Bancroft Library

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Contact Information
E-mail:


 * Reference inquiries about collections and use of materials.
 * Online Bancroft Library material request form.

Address:


 * The Bancroft Library
 * University of California
 * Berkeley, CA 94720-6000

Telephone: 510-642-6481 Reference desk Fax:  510-642-7589

Hours and holidays: Bancroft Reading Room

Directions, maps, and public transportation:


 * Directions and campus maps
 * Public transportation - recommended

Internet sites and databases:


 * The Bancroft Library general information, collections, research programs, reference and access services, events, exhibits, and publications.
 * OskiCat UCB Library Catalog searchable by keywords, title, author, subject, and series title.

Collection Description
The Bancroft Library is the University's main special collections library. It is one of the largest and most heavily used libraries of manuscripts, rare books, and unique materials in the United States including more than 600,000 volumes, 60,000,000 manuscript items, 8,000,000 photographs, 43,000 microforms, and 23,000 maps. Of interest to genealogists are the premier Western Americana, and Latin Americana collections, including Native Americans, Spanish encounter and colonial settlement, exploration of western America, maps and atlases, the Mexican War, westward migration, the Gold Rush, mining, land surveys, religious and Utopian communities, and ethnic communities. Themed collections include African Americans in California, CalHeritage, California Cultures, California Loyalty Oath, Chinese in California, Italians in California, Japanese Relocation, and private land claim cases in California (ca. 1850-1890).

Tips

 * Registration
 * Duplication services
 * Personal camera use policy

Guides

 * Collection guides Bancroft Library's finding aids (OAC).
 * Biography and Genealogy Resources at the Bancroft Library including books, manuscripts and other printed materials, newspaper and periodical indexes for California, handbooks and manuals.
 * Dale L. Morgan, and George P. Hammond, A guide to the manuscript collections of the Bancroft Library, 2 vols. (Berkeley : Published for the Bancroft Library by the University of California Press, 1963-1972). ..
 * Charles Faulhaber, and Stephen Vincent, eds, Exploring The Bancroft Library (Salt Lake City, Utah: The Bancroft Library in association with Signature Books, 2006)..
 * Barbara Lee Hill, Genealogy: A Guide to the UC Berkeley Library (Berkeley, CA: The Library Associates, The General Library. University of California, Berkeley, 1984). ..

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 Pacific Region (Riverside) holding records of southern California, Arizona and Clark County, Nevada. CA Indian enrollments, Asian immigrants, naturalizations, land records, AZ taxes, sailors, censuses, military post returns, Five Civilized Tribes, Revolutionary War, Civil War records, passenger arrival lists, Mexican and Canadian border crossings, passport applications.
 * National Archives Pacific Region (San Francisco) holding records of California (north &amp; central), Nevada (except Clark County), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Marshall, Caroline, and Northern Mariana Islands, overseas Pacific naval bases, Asian-Pacific immigration, American Indians.
 * California State Library (Sacramento) censuses, great registers, city directories, CA historical newspapers, genealogical periodicals, death index 1905-1995, marriage index 1949-1986.
 * Family History Library, Salt Lake City, 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 3.1 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, Mormon records.

Similar Collections


 * New York Public Library Genealogy Division has an outstanding collection of American history at national, state and local levels; international genealogy and heraldry in Roman alphabets; Dorot Jewish collection; photos; New York censuses, directories, and vital records.
 * Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, features a premier genealogical periodical collection, genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, passenger lists, American Indians, African Americans, and Canadians.

Neighboring Collections


 * Alameda County Clerk-Recorder births, marriages, deaths, deeds, military discharge papers.
 * Alameda County Superior Court civil records, adoptions, probate, family, and criminal records.
 * Berkeley Historical Society archives, library, and exhibits.
 * African American Museum and Library at Oakland interprets their experience in CA and the West.
 * Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society meetings, writers group, computer user group.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties: Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Stanislaus
 * California State Archives, Sacramento, has county records, such as court records, prison records, wills, deeds, as well as military records, state census records, and school records.
 * Sutro Library, San Francisco, most extensive genealogy collection west of Salt Lake City.
 * California Historical Society, San Francisco, economic, social, political, and cultural heritage including 50,000 books, 4,000 manuscripts, photos, maps, newspapers, and artifacts.
 * California Genealogical Society and Library family, local, and state histories, maps, reference books, periodicals, the Bay Area, Gold Rush, New England, mid-Atlantic states and others.
 * Chinese Historical Society, San Francisco, Chinese-American history, including art, and artifacts.
 * Repositories in other surrounding states: Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Mexico
 * State Library of Arizona censuses, genealogical periodicals, immigration and naturalization records, New England town vital records, DE PA and NJ Archives, Internet sites.