The Hatcher Graduate Library has a substantial collection of printed resources on the subject of history. Included in this are materials that pertain specifically to the history of the Ann Arbor area and the University of Michigan. It is important for genealogists to consider and understand the impact of the greater historical context on the lives of their ancestors. Thus, historical resources should be utilized by genealogists in order to comprehend how events at local, regional, and national levels may have influenced the decisions made by their forefathers.
Historical materials for a particular locality will be found under the subject heading of [PLACE] -- HISTORY. Various subheadings are utilized to further narrow the scope around the broad topic of history, such as:
Resources that deal with the history of US cities, counties, and states are cataloged by call numbers beginning with the letter F and are located in the stacks on the fifth floor of the South building. For example, the range of holdings for the State of Michigan are in F 561-F 575 and holdings for Washtenaw County have call numbers beginning with F 572 .W3, while those for Ann Arbor are found under F 574 .A2. Historical resources for other countries are arranged with general works first, followed by works pertaining to smaller divisions within countries. A selected bibliography of history resources in the Graduate Library is not included on this page because it would not accurately reflect the extensive holdings in this subject area. Instead, visitors are encouraged to utilize the search features of Library Search to locate items of interest. In addition, there are many electronic databases available on campus through Library Search that accommodate searching for articles on particular places or on specific historical events.