Kansas Archives and Libraries

These repositories preserve sources, maintain indexes, and provide services to help genealogists document their ancestors who lived in Kansas.

Online Records


Wiki Articles on Major Repositories in Kansas
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia· Family History Library· National Archives I· National Archives at Kansas City· National Orphan Train Complex· Kansas Historical Society· Kansas State Library· Kansas Genealogical Society· Kansas Department of Health and Environment· Fort Hays State University Forsyth Library· Iola Public Library· Johnson County Library· Kansas Heritage Center· Riley County Genealogical Society Library· Topeka Genealogical Society Library· University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library· Wichita Public Library Genealogy Center· Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center· Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections

National
Image:Germans from Russia Museum Lincoln, NE.JPG|right|250px|Germans from Russia Museum Lincoln, NE.JPG]]American Historical Society of Germans from Russia 631 D St Lincoln, NE 68502 Telephone: 402-474-3363 [mailto:ahsgr@ahsgr.org/ Email] Website
 * This is an international organization dedicated to the history, cultural heritage, and genealogy of Germanic settlers in the Russian Empire and their descendants. Their library collection holds AHSGR ancestor lists, cemetery lists, homestead papers, an AHSGR German hometowns list, passenger lists, obituaries, surname charts, Russian village files, and Karl Stumpp's Emigration from Germany to Russia in the Years 1763-1862.

Kansas Historical Society Help find your ancestors, state census, biographies, marriages, death and more.

Family History Library 35 North West Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84150 Telephone: 801-240-2331 Fax: 801-240-1584 [mailto:fhl@ldschurch.org/ Email] Website


 * They have 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, and records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many Kansas microfilms are also available at branch FamilySearch Centers  in local church buildings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and described in their online FamilySearch Catalog.

National Archives I 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington DC Telephone 1-866-272-6272 Fax: 301-837-0483 Website Email


 * Nationwide censuses, pre-WWI military service and pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees. The National Archives Building in Washington, DC (Archives I), houses textual and microfilm records relating to genealogy, American Indians, pre-World War II military and naval-maritime matters, the New Deal, the District of Columbia, the Federal courts, and Congress.

National Archives at Kansas City 400 West Pershing Road Kansas City, MO 64108 Telephone: 816-268-8000 Website [mailto:kansascity.archives@nara.gov/ Email]

The National Archives at Kansas City, Missouri has the records of regional federal offices for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, including the following:


 * Federal naturalization records including A-files
 * Bureau of Indian Affairs and other American Indian records
 * Copies of federal census, military, and immigration records

National Orphan Train Complex 300 Washington St. PO Box 322 Concordia, KS 66901 Telephone: 785-243-4471 Website [mailto:orphantraindepot.com/ Email]


 * History of the orphan train movement 1853-1930, stories of the children, photos, artifacts, 66 volumes (20,000 records) of orphan train

riders, a 9,700 name database, and a rider registry.

Statewide
Kansas Historical Society 6425 SW Sixth Avenue Topeka, KS 66615-1099 Telephone: 1-913-272-8681 Ext. 117 Fax: 1-913-272-8682 Website [mailto:information@kshs.org/ Email]


 * This is clearly the best place to start researching Kansas ancestors including newspapers, county records, biographies, genealogies, land records, and railroads.

Kansas State Library Capitol Building, Room 312-N Topeka, KS 66612 Telephone: 785-296-3296 Website E-[mailto:infodesk@library.ks.gov/ Email]


 * 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 Genealogical Society Mail: P.O. Box 103 Street: 2601 Central Avenue Dodge City, KS 67801 Telephone: 620-225-1951 Website [mailto:kgslibrary@gmail.com/ Email]


 * They have the best set of family folders and genealogical periodicals in Kansas. The society was founded to preserve genealogical, biographical, historical and educational data relating to the ancestry of society members and the founders of our country. It offers various online collections such as:


 * Pedigree charts of their members
 * Clippings of anniversaries, birthdays and reunions
 * Obituary index
 * Online catalog


 * They are located in the same building as the Kansas Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment 1000 SW Jackson Topeka, Kansas 66612 Telephone: 785-296-1400 Website [mailto:Vitaldkdheks.gov/ Email]


 * Kansas vital records: births
 * Stillbirths and deaths since 1911
 * Marriages since 1913
 * Divorce records since 1951 They are issued for a fee only to immediate family members or representatives.

Regional
Fort Hays State University Forsyth Library 502 South Campus Drive Hays KS 67601 Telephone: 785-628-4434 Website [mailto:refserv@fhsu.edu/ Email]


 * 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.

