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Genealogy- Old: Obituaries & Newspaper Articles

Resources Available at the UD Library

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Subscription Resources

These databases are available by subscription. Most offer a limited trial access. Many of these are available in libraries; check your local library.

Wilmington Public Library

Interlibrary Loan Service

If your library does not have the resources you need, use the Interlibrary Loan service to get the article you need.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a library to library resource sharing network. Libraries borrow and lend materials for their library users.

Because this is a library to library service, you should submit your request at your library, which for many people is their public library. Fill out a request, giving all the information you know. That library will contact a library that has the newspaper you need, which might be the UD library.

In your Interlibrary Loan request, include your person's name, the date (at least within a week), the page number or section:

Depending on staffing and policies, the library that is contacted may send the reel of microfilm or may copy the article and send it to you.

If you do not have specific information:

The library that is contacted might send your library the reel of microfilm matching your approximate dates.

Social Security Death Index

Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a database of people whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration beginning about 1962.

Note: federal restrictions enacted in March 2014 required that newly reported deaths not be made available in the public version of the Social Security Death Index for three years after the individual's death.

Contacts for "Lookups"

Free:

There are volunteers who will find obituaries or other articles for you. The more information you have, the better. Without a death date, it is unlikely that anyone can locate an obituary for you.

 

Fee:

Genealogical societies in the area you are searching. They may have lists of local volunteers or professional researchers.

Genealogy Resources at the University of Delaware Library

Family tree

Although not aimed at genealogy and family history, the collections of the University of Delaware Library (Morris Library) include materials useful to genealogists and family historians.

This Genealogy Research Guide is provided as a service for genealogists. It presents topics and resources to assist researchers.

The UD Library does not specialize in genealogy and does not have staff responsible for genealogy. Library staff cannot conduct research.

For questions about library resources and holdings, use the Ask the Library service.

For questions about getting research assistance, see the suggestions on the home page of this guide or on the topic/resources pages.