Delaware Archives and Libraries

United States Delaware  Archives and Libraries

Delaware Public Archive 121 Duke of York St Dover, DE 19901 Phone: (302) 744-5000 Fax: (302) 739-6710 Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room All times 8:00am - 4:15pm except as noted: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:15pm 1st Saturday - 9:00 am - 4:15 pm Sunday - Closed State Holidays - Closed

The Delaware Public Archives has a number of finding Aids and digitized records online. The Archives is also on Facebook. There is an online guide to the collection that was begun in 1978. It comprises approximately 3,600 separate word processing files, each of which represents portions of records groups within the collection.

A guide to some of the records of the Delaware Public archives is:


 * Mattern, Joanne, and Harold B. Hancock, comps. A Preliminary Inventory of the Older Records in the Delaware Archives. Dover, Delaware: Delaware Public Archives, 1978. . This source briefly describes jurisdiction, record type, number of volumes, and dates covered.

National Archives—Mid-Atlantic Region (Downtown Philadelphia) 900 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292 Phone: (215) 606-0100 Fax: (215) 606-0116 

National Archives—Mid-Atlantic Region (Northeast Philadelphia) 14700 Townsend Road Philadelphia, PA 19154-1025 Phone: (215) 305-2000 Fax: (215) 305-2038

Hagley Museum and Library P.O. Box 3630 Wilmington, DE 19807-0630 Phone: (302) 658-2400 Fax: (302) 658-0545

The records and publications of more than 1,000 businesses, and some families, especially the DuPont and related families, are at the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Library. A guide to their records is:

Riggs, John Beverley. A Guide to Manuscripts in the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library. . . Greenville, Delaware: First Eleutherian Mills Historical Library, 1970. This guide lists records acquired through 1965. The supplement lists records acquired through 1975.

For more information about Delaware repositories see:

Holley, Barbara Ann, ed. Directory of Libraries and Information Sources in the Philadelphia Area (Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Special Libraries Association, Philadelphia Chapter, 1977. . Briefly lists address, phone, hours, collection, and use of interlibrary loan.

''Inventory of the County Archives of Delaware. Number 1. New Castle County''. Dover, Delaware: The Public Archives Commission, 1941. Detailed description of each record type including years covered, number of volumes, and contents.

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards
Computers with modems are important tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial on-line services help family history researchers:


 * Locate other researchers
 * Post queries
 * Send and receive E-mail
 * Search large databases
 * Search computer libraries
 * Join in computer chat and lecture sessions

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from Delaware in a variety of sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost.

Addresses on the Internet change frequently. As of June 2007, the following sites are important gateways linking you to many more network and bulletin board sites:

The USGenWeb Project
A cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

Cyndi's List - United States - Delaware

http://www.cyndislist.com/us/de/

Roots-L
http://www.rootsweb.com

A useful list of sites and resources. Includes a large, regularly-updated research coordination list.

Internet sites specifically about Delaware family history include:

Delaware Families Project

Documents all families living in Delaware between 1787 and 1800.

Delaware Genealogical Society

Lists key repositories and publications.

Sources of Genealogical Information in Delaware

Lists counties, when created, and their resources.

For further details about using computer networks, bulletin boards, and news groups for family history research, see the United States Research Outline, Second Edition, "Archives and Libraries" section.

FamilySearch™
FamilySearch is a collection of computer files containing several million names. FamilySearch is a good place to begin your research. Some of the records come from compiled sources; some have been automated from original sources.