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OUR GENEALOGY RESEARCH AREA

The Center for Family History’s public research area has a reference library and a family history research area for patrons. Information about both are provided below.

Join Our Reference Library

Reserve a book online to explore in the CFH Reference Library Reading Area during your visit to the Museum.

Book reservations are for Reference Library Patrons only. If you would like to become a Patron of the Library, please email us at [email protected] with your first and last name, contact email address, and subject line “Become a Library Patron.” Once we have added you to the patron database, we will send you an email with instructions on creating a password for your account.

Our library’s books can be reserved for 48 hours by using https://www.libib.com/u/iaamcfh. Patrons are limited to reserving two (2) books per visit. Please let a volunteer or CFH staff member know you have reserved a book when arriving at the Center for Family History. Patrons will then be checked in and asked for a valid photo ID in exchange for the reserved book(s). Then just take a seat at one of the tables in the Reference Library Reading Area, and the book will be brought to you.

Once you have finished with the books you selected, let a CFH staff member or volunteer know, and they will take the book and return your ID. The Reference Library website is free to look at now and to become a patron. Book Reservations will begin in January 2024.

If you are not a CFH Library Patron, please email us at [email protected].

* If the book is not reserved before your arrival, we cannot guarantee the book will be available during your visit.

Make Priceless Family Discoveries Using Our Research Area

Welcome! Want to know more about your ancestors: where they came from and when they lived? Visitors to the CFH Research Area can access millions of records and speak with experts in family research to uncover your family’s history and find long-forgotten stories. Discover your family’s American history as you explore your family tree.

Our Research Area features iPads mounted on stands with links to many popular online genealogy research resources. Visitors will also find FamilySearch’s free online records website on our kiosks.

Visitors must be at least 16 years old to use the research iPads. The iPads can only be used for genealogical research purposes.

Research Services that are available on our iPads:

  • Accessible Archives
  • African American Heritage (ProQuest)
  • Ancestry (Library Edition)
  • Chronicling America (Library of Congress Newspaper Archive)
  • Eastern Carolina University Digital Collections
  • FamilySearch
  • FamilySearch Research Wiki
  • Fold3 (Library Edition)
  • Free African Americans in Colonial Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Delaware
  • Google Books
  • HathiTrust Digital Library – Millions of books online
  • Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books
  • JSTOR Home
  • Lowcountry Digital Library, The
  • NC Archives Digital Collections
  • Newspapers.com
  • North Carolina Digital Collections
  • Reclaim The Records: Public Data for Public Use
  • SC Department of Archives and History
  • South Carolina Digital Library
  • Unknown No Longer & Virginia Untold (Virginia Museum of History & Culture)
  • Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative – Research Guides & Indexes at The Library of Virginia
  • WorldCat.org