How To Use the DAR Library for Genealogical Research
The Daughters of the American Revolution Library contains valuable resources for genealogical research. The Library has books, family histories, genealogies, manuscripts, Bible records, and more. It is free and open to the public.
What Resources Does the Library Have
·
Print
and Microform Resources
·
The
Revolutionary War Ancestor Records
·
The
Descendants Database
·
Genealogical
Records Committee Collection
·
The
Native American Collection
·
The
American Women’s History Collection
·
The
National Huguenot Society Collection
·
United
States Ephemera Collection
·
WPA
Collection
DAR
Print and Microform Resources
“The majority of the books in the Library are divided into three main subject areas—the State collection, the Families collection and, General Resources. Items are arranged in the Library based on these subject areas.
“The Library’s collection is arranged by call words instead of call numbers. In the online catalog, the call words for a title are in the call word field. Examples:
VA Virginia section within the state collection
COUNTIES County section within Virginia
ALBEMARLE Books about Albemarle County
WOO First three letters of the author's last name
FAMILIES Family section
HAMNER Books on the Hamner family
BLACK Full last name of the book's author”[1]
The Revolutionary War Ancestor Records
These records contain information on patriots’ participation in the Revolutionary War. Not all individuals who participated in the War have been identified, but more are being added every day. This information has been verified by DAR genealogists.
Do you wonder if your ancestor who lived during the period of the Revolutionary War served in the war or provided aid to the patriots’ cause? The Ancestor Records should be your first stop. Not all patriots have yet been identified or proven, but more are added every day. You can start with as little as a name, but the more information you have, such as your ancestor’s dates of birth or death, and the state from which they may have served increase your chance of finding them.
Do not be afraid to try alternate spellings of names. The DAR has assigned spellings that may not match the names in your records. Information on your patriot’s service can help you find information on other sites such as Fold 3 and add context and interest to a family narrative.
The Descendants Database
The Descendants database is an index of all the names found on Membership or Supplemental Applications. I entered Daniel Seward Hahn, and up popped his birth and death information, as well as the name of his spouse. Clicking on the descendant's icon to the right of his name
led me to the entire descendant's list with all their associated information. It does not give sources for the facts but DAR members can order the associated record copy online for $10. The fee for non-members is $15.
Record copies of previously verified membership and supplemental applications contain the list of source citations. Copies of documentation may be ordered from the Library Copy Services Office. Using the source citations, I have usually been able to locate the sources myself.
The Genealogical Records Committee Collection
The Genealogical Records Committee Collection numbers more than 20,000 typescript volumes of unpublished Bible, cemetery, vital, county, and church records DAR members have gathered and submitted since the 1910s.
I have found Bible records in the Genealogical Records Committee Collection using the GRC Search or the Library Catalog.
It shows all the names on the page, but it does not show you an image.
The Native American Collection
The Library established a Special collection to aid in Native American research in 1987. It provides historical and genealogical information on the first peoples of the United States. A search for Nez Perce in the Library Catalog brought 43 listings, including books I want to read. I clicked over to the King County Library System and ordered one.
The American Women’s History Collection
The American Women’s History Collection was established in the 1980s.
“The assembled materials
focus on the role played by women in the development of the United States, the
women’s rights movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and
histories of women in the various states.[2]”
It focuses on women’s experiences during the period of the American Revolution.
I searched for a book I knew should be there, and sure enough, “Mary Mattoon and her Hero of the Revolution [General Ebenezer Mattoon]” popped right up. I am not going to Washington D.C., to reread it, but I found it easily enough on Google Books.
National Huguenot Society Collection
In 2002, the National Huguenot Society donated its books to the DAR Library. This collection documents the role of French Protestants in the settlement and growth of the American Colonies. If you have Huguenot ancestors, as my husband did, this collection will be of interest to you.
The
Manuscript Collection
Frequently the Library has received donations of collections of genealogical research materials. In the past, these materials were simply stored, which made retrieval difficult or impossible. Now there is a functioning donation cataloging system in place and materials are named and cataloged as they are received.
The United States Ephemera Collection
Since the 1890s, members of DAR and the public have donated miscellaneous booklets, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, and typescripts. These materials have been cataloged and may be requested at the Reference Desk. You are going to have to travel to Washington D.C. for these items.
The W.P.A. Collection
The Library owns about 1200 volumes of the publications of the Historical Records Survey of the Works Progress Administration. Most of these volumes are in the series, “Inventory of the County Archives.” These inventories list records found in the county courthouses at the time the inventory was conducted. Researchers will also encounter transcriptions of records at the county level, particularly Michigan, Tennessee, and West Virginia.The Library Catalog
So how does one access all these treasures and how can you use them for genealogical research?The short, simple answer is The Library Catalog. The “Tips for using the DAR Library Catalog” is your friend! Refer to it often.
Unlike FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, or MyHeritage.com, you will seldom be able to view a scanned document. However, the value of the catalog is that it will point you to resources you had not thought of or were not aware of. You can use this information to plan a trip to the Library; or if that is not possible, you may request copies of documents for a fee. For instance, I am researching the Hahn family. I typed “Hahn Family” into the search box and immediately got 22 hits. I just took the first book title and put it into WorldCat and found three copies of the book. I clicked New England Historical and Genealogical Society and found a summary of the contents. It was not the family I am researching, but I can record it as a negative search so that I do not look at it again.
A little further down, I clicked on “The Genealogy of Peiter Heyl and his descendants, 1100-1936. . .” and put it into WorldCat. Six hits, one of them being the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. I clicked on that listing. Bingo! – a digitized copy available to the public! When I searched inside the book, I could see that it was not the line I am working on.
Even though neither of those references was helpful, I have expanded my research, and contributed to satisfying the requirement of the Genealogical Proof Standard for “reasonably exhaustive research.”
Conclusion
All this information can be found on the Library web page, although sometimes it requires creative searching. I hope this tour of the resources housed in the DAR Library will be of help to you in your genealogical research.Barbara Mattoon
[1] Daughters of the American Revolution, “Print and Microform Resources,” DAR Library Collections, (Washington D.C., Daughters of the American Revolution).
[2] Daughters of the American Revolution, “The American Women’s History Collection,” DAR Special Collections, (Washington D.C., Daughters of the American Revolution).
Very interesting, perhaps trying DAR could help me solve a brick wall.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.