California Archives, Libraries, and Societies
This entry was originally written by Dwight A. Radford, Thelma Berkey Walsmith, and Nell Sachse Woodard for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Contents
California State Archives
Office of Secretary of State
1020 O St., Rm. 130
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.ss.ca.gov/archives/archives.htm
The collections in the California State Archives are indicated in various sections in the preceding pages and in the California County Resources section. The website has a link for family history resources.
California State Library
Library and Courts Bldg. 1
914 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.library.ca.gov/index.cfm
The library's website provides access to its catalog and electronic databases and a 'California Library Directory' that draws from academic, special, state, state agencies, public, and county law libraries. In addition to the materials already described above, its genealogy collections include:
Pioneer Record File: biographical material on Californians who came before 1860'information submitted by the actual pioneers or by their descendants.
Biographical files: California artists, authors, actors, and musicians along with material on California political leaders.
Directories: a large collection of city, county (from the 1850s) and telephone directories (from 1897).
Sutro Library
California State Library (Sutro Branch)
480 Winston Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94132
This branch of the California State Library differs from the main library in Sacramento in its major focus on genealogical research, including material beyond California. See the main website above.
California Historical Society
678 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
www.californiahistoricalsociety.org
Some of the extensive collections on California history are described above, including the quarterly publication California History.
California Genealogical Society and Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, CA 94612-3031
californiaancestors.org
The organization publishes an electronic newsletter, blog and a bi-annual periodical, The California Nugget and offers a wide variety of genealogical classes and workshops. The society's library resources are extensive for California as well as for other states. The website features The California Names Index which lists more than 350,000 records from the library's largest databases: San Francisco voters registered 1890, San Francisco IOOF Crematory and Cemetery records, Biographies of individuals prominent in early 20th century California, Records from the First and Third Congregational Churches of San Francisco.
University of California, Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
The vast manuscript collection includes considerable material on California's history.
Los Angeles Public Library
History and Genealogy Department
630 W. 5th St.
Los Angeles, California 90071
www.lapl.org/central/history.html
With more than 40,000 volumes, including 10,000 genealogies, the library's website includes a family name index to the History and Genealogy collection.
Chinese Historical Society
965 Clay St.
San Francisco, CA 94108
www.chsa.org
Dedicated to the study and preservation of Chinese American history, the society offers a learning center, programs for children, and an extensive calendar of activities related to cultural history.
San Ramon Valley Genealogical Society
P.O. Bos 305
Diablo, California 94528-0305
www.srvgensoc.org
Serving the Tri-Valley area of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
Two additional sources are the Family History Centers, branches of the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Centers in Los Angeles (10741 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, CA 90025 www.lafhc.org) and in Oakland (Temple Hill Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Ave., Oakland, CA 94602 www.templehill.com) are among the largest libraries within the FHL system. Collections include material not at the FHL in Salt Lake City.
