Whether you want to get into genealogy or are a seasoned pro, you can find the information you need at the library! Explore our tools and dive into the past.
Discover Your Family Tree
You can use our genealogy resources to find your family’s history. Genealogy tools like Ancestry.com normally require a paid subscription to use their services, but with your Addison Public Library card, you can use our genealogy tools for free!
Ancestry Plus (In-Library Use): Search birth, marriage, and death records, pictures, and so much more. Ancestry Plus also has an extensive Learning Center with lots of helpful articles to guide your search, including tips on exploring military records and finding immigrant ancestors. You can even post on message boards to ask questions or download ancestor charts, research calendars, and other documents to help keep your search organized.
Fold3: Use this tool to explore US military records, including the stories, photos and documents of the men and women who served. It contains millions of records from world-class archives, many of which are exclusively available on Fold3.
Heritage Quest: Find your ancestors in public records, city directories, military and immigration records, census data, obituaries, and more. HeritageQuest also has plenty of tips and tricks to help you know where to look for the information you need.
Newspapers are another great way to find your family! You can also use ProQuest News and MasterFILE Premier to search newspapers from across the country to find your family members’ stories.
Explore Local History
Want to explore Addison’s past? You can read the 1989-2000 issues of the Addison Press online and search for people, places, and events that made headlines. Whether you want to browse by year or search by a specific keyword, you can explore Addison’s recent past with ease. We also have copies of Addison Trail and Driscoll yearbooks that you can use in-house any time we’re open.
We also encourage you to explore the Addison Historical Museum for even more historical resources or borrow their commemorative book of Addison, which covers events from 1884-1984. Stay tuned for the updated volumes’ release!
For Chicago-area historical news, you can browse our online archive of the Chicago Tribune, where you can read up on the politics, society, and important events of the time. You can find articles dating between 1849 and 1987.
Need help?
Schedule an appointment with one of our librarians, who can show you how to use any of these tools to explore the past.