United States Periodicals

Portal:United States of America

Most family organizations, historical societies, and genealogical societies publish magazines and newsletters. These often include:


 * Family genealogies and pedigrees.
 * Transcripts of local courthouse records, church records, family Bibles, and cemetery records.
 * Helpful articles on research methodology.
 * Information about local records, archives, and services.
 * Book advertisements and book reviews.
 * Research advertisements.
 * Queries or requests for information about specific ancestors, which can help you contact other interested researchers.

Genealogical Magazines of General Interest
Some general periodicals assist by providing basic how-to instruction, many advertisements, book notices, and queries. These seldom include record transcripts or compiled genealogies. Two major examples are:


 * The Genealogical Helper. 1947-. [Published by Everton Publishers, P. O. Box 368, Logan, UT 84321. Telephone: 801-752-6022. Fax: 801-752-0425.] (Family History Library book 929.05 G286.)
 * Heritage Quest: The International Genealogy Forum. 1985-. [Published by American Genealogical Lending Library, P. O. Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329. Telephone: 801-565-8046. Fax: 801-359-9355.] (Family History Library book 973 D25hq.)

Genealogical Journals
These periodicals usually provide more in-depth instruction, book reviews, record transcripts, and compiled genealogies. These are often published quarterly by genealogical societies and may focus on a region, state, county, or time period. Some major examples are:


 * National Genealogical Society Quarterly. 1912-. [Published by the National Genealogical Society, 4527 17th Street North, Arlington, VA 22207. Telephone: 703-525-0050.] (Family History Library book 973 B2ng; vols. 1-43 for 1912-55 are on films 001283-89.)
 * New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 1847-. [Published by the New England Historic and Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116. Telephone: 617-536-5740. Fax: 617-536-7307.] (Family History Library book 974 B2ne; compact disc 33 part 1-9.)
 * The American Genealogist. 1922-. [Published by Donald Lines Jacobus, P. O. Box 398, Demorest, GA 30535-0398.] (Family History Library book 973 D25aga, film 5346.)
 * Genealogical Journal. 1972-. [Published by the Utah Genealogical Association, P. O. Box 1144, Salt Lake City, UT 84110. Telephone: 888-463-6832.] (Family History Library book 973 D25gj.)
 * Genealogical Computing. 1981-. [Published by Ancestry, P. O. Box 476, Salt Lake City, UT 84110. Telephone: 801-531-1790. Fax: 801-375-2228.] (Family History Library book 929.10285 G286.)

In addition, excellent state and regional publications are described in the state research outlines.

Indexes
Most magazines have annual or cumulative indexes. Three major composite indexes to most periodicals are:


 * Periodical Source Index (PERSI). Ft. Wayne, Indiana: Allen County Public Library Foundation, 1987-. (Family History Library book 973 D25per; 40 fiche 6016863 (1847-1985); 15 fiche 6016864 (1986-1990).) Partially indexes over 5,000 English-language and French-Canadian family history periodicals. The microfiche indexes are cumulative; book indexes since 1986 are year-by-year. For further details see the PERiodical Source Index Resource Guide (34119). Researchers can use the Internet edition of this index at Family History Centers via the Heritage Quest Online site.
 * Genealogical Periodical Annual Index. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1962-. (Family History Library Ref 973 B22gp.) This is an annual index starting in 1962 of 150 to 260 currently published periodicals.
 * Boyer, Carl, III. Donald Lines Jacobus' Index to Genealogical Periodicals. Newhall, California: Boyer Publications, 1983. (Family History Library book 973 B22j 1983; fiche 6048419.) This is a revision of Jacobus's Index to Genealogical Periodicals published in three volumes. It partially indexes 162 major periodicals or genealogies published from 1870 to 1952 by main subject of article.

Obtaining Periodicals
Copies of periodicals are available from the local societies that publish them. Major archives with genealogical collections will have copies of many periodicals, particularly those representing the area they serve. For example, the Allen County Public Library will send researchers copies of articles indexed in the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) for a small fee. A compact disc version that includes all PERSI volumes published through 1996 is: PERSI Periodical Source Index. Orem, Utah: Ancestry, Incorporated, and Allen County Public Library Foundation, 1997. (Family History Library compact disc 1313 number 61.)

The Family History Library subscribes to numerous periodicals. These are listed in the Family History Library Catalog in several ways. If you know the title of a periodical, use the Author/Title Search. To find periodicals in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog, use the following approaches:

UNITED STATES - GENEALOGY - PERIODICALS

UNITED STATES - HISTORY - PERIODICALS

UNITED STATES - PERIODICALS

UNITED STATES - SOCIETIES - PERIODICALS

[STATE] - (same topics as above)

[STATE], [COUNTY] - (same topics as above)

You can find further information about periodicals in research outlines available for each state.