Genealogy & History

Research Tools

• Census.gov
• Ellis Island Passenger Search
• Genealogy:  The Complete Resource Guide
• History Reference Center (Badgerlink)Full-text books, magazines, historical documents, biographies, and multimedia. Nearly 57,000 historical documents and 40,000 historical photos and maps. More than 1,990 full-text reference books. Full-text articles are searchable by reading level indicator (Lexile).
• Military and Government Colllection (Badgerlink)Nearly 300 full-text journals and magazines.  Full-text publications include Defense Studies, Military Technology, Combat Edge, Foreign Affairs, Naval Forces and many more. Also offers indexing and abstracts for hundreds of journals​.
• Recollection Wisconsin
  Stories from Wisconsin Collections

Other Websites

May require account creation.

• Cyndi’s List – categorized and cross-referenced list of links pointing to genealogical research sites online.
• RootsWeb –  owned by Ancestry.com.  Hosts many volunteer genealogy projects on the internet.  Provides a mailing list, message board and free webspace to build your own genealogy webpages.
• Wisconsin Historical Society – collects, preserves and makes available materials about the history of Wisconsin, the United States and North America.
• Library of Congress Chronicling America – Search America’s historic newspaper pages from 1789-1924 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
• Preservation Directory.com – online resource for historic preservation, building restoration and cultural resource management in the United States & Canada.

Research Centers

• Family History Centers – affiliate branches of the Family History Library operated by the LDS Church.  Regionally located at Olson Memorial Library, as well as Three Lakes and Minocqua.
• UW Milwaukee Archives – an Area Research Center for the Wisconsin Historical Society, providing access to primary sources from all around the state.
• UW Stevens Point Research Center – repository of University records, Portage County Historical Society collections and Wisconsin Historical Society – Area Research Center Network collections
• UW Madison Archives – official repository for all UW-Madison, UW-System Administration, UW-Extension, and UW Colleges records appraised to have permanent or archival value.
• Northern Great Lakes History Center and Archives –  includes naturalization records; pre-1907 registrations of births, deaths, and marriages; census records for each of the eight counties as well as Native American census rolls for Northern Wisconsin tribes; area newspapers on microfilm; court and tax records; and Ashland city directories.