Librarian
Shannon Tennant
she/her/hers
Contact:
Belk Library 218
Office Hours:
Carlton Commons, Wednesdays 12-1
Office Hours:
Carlton Commons, Wednesdays 12-1
336-278-6585
Randall Bowman
Randall Bowman
He/Him/His
Contact:
Archives and Special Collections Department Belk Library Elon University
336-278-6571
Website
New Genealogy Center in Elon
- Elon Family History CenterJust a short walk from campus, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the town of Elon has opened a genealogy center. Staff are available to help you with databases and family history research.
Search for information
Search Belk Library's online system to find both library materials and articles in our databases. Use the search box below to do a basic search on library materials and databases.
Tips for searching the library catalog
Every database, including the library's catalog, uses slightly different vocabulary to describe things. The phrase the catalog uses is Emigration and Immigration. So use that phrase with your country or countries, or ethnic groups. Remember this covers people going both directions - leaving a country and arriving there!
Examples:
Sweden - Emigration and immigration
Chinese - Emigration and immigration
We also have a series of books about immigration to the United States from different places. Check to see if your ancestor's country is there!
And probably not relevant for your research, but fun and informative:
- Finding your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.An awesome program on PBS where people's family histories are revealed by esteemed historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Genealogical research online
- Ancestry Library This link opens in a new windowContains coverage of the U.S. and the U.K., including census, vital, church, court, and immigration records, as well as record collections from Canada and other areas. A collection of more than 4,000 databases and 1.5 billion names including U.S. federal census images and indexes from 1790 to 1940 and more
- HeritageQuest This link opens in a new windowResearch materials for tracing family history and American culture. Includes city directories, 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedules, U.S. Indian Census Rolls, Agricultural and Industrial Rolls and more
- America: History & Life This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts the world's scholarly literature in the history of the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowHistorical Abstracts covers modern world history (excluding the United States and Canada which are covered in America: History and Life) from 1450 to the present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Coverage includes history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. Some current issues are available now.
- Ebook Central Academic and Public Library Complete This link opens in a new windowScholarly titles supporting student and faculty research, and general nonfiction on topics such as school & studying, career development, arts & leisure, and practical life skills.
Search these websites to find genealogical information about immigrants to the United States:
- Ellis Island Passenger SearchUse the Wizard tool to narrow your search.
- Castle GardenAccess to a database of information on 11 million immigrants from 1820 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened.
- Passenger listsPassenger lists relating to immigrants to America from Germany (1850-1897), Russia (1834-1897), Ireland (1846-1851), and Italy (1855-1900).
- familysearch.comSearch millions of names and family history records.
African-American Genealogy
Tracing family history for African-Americans in the United States has a number of unique challenges. But there are some strategies and resources that can help:
- African-American Family Research on Ancestry.comDescribes strategies for getting the most from the Ancestry Library database.
- AfriGeneasAfriGeneas is a site devoted to African American genealogy, to researching African Ancestry in the Americas in particular and to genealogical research and resources in general. It is also an African Ancestry research community featuring the AfriGeneas mail list, the AfriGeneas message boards and daily and weekly genealogy chats.
- Black GenealogyA collection of links to genealogy resources all over the internet.
- African American Genealogy from Family SearchFamilySearch is the genealogy organization put together by the Chuch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
- U.S. Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1874The Freedman's Savings and Trust Company was incorporated in 1865 by an act signed by President Abraham Lincoln. The purpose of the company was to create an institution where former slaves and their dependents could place and save their money. Freedman's Bank Records is a great source for genealogists researching their African American heritage because of the amount of personal information recorded for each individual in it.
- Facing Challenges, Genealogist Offers Ideas To Trace African American Family HistoriesAn interview with a specialist in African-American genealogy, full of ideas - like old newspapers and county histories.
Tips for a good search
You may have to try a number of different searches to find useful results.
- Do different searches, one with the word "immigrant" and one using "emigrant" - you may get different results
- Search with both the name of the country and the ethnicity - Norway vs. Norwegian
- Use the search phrases suggested by the database when you start typing
- you type "irish immigration" and ProQuest suggests "irish immigration to us"
- If your initial search results in a large number (over 100) of results, then add more terms
- "irish immigration to us great famine"
- Search in the library system to find info about the history of immigrants who came to the United States, for example “irish American history”
- Articles in databases can be very specific
- You will NOT find the perfect source immediately - research is a process that takes time and you may not find one perfect source
- If you can't find good sources, ask for help!
- Make an appointment with your Personal Librarian!
- Email Shannon or Randall by clicking on our profiles (on the left)
Books and eBooks about immigration at Belk Library
- Encyclopedia of North American ImmigrationA comprehensive encyclopedia consisting of hundreds of A-to-Z entries on events, themes, people, places, and legislation related to immigration.
Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration
Call Number: eBookProvides a chronological study of the migration of various ethnic groups to the United States from 1500 to the present day.
TIP: use the Table of Contents and the Index to find info on the country/ethnicity
Ethnic AmericansCall Number: eBookProvides a concise yet comprehensive overview of immigration and assimilation of European, Asian, and Latin American peoples from 1607 to the late 1990s.
TIP: check the index for the country/ethnicity
Encyclopedia of American ImmigrationCall Number: Ref. 304.873 En19ci v.1-4Discusses immigration history and issues, immigrant groups in America, and immigration documents.
* Organized by time period, country of origin, and causes for immigration.
* Located on the 1st floor.
Encyclopedia of Diasporas : immigrant and refugee cultures around the worldCall Number: Ref. 304.8 En19em v.1-2Covers ethnic groups that have experienced voluntary or forced immigration. Discusses the history behind the social, economic, and political reasons for leaving the original countries, and the cultures in the new places.
* Use the index to locate a specific ethnic group. Located on the 1st floor
Destination AmericaCall Number: 325.73 W685deLooks at why immigrants leave their homelands, how they travel to America, and what they do once they arrive. Includes personal accounts, letters, diaries, photographs and other ephemera; features statistics, maps and charts covering over 40 immigrant groups.
* Also available as online video
Encyclopedia of North American ImmigrationCall Number: 304.87 P871enIncludes more than 300 A-to-Z entries on the people, places, events, themes, and legislation related to immigration in North America. Includes photographs, maps, graphs, and statistics.
* Located on the 2nd floor
Immigration and Asylum : from 1900 to the presentCall Number: Ref. 325.1 Im6gi v.1-3A detailed study of the history and current status of immigrants across the globe, centering on four themes: immigration and asylum, major migrating groups around the world, expulsions and other forced population movements, and politics of migration. Vol.1 covers A to I and Vol.2 covers J to Z
* Located on the 1st floor
Books on immigration to the U.S.Call Number: starts with 301.453A series of 23 books that discuss emigrants who traveled from different countries to the U.S.
* All of these books are located on the 2nd floor
Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural AmericaCall Number: REF 305.8 G131 v.1-2
American Immigrant Cultures : builders of a nationCall Number: REF 305.8 Am35Le v. 1-2
Working Americas, 1880-2007: ImmigrantsCall Number: REF 305.503 D445wo v.8
