Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

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Contact Information
E-mail: Submit your inquiry at the bottom of the screen.

Address:


 * 112 North Sixth Street Springfield, IL 62701 USA

Telephone: 217-558-8844. Fax:  217-785-6250.

Research hours and holidays: Mon–Fri 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Closed Sat-Sun and holidays.

Map, directions, parking, and public transportation


 * Map:  Google map: Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.


 * Directions:
 * from the north on I-55 (Lincoln):  Merge onto I-55 S toward Springfield. Merge onto IL-97 W via EXIT 98B, 3.1 mi. Turn left onto N 5th St, 0.08 mi. Take the 1st left onto E Washington St, 0.07 mi. Take the 1st left onto N 6th St, 0.07 mi. 112 N 6TH ST is on the right.
 * from the east on I-72 (Decatur):  Merge onto I-72 W/US-36 W toward Springfield. Stay straight to go onto IL-97 W/E Clear Lake Ave W. Continue to follow IL-97 W, 2.9 mi. Turn left onto N 5th St, 0.08 mi. Take the 1st left onto E Washington St, 0.07 mi. Take the 1st left onto N 6th St, 0.07 mi. 112 N 6TH ST is on the right.
 * from the south on I-55 (Litchfield):  Merge onto I-55 N toward Springfield. Keep left to take I-55 Bus N via EXIT 92A-B toward 6th Street/I-72 W/Jacksonville, 3.7 mi. Stay straight to go onto S 6th St, 1.0 mi. 112 N 6TH ST is on the right.
 * from the west on I-72 (Jacksonville):  Merge onto I-72 E/US-36 E toward Springfield. Take the I-55 Bus Loop N exit, EXIT 97B, toward 6th Street/Springfield, 0.3 mi. Merge onto I-55 Bus N, 3.1 mi. Stay straight to go onto S 6th St, 1.0 mi. 112 N 6TH ST is on the right.


 * Parking:  ALPLM parking.


 * Public transportation:  All SMTD bus routes stop within 5 blocks of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Routes 1, 3, 6, 16, and HS (Historic Sites) stop next to the Library.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum about, collections, research, genealogy, programs and exhibits, contact us, and museum.
 * ALPLM Catalog online search by keyword, or by title, author, subject, or series. Also available in WorldCat.
 * Genealogy audio-visual collection, manuscripts, newspapers, oral histories, printed material, directories and guides, beginning your search, catalog search strategies, and requesting genealogical research.

Collection Description
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum absorbed the collection of the Illinois State Historical Library in 2004. This is an excellent reference library for finding Illinois people. Published sources include extensive county histories with an every-name index. Holdings include the Daughters of the American Revolution and State Genealogical Society collections. They have the most extensive collection of newspapers (on microfilm) in Illinois, including some pre-statehood newspapers. Their large manuscript collection has many family papers.

Holdings consist of photos, broadsides, oral histories, 12 million manuscripts items such as letters and diaries of Civil War soldiers, the personal papers of legislators and governors, and the records of businesses, 5,000 newspapers, 72,000 books and pamphlets, 3,000 maps, and 1,200 periodical series. This includes family genealogies; county histories; cemetery inscriptions; atlases and plat books; indexes and transcriptions of census, vital records, and naturalization records for many counties. Records of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Civil War Union veteran's society, are also included. The online collection has a statewide obituary search for newspapers held at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. They also have Searchable Surname Index of biographical sketches in county histories.

The ALPLM also offers research assistance by appointment, collection guides, and interlibrary loans of printed material.

Guides

 * 28 ALPLM collection guides online (pdf files).

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service &amp; pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees.
 * Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, premier periodical collection, including Midwestern genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, and passenger lists.
 * Newberry Library, Chicago, a large repository with genealogies, local histories, censuses, military, land, indexes, vital records, court, and tax records mostly from the Mississippi Valley, eastern seaboard, Canada, and the British Isles.

