Reference Room

Reference Materials at the Office

The society maintains a small reference room at its office location. Genealogical materials in the reference room are primarily for use by office staff and the walk-in researcher with an interest in St. Louis area records or records pertaining to the area’s ethnic origins. Visitors are reminded that our main research collection is housed at the Emerson History and Genealogy Center of the St. Louis County Library, Clark Family Branch.

What’s Here

We are updating our inventory and hope to publish a listing of the books when the inventory is completed.

The books and other materials in the reference room focus on the Missouri and Illinois counties surrounding St. Louis, as well as ethnic groups who settled in St. Louis, congregations, atlases, family histories, surname files, and some general “how to” books.

Materials in the reference room generally fall into these categories:

Geographic: Materials for the St. Louis Metropolitan Area—specifically:

• In Missouri: St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the near counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry, St. Charles, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Warren, and Washington
• In Illinois: the near counties of Calhoun, Jackson, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, Perry, Randolph, and St. Clair

Ethnic: Materials of major ethnic interest for the St. Louis Metropolitan Area—especially German, Irish, Jewish, and African American

Methodology: Materials addressing genealogical research methodologies

Accessibility

The reference room is a reference and research facility. None of the materials in the reference room may be checked out.

Donations

We are happy to accept donations of genealogy and local history books as well as additional documents for our surname files. Please see the “Donation Guidelines” on our Trading Post page for specific information on what we can and cannot accept.
 
Last modified: 07-Jan-2025 14:57