Abrams Collection Genealogy Highlights
January-February 2003
Volume 5, Number 1
The Library of Michigan owns an extensive collection of Michigan resources that relate to local history and biographies both in paper and microform. Michigan local history materials include titles on the history of counties, cities, villages, townships, and neighborhoods. The Michigan Collection also has biographical titles on both well-known residents of Michigan and those who were prominent in their community. Titles may be located by searching ANSWER, the Library's online catalog. Keyword and subject searches will help you locate local history and biographical materials on ANSWER.
To search for local history information by subject, you would type the county or place name followed by the word, history. When searching for biographical material on a person, you enter surname, given name and biography. If you want to find biographical indexes or sources of biographies, a broad subject along with biography would be entered. Capitalization is not necessary when searching ANSWER.
For example:
To search by keywords, enter any words that apply to the topic you are researching.
For example:
A commonly used title for a county history was Portrait and Biographical Album of BLANK County. Histories of the county, its cities, villages, and townships are included, plus portraits and biographies of prominent citizens of the county. You can find these by typing the title, Portrait and Biographical Album of...
This highlight is not intended as a comprehensive list of Michigan local history and biography resources; rather, it is a list of useful and notable materials available at the Library of Michigan. Searching ANSWER is the only way to determine if the Library of Michigan holds the resources that you seek.
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County Histories of the Old Northwest. Series V: Michigan [microform]. 88 vols. New Haven, CT: Research Publications, [1973?].
Genealogy Microfilm F 566 .C67 1973 reels 1-88
Reel Index to the Microform Collection of County and Regional Histories of the "Old Northwest," Series V, Michigan. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, 1975.
Genealogy F 566 .C67 Index
Housed at the Genealogy Desk.
Historical Collections: Collections and Researches made by the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society. 28 vols. Lansing: Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, 1888-1916.
Michigan Documents F 561 .M62
Michigan Historical Commission. Michigan Bibliography. 2 vols. Prepared by Floyd Benjamin Streeter. Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, 1921.
Michigan Documents Z 1297 .M62 1921
Michigan History Magazine. Lansing: Michigan Historical Commission, 1917-.
Michigan Documents F 561 .M57
Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for [year]. Detroit: Charles F. Clark, 1856/57-1931/32.
Michigan HC 107.M5 .S752z
Pioneer Collections: Report of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan. 40 vols. Lansing: Pioneer Society of Michigan, 1877-1888.
Michigan Documents F 561 .M62
Romig, Walter. Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More than Five thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1986.
Michigan F 564 .R6 1986
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Benson, Clyde E. Index to Portrait and Biographical Album of Ingham and Livingston Counties, Michigan. Lansing: Michigan Dept. of Education, Bureau of Library Services, 1969.
Michigan F 572 I5 P6 1891, Index
Burton, Clarence Monroe. History of Wayne County and the City of Detroit, Michigan. Detroit: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1930.
Michigan F 572 .W4 B97 1930
Detroit in Its World Setting: A Three Hundred Year Chronology, 1701-2001. Edited by David Lee Poremba. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, c2001.
Michigan F 574 .D4 D497 2001
Frimodig, David M. Keweenaw Character: The Foundation of Michigan's Copper Country. 4 vols. Lake Linden, Mich.: John H. Foster Press, c1990.
Michigan F 572 .K4 F73 1990
Portrait and Biographical Album of Branch County, Mich. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888.
Michigan F 572 .B8 P6 1888
Renaud-Dubuisson, Jacques-Charles. Official Report, Made by the Commanding Officer, Mr. Dubuisson, to the Governor General of Canada, of the War Which Took Place at Detroit, in 1712, Between the French and Their Allies, and the Ottagamie and Mascoutins Indians. Detroit: Printed by Harsha & Willcox, 1845.
Rare Book Room E 82 .D83 1845
Shurtleff, Mary Belle. Old Arbre Croche: A Factual and Comprehensive History of Cross Village, Michigan. Michigan: s.n., c1963.
Michigan F 574 .C764 S4 1963
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Biography and Genealogy Master Index. (Online). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group.
Available at the Library of Michigan and through MeL, the Michigan eLibrary.
Loomis, Frances, comp. Michigan Biography Index. Detroit: Reference Department, Detroit Public Library, 1946-1958.
Genealogy F 565 .L55z Vol. 1-10
Housed on the Genealogy Index Table.
Michigan Biographies, Including Members of Congress, Elective State Officers, Justices of the Supreme Court, Members of the Michigan Legislature, Board of Regents of the University of Michigan, State Board of Agriculture and State Board of Education. Lansing: The Michigan Historical Commission, 1924.
Michigan Documents F 565 .M62 1924 Vol. 1-2
Housed at the Genealogy and Reference desks.
Michigan Manual. Lansing: State of Michigan, 1836-2002.
Michigan Documents JK 5830 .A32
1836-1868 are housed in the Rare Book Room.
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Ford, Gerald R. A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford. New York: Harper & Row, c1979.
Michigan E 866 .F67 1979
Troester, Rosalie Riegle, Ed. Historic Women of Michigan: A Sesquicentennial Celebration. Lansing: Michigan Women's Studies Association, c1987.
Michigan CT 3260 .H5 1987
Iacocca, Lee A. Iacocca, An Autobiography. With William Novak. New York: Bantam Books, c1984.
Michigan HD 9710.U52 I25z 1984
Johnson, Earvin. Magic. New York: Viking Press, 1983.
Michigan GV 884.J63 A35 1983
Wangers, Jim. Glory Days: When Horsepower and Passion Ruled Detroit: A Memoir. Cambridge, MA: Robert Bentley, 1998.
Michigan HD 9710.U52 W28 1998
Washington, Margaret. The Narrative of Sojourner Truth. New York: Vintage Books, 1993.
Michigan E 185.97.T8 W36 1993
Weddon, Willah. First Ladies of Michigan. [S.l. : s.n.], 1977. (Grand Rapids, Mich. The Printers).
Michigan F 566 .W33z
Weeks, George. Stewards of the State: The Governors of Michigan. 2nd ed. rev. Detroit: Detroit News; Ann Arbor: Historical Society of Michigan, 1991.
Michigan F 565 .W43 1991
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