Newspapers and Indexes

The Library has a significant collection of local newspapers, unfortunately, there are few indexes to their contents.  Below is a listing of the dates and formats for the existing newspaper indexes:

• Birmingham News Index, 1978-1996.  Microfiche
   
• Birmingham Post Herald Index, 1979-1992. Microfiche
   
• Obituaries from the Birmingham News and Birmingham Post Herald, 1975-present. Microfiche
   
• Obituaries from the Birmingham News, beginning with February, 1954.
   
• Birmingham News, 1993-present.  Online via the Library's subscription to News Library.  Access to articles from the Birmingham News is free to Library cardholders.

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Birmingham City Directories are located in the Tutwiler Collection.  The directories date from 1883-present.  Due to the hardship of the Great Depression and, later, the Second World War, directories were not published in the following years: 1933, 1936, 1943, and 1945.  Because of their fragility, some of our original directories have been replaced with microfilm editions.

The Library also has directories for various years for the following cities in Alabama: Anniston, Bessemer, Mobile, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa.

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U.S. Census Records

Census records are available on microfilm and online.  The Tutwiler Collection has all of the available Alabama census records as well as records from other states. 

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Databases

The computers in the Tutwiler Collection are equipped to access the popular genealogy site, Ancestry Plus.  This database can only be accessed from the Southern History Department or at the Springville Road and Five Points West branches. 

HeritageQuest Online has recently been added to the Library's databases.  Library cardholders can access HeritageQuest, free of charge, from any computer with an internet connection.

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Periodicals

The Library subscribes to hundreds of genealogical periodicals.  We also have back issues of such important titles as the William and Mary Quarterly and Tyler's Quarterly.  Additionally, we have a number of scholarly journals such as The Journal of Southern History and The Alabama Review.  Periodical titles and holdings can be found in our catalog.

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Vital Records Indexes

The Southern History Department has several indexes of vital events (marriage, divorce, or death) for Alabama and the surrounding states.  These indexes cover various periods of time, but all are within the 20th century.  The following indexes are available in the Library:

Alabama
Death Index, 1908-1959
Divorce Indexes, 1950-1959
Marriage Indexes, 1936-1969

Florida
Florida Combined Indexes of Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths

Georgia
Death Index
State of Georgia Divorce Register
State of Georgia Marriage Register

Mississippi
Dept. of Health Death Index, 1912-1943

Tennessee
Death Certificates, Index

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Family Histories

The Library has a large collection of published family histories.  All of these are listed in the catalog.  To search for a book on a particular family, simply choose the subject option and type in the surname followed by the word "family".

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Passenger Lists and Indexes

Among the published passenger lists and indexes held by the Library are:

• The Famine Immigrants: Lists of Irish Immigrants Arriving at the Port of New York, 1846-1851
• Germans to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports, 1880-1899
• Italians to America: Lists of Passengers Arriving at U.S. Ports, 1880-1899
• Migration from the Russian Empire: Lists of Passengers Arriving at the Port of New York, 1875-1891
• Passenger and Immigration Lists Index and Supplements by William P. Filby.

• Index to Passenger Lists Arriving in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, 1890-1924
• Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, 1820-1846
• Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, 1900-1954
• Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1820-1902
• Passenger Lists Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, 1853-1899
• Registers and Indexes for Passport Applications
• A Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Ports (excluding the City of New York), 1820-1874