Fort Hays State University Forsyth Library

United States Kansas  Ellis  Archives and Libraries  

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Contact Information
E-mail: [mailto:refserv@fhsu.edu refserv@fhsu.edu]

Address:


 * 502 South Campus Drive Hays KS 67601

Telephone: 785-628-5283

Hours: Sun 1pm-12am, Mon-Thu 7:30am-12am, Fri 7:30am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm.

Google map:  FHSU Forsyth Library

Internet sites and databases:


 * Forsyth Library, resources, services, get help, about us.
 * Primo FHSU Library Catalog online. Search by keyword, title, author, or subject. Also available in WorldCat.

Collection Description
Their Western Collection includes western Kansas history, oral histories, a great genealogical collection from local genealogical and historical societies, and many denominational sources for Hutterites, Mennonites, Catholics, and Lutherans.

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 pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, bounty land, homesteads, ethnic sources, prisons, fed employees.
 * National Archives at Kansas City federal censuses 1790–1930; military service indexes, pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, photos, vital records, land, and Indian records.
 * American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln NE, AHSGR ancestor lists, cemeteries, homesteads, an AHSGR German hometowns list, passenger lists, obituaries, surname charts, and Russian village files.
 * National Orphan Train Complex, Concordia, museum, history, rider registry, research, and events. 66 v. (20,000 records) of orphan train riders, photos, 9,700 name computer database.
 * Hays Kansas Family History Center can offer research suggestions, and can order genealogical microfilms from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Similar Collections


 * University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Lawrence, manuscripts, photographs, maps, histories, newspapers, periodicals, film and videotapes that document the "Kansas Experience" of pioneers, railroads, and American Indians. A depository for publications of Kansas and Douglas County.

Neighboring Collections


 * Hays City Clerk has some municipal records.
 * Ellis County Clerk, Hays, births 1886-1911, marriages since 1868, and deaths 1885-1912.
 * Ellis County Clerk of the District Court, Hays, has divorces, civil, criminal, naturalization, and probate records.
 * Ellis County Register of Deeds, Hays, land records since 1871, county school records, and military discharge papers.
 * U.S. District Court District of Kansas, Wichita, recent federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases.
 * Ellis County Historical Society, Hays, museums and Volga Germans Haus.
 * Hays Public Library includes a Kansas local history room.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties Barton, Graham, Ness, Osborne, Rooks, Rush, Russell, and Trego.
 * Iola Public Library, for all Kansas including family folders, special indexes, and published records for many counties of Kansas.
 * Johnson County Library, Overland Park, both a Kansas and a genealogy collection, mostly books, and periodicals with family folders. Also covers Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
 * Kansas Genealogical Society, Dodge City, has the best set of family folders and genealogical periodicals in Kansas. . Also, clippings, obituaries, and an online catalog.
 * Kansas Heritage Center, Dodge City, cowboys, oral history, Fort Dodge history, the Old West.
 * Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, clearly the best place to start researching Kansas ancestors including newspapers, county records, biographies, genealogies, land records, and railroads. Statewide births and deaths prior to 1894; City of Topeka births and deaths 1885-1912.
 * Riley County Genealogical Society Library, Manhattan, pre-Civil War records are excellent for Kansas. Early settlers are documented by obituaries, family folders, and some good indexes.
 * Topeka Genealogical Society Library, 12,000 books, 700 periodicals strong on Shawnee County and northeast Kansas. Also includes almost every U.S. state, and many foreign nations.
 * Kansas State Library, Topeka, largest book library in Kansas with county histories, ethnic sources, guides, inventories, and family genealogies. This is a main depository of historical documents about Kansas residents.
 * Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, since 1911 births, stillbirths, deaths; since 1913 marriages; and since 1951 divorce records issued for a fee only to immediate family members or representatives.
 * Wichita Public Library Genealogy Center, has many genealogies with an emphasis mostly on books, periodicals, and special publications for southeast KS, and corners of MO, AR, and OK.
 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Archives baptism, confirmations, marriages, deaths, parish records.
 * Kansas United Methodist Archives, Baker University, Baldwin City, church records, newspapers, manuscripts, memoirs, obituaries, archives, reports.
 * Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, Newton, Mennonite-related books, periodicals, and genealogical materials.
 * Repositories in surrounding states: Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence MO, one of America's best genealogical centers: censuses and indexes, 80,000 family histories, 100,000 local histories, 565,000 microfilms, 7,000 maps, and newspapers. Surrounding states are well represented.
 * Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections, The Missouri Valley Room has a great genealogy collection for Missouri and Kansas with biographies, periodicals, genealogies, diaries, photos, scrapbooks, and newspapers of the Kansas City area.