Maryland Archives, Libraries, and Societies
This entry was originally written by Roger D. Joslyn, CG, FUGA, FGBS, FASG for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Contents
Maryland State Archives
350 Rowe Blvd.
Annapolis, MD 21401
www.mdarchives.state.md.us
In a beautiful building that opened in 1986, the Maryland State Archives, formerly the Hall of Records, is the central place for original source record research. Generally, one can expect to find all colonial governmental records as well as those from statehood up to 1900 and in many cases much later, as it is the official depository for all 'state' records created before 28 April 1788, and for noncurrent records of state agencies, counties, and towns. Some service is available by mail; write for details and fees. Bulletin No. 17: A Guide to the Index Holdings of the Maryland State Archives is available for a nominal fee. The state archives sells microfilm of newspapers (see Maryland Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections). The Archives of Maryland and several hundred other volumes of governmental records and historical publications are available on the state archives' website at www.mdarchives.state.md.us/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/html/index.html.
Maryland Genealogical Society
201 W. Monument St.
Baltimore, MD 21201-4674
www.mdgensoc.org
Not a library, the society is the publisher of the Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin Maryland Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections.
Maryland State Law Library
361 Rowe Blvd.
Annapolis, MD 21401-1697
www.lawlib.state.md.us
Primarily a law library, it also has a large collection of useful books, maps, newspapers, the federal censuses and 1850 mortality schedules, and other items on microfilm. A guide to the library's genealogical holdings is available for a nominal fee.
Maryland Historical Society
201 W. Monument St.
Baltimore, MD 21201-4674
www.mdhs.org
The society provides a free list of genealogists or, for a fee, will have a professional genealogist check their indexed holdings. The society publishes the Maryland Historical Magazine Maryland Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections). In 1883, it also began The Archives of Maryland, now published by the Maryland State Archives, which sells back issues. See also the published guide to the society's collection under Background Sources for Maryland.
George Peabody Library of Johns Hopkins University
17 E. Mount Vernon Pl.
Baltimore, MD 21202
Formerly the Peabody Institute Library, it is best known for its British collection of over 2,500 published English and Welsh parish registers and British and German heraldry. While its Maryland collection is not strong, the library has a wide variety of published material, including periodicals, for New England and the Mid-Atlantic regions.
Baltimore City Archives
211 E. Pleasant St., Rm. 201
Baltimore, MD 21202
This archives has a name index to the municipal records (1756'1938), compiled by the Works Progress Administration (WPA); indexes to Port of Baltimore ships' passenger lists kept by the city (1833'66) and those from the National Archives (1820'1909); and the index to naturalizations in the U.S. circuit and district courts for Maryland (Baltimore City) (1797'1951). These indexes can be searched for a fee of $4 per request. Other useful records here, dating from 1729, include maps, tax records from 1798, an 1868 police census (incomplete), and voter registrations (1838, 1839, 1868, and 1877'89). For more detail, consult William G. LeFurgy, The Records of A City: A Guide to the Baltimore City Archives (Baltimore: City Archives and Records Management Office, 1984).