Similar Collections


 * National Archives at Chicago old federal court and agency records for Illinois and Midwest U.S. federal censuses 1790–1940; military service and pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest, Fold3.
 * National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), St. Louis, MO, military and civil services personnel records. For servicemen and servicewomen discharged from 1912 to 1953.
 * Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont, is strong on Ohio history and genealogy, as well as Sandusky River and Great Lakes history, U.S. history and Black studies.

Neighboring Collections


 * Sangamon County Clerk births, marriages, deaths.
 * Sangamon County Historical Society educational programs, historic buildings, and museums.
 * Sangamon County Circuit Court Clerk divorce, probate, court, and naturalizations.
 * Sangamon County Recorder land records.
 * Sangamon County Coroner suspicious or unusual deaths.
 * U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois recent civil and criminal cases.
 * Illinois Dept. of Health Vital Records, Springfield, birth, marriage, death, adoption, and divorces.
 * Illinois State Archives, Springfield, county/state records, pre-Chicago fire sources, indexed vital records, early land grants, military records, all fed/state censuses, surname card index.
 * Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Springfield, HQ of 7 regional archives of local Illinois county/town records: birth, marriage, death, land, tax, voting reg., probate, naturalization, civil criminal court, coroner, poorhouse, jail. For Sangamon County see IRAD-University of Illinois at Springfield.
 * Illinois State Library, Springfield, state/federal records, federal censuses to 1920, plat books, IL county histories, Sanborn fire insurance maps, Rev. War pensions and bounty land warrants.
 * Illinois State Genealogical Society, Springfield, research guidance, teaching via webinars and the ISGS blog for free, death certificates 1916-1947 for a fee. No research requests.
 * Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, genealogy, plat maps, atlases, oral and county history, cemeteries, census, vital records, naturalizations in many counties.
 * Lincoln Library, Springfield, indexed obituaries, city directories, the Sangamon Valley Collection  has photos, yearbooks, histories, and maps for studying Sangamon and surrounding counties.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties:  in Illinois: Cass, Christian, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery, and Morgan.
 * Arlington Heights Memorial Library a huge collection, with printed genealogies, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, special aids, surname folders—a great overall genealogy collection.
 * Chicago History Museum 20 million manuscripts, letters, certificates, diaries, genealogy charts, log books, journals, memoirs, minutes, muster rolls, scrapbooks, sermons, speeches, and telegrams.
 * Chicago Title and Trust  for a fee they will search property records prior to the Chicago fire.
 * John A. Logan College Library, Carterville, this library is a focal point of Southern Illinois genealogy. Their collection is huge.
 * Peoria Public Library enjoys a large genealogy and local history department, including many indexes, DAR files, and basic genealogy resources for the plains states.
 * Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Chicago, 45,000 military history books, unit histories, photos, uniforms, equipment, insignia, and ships of many world militaries. They help genealogists.
 * South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society, Hazel Crest, a very good collection with local histories, genealogies, naturalizations, Pullman Car Works personnel, obituaries, church histories.
 * Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Lovejoy Library best library in southern IL with a large genealogical collection of newspapers, biographies, county histories, family folders, and maps.
 * Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Rock Island, IL, Swedish church records, census, passenger lists, lodges, newspapers, directories.
 * University of Chicago Library plentiful historical records, including Durrett Collection  of historical Kentucky and Ohio River Valley manuscripts of early people in the Ohio Valley.
 * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Main Library one of the best book collections in America, including county histories, and farmers registers. Think of it as another archives for Illinois.
 * Urbana Free Library their strength is Champaign County history, but they have good basic genealogy for the entire United States including printed genealogies, manuscripts, family folders.
 * Asher Library, Chicago, Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies 500,000 books, and films.
 * Brethren Historical Library and Archives, Elgin, IL, cultural, socio-economic, theological, genealogical, and institutional history of the Brethren.
 * Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, Elk Grove Village, IL, serves historians, congregations, synods, genealogists and others interested in Lutheran history.
 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Archives parish records, priest biographies, sacramental, school, or orphanage records.
 * Repositories in surrounding states:  Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin
 * Polish Genealogical Society of America, Milwaukee, WI, 60,000 books on Polish history, art, culture, and reference.