It’s like digging through your grandma’s attic, without the dust.
Don’t worry. We’re not in her attic, but we can help you discover your family tree and connect you to your roots in a number of different ways.
- Get started on your search from the comfort of your home
- Then dig through online and physical archives at the Library
- Talk to an expert who walks into the past with different families every day
Ancestry.com -
Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to library cardholders working remotely, courtesy of ProQuest and its partner Ancestry.
Discover your unique family history with billions of free records from around the world, including census and vital records, immigration and passport records, plus periodicals, books and photos. You can also send documents home from the library for your own records.
Available in-library only.
Heritage Quest
Start your ancestry search online from the comfort of your own home with digital collections of U.S. census data, bank records, Revolutionary War records and more.
American Ancestors
Research genealogy using the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s collection of civic and church records, newspapers, military and court records, tax and voter lists, diaries, published genealogies and more. Available only at Central Library.
The Sacramento Room
Access
extensive local archives including books, periodicals, maps, ephemera, postcards and photographs, as well as online access to many digital archives of local history. Located at
Central Library.
Genealogist Collection
A select group of reference books, periodicals, and other materials to support your family history research. Located at
Central Library.
Genealogy Virtual Programs
Join us for free monthly genealogy lectures on a variety of topics that will help you with your family history research. Presented by knowledgeable and qualified speakers, topics include census and vital records, newspaper research, important genealogy websites, and DNA testing, to name a few.
Here are the upcoming genealogy presentations (on Zoom) through July, 2021. They are all on Saturdays, 1 to 2:30 p.m.:
January 23, 2021:
You Can Do This: Photo Organizing and Preservation, with speaker Thomas MacEntee.
February 27, 2021:
Beyond Ancestry: Essential Portals for your Genealogy Research, with speaker Nancy Loe.
March 27, 2021:
Finding Women in the Newspaper, with speaker Gena Philibert-Ortega.
April 24, 2021:
The Major Features of MyHeritage DNA, with speaker James Baker, PhD.
May 22, 2021:
Locating Living Relatives for your Genealogy Research, with Melinda Kashuba.
June 26, 2021:
The Law and the Reasonably Exhaustive (Re)Search, with speaker Judy Russell.
July 24, 2021:
Betting on the Bureau: African American Research Using Freedmen's Bureau Records, with speaker Nicka Sewell-Smith.