local history presentation. Bill Marquardt will discuss the Glenview Hangar One Foundation which works to preserve the history of Naval Air Station Glenview and several of the base’s historic buildings.

Presented in partnership with the North Suburban Genealogical Society.

FamilySearch

Learn how to navigate FamilySearch with us Tuesday, April 10 at 2 PM. We'll discuss basic search functions, explore hard-to-find record collections, and discover the FamilySearch Wiki and other online learning tools.

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

FamilySearch Tips

Did you know that 77% of the records on FamilySearch can't be found through a basic "Historical Records" search? If this is the only place you search on FamilySearch, you're missing most of their collections!

Under the "Search" tab, click on "Catalog" or "Books" to find record collections that are usually not searchable under "Records."

Catalog
The catalog searches FamilySearch's entire collection of genealogical materials. Search for items by title, record type, family name, or geographic location. Some of these collections are not available online but others are digitized and browsable. You can find lots of European records here.

Books
Find and read digitized books from FamilySearch and other genealogical institutions. Many of these items are local histories, family histories, or surname studies.

Don't ignore the "Find a Collection" section at the bottom of the "Search Historical Records" page. Search by collection title or click on "Browse all published collections." Narrow down your search by geographic location and see all collections for a specific area.

Explore these 'hidden' collections and soon you'll be breaking down your brick walls!

Illinois Maps

Celebrate Illinois' 200th birthday with some very interesting maps! See how the state has changed with Illinois: Mapping the Prairie State Through History. 

This book includes maps from the 1670s to the present as well as essays about different aspects of Illinois history. The maps record boundary changes, detail the growth of towns (both large and small), and chart railroad and industrial expansion in the state.

Maps make great resources for family historians too. Trace your ancestors with Family Maps of Cook County, Illinois compiled by Gregory A. Boyd.

If you family was an early settler in the area, they may have received a land patent. Boyd gives you three maps: a land patent map, a current (ca 2006) road map, and a historical map which lists cemeteries, railroads, and waterways. Look for you family in the surname index or search the map of your ancestors town and neighborhood to find family names.

While land patent maps sound confusing, they're easy to use. For example, here you see a road map of Glenview. The library would be located in box 35.

And here is the land patent map. You can see that Edwin Clark received a patent for the land the library currently sits on in 1840. 

Find your ancestors' original homestead or see who originally owned your current property. Maps can add lots of context to our family histories.

And for more historical maps, check out the map case in the Genealogy & Local History Room.

Irish Research

Find your Irish ancestors this weekend and search Irish records for free on Ancestry.com in honor of St. Patrick's Day!

Don't know where to start? Ancestry's Irish research guide can help you get started finding records in both the US and in Ireland. The guide also highlights their major Irish collections.

You can also visit the Irish American Heritage Center on Saturday for their St. Patrick's Day Festival. Celebrate Irish culture and visit the IAHC Library for genealogy workshops throughout the day.