Connecticut State Library with state seal

History and Genealogy

Tel: 860-757-6580, Fax: 860-757-6677
Hours, Directions/Parking
History and Genealogy, Connecticut State Library
231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106

CSL Catalog and Collections | CSL Research Resources
Borrowing Materials | Copies, Copiers, and Change | Policies for Patrons | Using Secured Collections

Mission
The History and Genealogy Unit maintains and provides access to comprehensive collections of materials on the history of Connecticut and its people, and to current Connecticut newspapers and historical newspapers, in support of the Connecticut State Library's mission "to preserve and make accessible the records of Connecticut's history and heritage."

Patrons
Our patrons include genealogists, historians, environmental scientists, businesses, state employees, attorneys, students, and the general public.

Reference
We encourage visiting the History and Genealogy Unit in order to make the most effective use of all resources. The staff will help in-house patrons devise and outline search strategies; use catalogs, indexes, and research guides to identify and locate pertinent library and archival resources; use the collections and electronic reference resources; use the Internet; and operate photocopiers and microform equipment.

The History and Genealogy staff responds to telephone, letter, e-mail, and fax inquiries regarding the unit's collections and services, and brief, factual, non-genealogical questions that pertain to the history of Connecticut or its people. It offers a limited genealogical index search service for a fee in response to inquiries submitted on our Genealogical Index Search Request form (we do not accept genealogical inquiries by telephone).

The State Library receives hundreds of telephone calls, letters, e-mail messages, and faxes each month. We attempt to answer all in a timely manner, but in order to serve the thousands of researchers who visit the State Library in person each year, we cannot ensure immediate replies to telephone, e-mail, fax, or mail reference requests. Reference requests relating to Connecticut history and genealogy are normally answered in the order they are received, regardless of the means of transmission.

For immediate information about Connecticut, consult the About Connecticut - Quick Facts section of the CSL Research Resources page and/or contact a local library, genealogical society, historical society, or municipal historian.

The History and Genealogy staff cannot undertake extensive historical or genealogical research. The staff is also unable to: solve problems of identification and lineage; search genealogical resources not indexed by one of our statewide indexes (such materials include but are not limited to published and manuscript genealogies and local histories, military records, and ship's passenger lists); search for, or provide copies from, microfilms or microfiche; or search for, or provide copies of, articles or obituaries in newspapers. A list of Professional Genealogists Familiar With Connecticut State Library Collections who may be able to perform some of these services for you is available for your consideration.

Archives and Special Collections Retrievals
The History and Genealogy Unit serves as the reference point for the State Archives. The Guide to the Archives in the Connecticut State Library and other finding aids give researchers information on archival and manuscript collections. History and Genealogy Unit librarians will assist in the use of these tools, and archivists will answer questions regarding unprocessed records, confidentiality, loans of archival records, copying of fragile items, and access to records subject to the Guidelines on Use of Restricted Original Archival Records.

Aerial photographs, archival materials, manuscripts, items from Special Collections, and pre-1850 original newspapers are retrieved from secure areas by library staff and used in a supervised area in the History and Genealogy Reading Room. Retrievals are at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m Tuesday through Friday, and at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The Archives/Secured Collections Research Area is open on Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m.- 4:15 p.m., and on Saturday from 9:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Not all materials are stored on site; some may not be retrieved the same day. Materials housed at the off-site storage facility are retrieved Tuesday through Friday at 10:30 a.m. For additional information, please see Use of Offsite and Secured Collections.

Prior to requesting materials, researchers must read the current Rules and Procedures for Researchers Using Archival Records, Original Newspapers, and Secured Collections Materials and then obtain an Archives/Secured Collections Pass.

Collections
The Unit's resources include an extensive collection of local histories and genealogies, with particular emphasis on Connecticut and New England; most Connecticut town vital records, land records, and probate records from the 1600s to the early 1900s on microfilm; church records from hundreds of Connecticut churches, most available on microfilm; transcriptions of family Bible records and cemetery inscriptions; abstracts of newspaper notices of marriages and deaths; and military records. It holds Federal census records for Connecticut, 1790-1930 and for the other New England states, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, 1790-1850 and the Index to New England Naturalization Petitions on microfilm; and indexes to, and collections of, published and microfilmed ships' passenger lists and other immigration records, with emphasis on New England and New York.

Related materials include comprehensive and retrospective collections of Connecticut atlases and maps (including print, microfilmed, and online Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases), city directories, and newspapers.

Detailed research guides are available on a number of topics including the aerial photograph collection; Connecticut land records; naturalization records; Revolutionary War, Civil War, and World War II resources; African American and Native American materials; women's history; old house resources; and industry and commerce.

Some archival records contain information about individuals; searchable databases of this information are available at Databases of Individuals Listed in State Archives Records.

Items that circulate may be borrowed directly by state employees and Connecticut residents, and through Interlibrary Loan by others. However, the majority of the collection does not circulate. The Guide to Borrowing Materials outlines the circulating and non-circulating collection groups, and the borrowing procedures.

CONSULS - Search CONSULS, the Connecticut State Library Catalog to locate titles in the collection.