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Where and how to start
- Ancestry Library Edition
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Popular consumer online genealogy resource that includes birth, death, and marriage records as well as searchable manuscript census records for the U.S. 1790-1930. Similar records are also available for the U.K., Germany, and a few other countries. Only works with the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers.
Sources to research historical context
- Social Explorer
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Access to data maps, profile reports, demographic data, and data elements and variables. Includes interactive tools that allow users to create and share maps, presentations and tables, or compare and analyze data. Includes access to current and historical demographic data.
- Newspapers.com World Collection
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Contains full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles to small local newspapers in the United States and other countries.
Related guides
In-Class Exercise
What Can Documents Tell Us?
Look at each of the three documents linked below and with a partner, answer these questions:
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Why would these records have been created?
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What types of information were collected?
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Why was this particular information collected?
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What kinds of things can we learn about the people in these records?
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What questions do these records raise for us?