Minnesota Societies

Genealogical, historical, lineage, veteran, and ethnic societies often collect, transcribe, and publish information that can be helpful to genealogists. Lineage societies, such as the DAR, Colonial Dames, and the Sons of the American Revolution, require members to prove they are descended from people such as colonists or soldiers. National lineage societies such as the DAR are described in United States Societies.

Genealogical and historical societies can provide historical information about families in the area or ancestors of society members.

Genealogical and historical societies occasionally publish transcriptions of original records. Most publish quarterly periodicals, a few of which are listed in Periodicals. Use the Periodical Source Index (Persi) to find periodicals and articles for Minnesota localities.

Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society was founded in 1849. This makes the Society nine years older than the state. Their website has several interesting facts about the Society:


 * Nearly 1 million visitors and 261,000 school children visit the Society each year.
 * The Society has 17,000 members from 50 states and 9 countries, making the Minnesota Historical Society the largest in the nation.
 * The Minnesota Historical Society Press is the largest historical society publisher in the country with over 200 titles in print.
 * The Minnesota History Day Program is a national model with 30,000 school children participating each year.

For Minnesota genealogical and historical societies that have records and services to help you with your research, see the "Archives and Libraries," "Church Records," and "Periodicals" sections.

Two major statewide societies are the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Genealogical Society. The Minnesota Genealogical Society has several branch societies or interest groups relating to minorities. For address and full description, see the "Archives and Libraries" and "Periodicals" sections.

Many counties also have local historical and genealogical societies. You can find local society addresses by using directories cited in United States Societies.

Some societies generate unpublished indexes of local records, genealogies, cemetery transcriptions, and other records. Some may publish lists of members, yearbooks, ancestor lists, or surname indexes may be listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

MINNESOTA – SOCIETIES

MINNESOTA – GENEALOGY – SOCIETIES

MINNESOTA – HISTORY – SOCIETIES

MINNESOTA, [COUNTY] – SOCIETIES

MINNESOTA, [COUNTY] – GENEALOGY – SOCIETIES

MINNESOTA, [COUNTY] – HISTORY – SOCIETIES

Cuyuna Country Heritage Preservation Society
The Cuyuna Country Heritage Preservation Society was founded in 1989 to preserve the history of the Cuyuna Iron Range area.