Iola Public Library 218 E Madison Ave Iola, KS 66749 Telephone: 620-365-3262 Website [mailto:iolaref@sekls.org/ Email]


 * Their genealogy collection is good for all of Kansas including family folders, special indexes, and published records for many of the counties of Kansas.

Johnson County Library Central Resource Library 9875 W 87th St Overland Park, KS 66212 Telephone: 913-826-4600 Website [mailto:ask@jocolibrary.libanswers.com/ Email]


 * They have both Kansas and genealogy collections, and are a mostly a book and periodicals library with additional good coverage for Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
 * Also included in this library are Johnson County marriage index 1857-1907, Johnson County obituary index, JoCoHistory Collections, JoCoHistory Digital Cemetery, Olathe Memorial Cemetery index. Access to American Ancestors (NEHGS), Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Genealogy Connect, and HeritageQuest Online, regional newspapers, and other favorite web resources.

They also have microfilms and family folders as well.

Kansas Heritage Center Mail: PO Box 1207 Street: 1000 N 2nd Ave Dodge City KS 67801-1207 Telephone: 620-227-1616 Fax: 620-227-1701 Website [mailto:library@ksheritage.org/ Email]


 * The Kansas Heritage Center is a social studies resource center operated through Unified School District 443 in Dodge City, Kansas. Their emphasis is history — especially the history of Kansas, the Great Plains and the Old West. They have a research library of books, microfilm, and vertical file materials.

Riley County Genealogical Society Library 2005 Claflin Road Manhattan, Kansas 66502-3415 Telephone: 785-565-6495 Website [mailto:info@rileycgs.com/ Email]


 * The RCGS Library has 1175 genealogies especially for Riley County, county-city-town-church and other local histories, computer and microfilm censuses including the KS agricultural schedules, and 1855 territorial census, county probate records 1856-1939, newspaper abstracts for Riley and surrounding counties, and material for nearly all Kansas counties, most states, and many foreign countries.


 * Their pre-Civil War records are excellent for Kansas.

Topeka Genealogical Society Library Mail: P.O. Box 4048 Street: 2717 SE Indiana Ave. Topeka, KS 66604-0048 Telephone: 785-233-5762 Email Website


 * They have 12,000 books, 700 periodical titles that are strong on Shawnee County and northeastern Kansas. Includes almost every U.S. state, and many foreign nations. Shawnee county resources: probate, naturalization, and tax records. Computers and high-speed wireless Internet access are available. Most material can be checked-out to TGS members. Staffed by experienced volunteers.Topeka Genealogical Society Library in ''Topeka

University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library 1450 Poplar Lane Lawrence, KS 66045-2800 Telephone: 913-864-4334 Fax: 913-864-5803 Website [mailto:ksrlref@ku.edu/ Email]


 * The Kansas Collection includes primary source materials that document the history of Kansas and the region. There are manuscripts, photographs, maps, histories, newspapers, periodicals, film and videotapes that document the "Kansas Experience" including pioneers, railroads, and American Indians. It is also a depository for publications of the state of Kansas and for Douglas County records. Most of their holdings cover the territorial period 1854-1861.

Wichita Public Library Genealogy Center 223 S. Main Wichita, KS 67202 Telephone: 316-261-8509 (Genealogy and Local History) Website


 * The Kansas and Local History collection has many genealogies. Their emphasis is mostly books, periodicals, and special publications for southeast Kansas, and corners of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

Out of State
Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center 3440 S. Lee's Summit Road Independence, MO 64055-1923 Telephone: 816-836-5200 Fax: 816-521-7253 Website [mailto:ge@mcpl.lib.mo.us/ Email]


 * One of America's most complete genealogical centers including censuses and indexes, 80,000 family histories, 100,000 local histories, 565,000 microfilms, 7,000 maps, and newspapers. Surrounding states including Kansas are well represented. The Mid-Continent Public Library shares its genealogical materials through interlibrary loan.

Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections Central Library 14 W. 10th Street, 5th Floor Kansas City, MO 64105 Telephone: 816-701-3427 Fax: 816-701-3401 Website [mailto:lhistory@kclibrary.org/ Email]
 * 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. They also provide information on vital records research, adoption search resources, how-to-do obituary searching, African Americans, American Indians, the American Civil War, explorers, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and the Overland Trail.[3]


 * Librarians began collecting genealogical materials almost from the beginning of the Library, but in 1933, a donation of the vast personal genealogical library of lumber baron John Barber White greatly enhanced the collection. Resources continued to be added. Of note are the many now out-of-print nineteenth-century histories of counties in the Midwest, specific family histories, and many genealogical periodicals beginning in the late 1800s.

Special Collections in Kansas City Public Library (accessed 7 March 2014).