Why Research Family History at the Church History Library?
In this post by Tyson Thorpe, discover what resources you can find at the Church History Library to assist in your family history research.
You may be wondering if the Church History Library or the Church History Catalog can help in your search for genealogical information. Yes! The Church History Library has a variety of records—some of which you can’t find elsewhere—that document vital statistics and other genealogical information for Latter-day Saints. This post will highlight some of these types of records and give you ideas on how to begin finding and using them.
First, it is important to point out that the Church History Library and the Family History Library are different institutions with different purposes and collections. There is some overlap, but the Church History Library is commissioned to collect, preserve, and share records created by and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. The Family History Library collects and indexes public and genealogical records and operates FamilySearch.
Family History Library, Church History Library
Membership Records
A great place to start your research at the Church History Library is in the membership records of the Church. Copies of these records through 1948 are available at the Family History Library, but the Church History Library holds the originals and makes microfilm copies available through 1970 under the call number CR 375 8. The records can currently be viewed on microfilm at the Church History Library, and there are future plans to index and digitize the records.
The membership records are organized by unit (meaning ward, branch, and so forth), so you will need to know where someone lived in order to know which part of the collection to view.
Church Census and City Directories
Church census records and city directories come in handy when you’re trying to find out where someone lived. The census was compiled by the Church to track its growth around the world. These records can be accessed by visiting the Church History Library:1
- Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1914–1935 (CR 4 311)
- Presiding Bishopric mission census, 1940 (CR 4 312)
- Presiding Bishopric stake census, 1940 (CR 4 313)
- Presiding Bishopric mission census, 1950 (CR 4 314)
- Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1950 (CR 4 315)
- Presiding Bishopric stake and mission census, 1950–1960, 1962 (CR 4 316)
City directories provide address information for individuals and businesses. Directories for parts of Utah are available at the Church History Library:
- Salt Lake City Directory, including a business directory, of Provo, Springville, and Ogden, Utah Territory (979.2251 S176 1867)
- Utah gazetteer and directory (979.205 U89g 1874-1925)
- Ogden City directory (979.2281 O34 1883-1987)
- Salt Lake City directory (979.2251 S176 1893-)
- Provo City and Utah County directory (979.2241 P969 1902)
Once you have an address, our staff can help you trace it to branch, ward, or other unit records. You can also explore the Encyclopedic History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (digital images hosted by BYU–Idaho) and the MormonPlaces website (hosted by BYU–Provo) to find a unit.
Local Records
Finding the unit where a person lived is also helpful since that will guide you to applicable local records. Local records are documents kept by branches, wards, missions, and other Church units. These include yearly histories and minutes from a variety of meetings. The clerks would often record births, marriages, deaths, and other life events. You can read more about local records and how they may be useful in these two blog posts: “Local and Corporate Records of the Church” and “More on Local Records.”
Other Resources
Mission periodicals are another useful resource. These publications often reported on local units and events. You can read a bit more about them in a previous blog post. You can see many of the other periodicals we have digitized on our website.
The Church History Library has also collected many other records that may include information about Latter-day Saints collectively and individually. You can search the Church History Catalog for names, places, and other terms that may be relevant to the lives of those you are researching.
We also have a research guide that offers insight into other records that may be useful in providing context to your Latter-day Saint ancestors’ lives.
You should also check out our previous posts in our Finding My Family in Church History series: Sarah’s post, where she learned about the accomplishments of some of her female ancestors; Diane’s post, where she discovered a record of her grandmother’s participation in Relief Society; and Emily’s post, where she describes learning about her grandfather’s talents. Look for more posts as we continue to share success stories of our staff’s family history research.