New York Public Library – Genealogy Section

We were impressed by the New York Public Library 5^th Avenue. It’s the branch the famous lions outside. On the day I visited there were two exhibitions going on. The first exhibition was: Eminent Domain: Contemporary Photography and the City (May 2 – August 29, 2008). The second was a display of a number of landmark versions of the Declaration of Independence including an autographed manuscript prepared by Thomas Jefferson in the week following the 4^th of July, 1776. His copy had underlined items that he noticed were missing from an early copy he submitted. Both exhibits were free and interesting.

The genealogy section of the New York Public Library is in Room 121. They had a variety of sources and computer access. I got a couple of leads but nothing specific there. But if you are just starting off your genealogy quest, stop by and ask the librarians what you should be looking at. They had a handy handout sheet (below) that lists a number of resources. Even if to sit there and search the database with the freely available computers, it’s worth a stop in this room.

Final stop: the grand reading room. Magnificent.