Oregon Genealogical Collections

By Connie Lenzen, CG

Updated 30 May 2006

A summary of major holdings, the hours, and admission fees for the six largest Oregon historical/genealogical libraries/archives.

• Genealogical Forum of Oregon, Portland, OR
• Oregon Historical Society, Portland, OR
• Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
• Oregon State Library, Salem, OR
• Oregon State Archives, Salem, OR
• Rogue Valley Genealogical Society, Phoenix, OR

Genealogical Forum of Oregon Library

1505 SE Gideon St., Portland. Mail address: PO Box 42567, Portland OR 97242-0567.
Visitor Fee, $5.00; members admitted free.
Phone: 503-963-1932
URL: http://www.gfo.org.
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m.
Photocopying facilities: books, microprints.
One Internet computer. Wireless Internet access.
Free parking lot to the east of the building.

Established in 1946, the Forum library has over 32,000 volumes, including a large genealogical collection for US states and several foreign countries. It is rich in periodicals. For many years, members have generously donated books to the library, and the Forum actively purchases books to supplement their donations. This results in an eclectic collection that has something for everyone.

Significant Oregon Genealogical Sources:

• Census; all federal Oregon censuses and indexes. The Forum indexed the 1910 Oregon census.
• City directories; Portland directories and some directories for other Oregon cities. Old Oregon phone books supplement the directory collection.
• Land records; Oregon Donation Land Claim case files on microfilm, Bureau of Land Management plat and tract microfilm. The Forum abstracted and indexed the Oregon Donation Land Claims.
• Manuscript collection; Spencer Leonard Civil War Card File, Civil War veterans who lived in Oregon, contains vital information.
• Multnomah County, Oregon Foreign Born Voter Registrations, on microfilm.
• Newspaper indexes; "Library Association of Portland Newspaper Index," 1920s to 1984.
• Oregon county histories, cemetery books, vital record books.
• Oregon vital records indexes; deaths from 1903 to 1998, marriages from 1971 to 1998, divorces from 1971 to 1998.
• Pioneers; Oregon Early Settlers card file: pre-1900 settlers in Oregon. Contains vital information.
• Vital records; Multnomah County, Oregon marriage indexes (the original books), 1855 to 1975; Multnomah County, Oregon marriage certificates (the originals), 1855 to 1921. The Forum prepared an index to the 1855 to 1906 records. An online index to a number of these volumes is on the society's website. The Research Committee will make copies of entries for a modest fee.
• World War I Draft Registration microfilm. The Forum created an index to the films.

Other Genealogical Sources:

• Almanach de Gotha.
• Census; large collection of federal censuses and indexes. The Forum prepared a guide to census microfilm in the metropolitan area.
• DAR lineage books.
• Domesday books and indexes.
• French Canadian collection; vital record books and periodicals, as well as a copy of Jette's Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec.
• Passenger arrival indexes.
• Periodicals; largest collection of genealogical periodicals in the region. Combined with PERSI on CD (Periodical Source Index), this is a great resource.

Oregon Historical Society Library

1200 SW Park Ave., Portland, OR 97205-2483. Library on the fourth floor.
Visitor fee, $10.00; Oregon Historical Society Members admitted free.
Telephone: 503-222-1741.
URL: http://www.ohs.org
Library catalog online: http://www.ohs.org/collections/index.cfm
Hours: Thursday through Saturday, 1:00;5:00. Open Wednesday for members only.
Photocopying facilities: books, microprints. Pre-1900 documents cannot be photocopied.
No Internet computers.
Parking: On the street, metered.

The Society, founded in 1892, has accumulated the largest Oregon collection in the state. The Library's emphasis is on the settlement and development of Oregon, including localities, fur trade, missionary and pioneer activities, and Indian history. It offers more than 32,000 books, 25,000 maps, 12,000 linear feet of manuscripts, 3,000 serials titles, 5,000 vertical files, 16,000 reels of newspaper microfilm, 8.5 million feet of film and videotape, 10,000 oral history tapes, and more than 2.5 million photographs.

Significant Oregon Genealogical Sources:

• Census; all Oregon federal censuses and provisional and territorial censuses.
• City directories; Portland directories from 1862 to the 1990s and some directories from other Oregon cities.
• Church records; Oregon church registers in the manuscript collection, mostly on microfilm.
• DAR collection; Oregon State Daughters of the American Revolution genealogical records.
• Historic Resource Inventory for Portland, Oregon.
• Manuscript collection; correspondence, letterbooks, speeches, business records, and church records. Indexed by name of collection.
• Maps; Metsker atlases, Sanborn Insurance Company maps, and other Oregon maps
• Military records; Indian War Pension applications.
• Newspaper indexes; "Library Association of Portland Newspaper Index," 1920s to 1987 and
  Index to Oregon Statesman.
• Newspapers; large collection of Oregon newspapers on microfilm.
• Photographs; extensive indexed photograph collections with reproduction facilities.
• Pioneers
  - Wagon train diaries. Indexed in "Overland Journeys" card index.
  - Pioneer Card File containing brief biographical information.
  - Scrapbook collection of indexed newspaper clippings.
  - Oregon Pioneer Association records and indexes.
  - Territorial and Provisional Government Papers index and records.
• Pre-wagon train
  - Card index to Hudson's Bay Claims.
• Vital records; vital statistics cards for pre-1900 births, deaths, and marriages listed in major Oregon newspapers are interfiled in the biography card catalog. Oregon vital records indexes (deaths from 1903 to present, marriages from 1971 to present, divorces from 1971 to present).

Multnomah County Library

801 SW 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97205-2597
Phone: 503-988-5234
URL: http://www.multco.lib.org
Library catalog online: http://catalog.multcolib.org/
Hours: Monday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m; Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m.
Photocopying facilities: books, microprints.
Internet computers for online research. Non-library cardholders must sign up for a "guest" card to sign in on the computers. There is a one-hour time limit; during busy times, there is often a wait for a computer.
Parking: On the street, metered.

The library has a large genealogical collection in the Humanities Room on the third floor, and the books are listed in the online catalog. The Oregon Collection is in closed stacks and will be retrieved for your use.

Significant Oregon Genealogical Sources:

• City directories ; Portland, 1863 to 1990s and other miscellaneous cities.
• Newspaper Index card file ; "The Library Association of Portland Newspaper Index" includes citations for several Portland newspapers and miscellaneous Oregon biographies from the 1920s to 1987.
  
• Newspaper ; The Oregonian and the Oregon Journal on microfilm. The Oregonian from the late 1980s to the present is online on the computer database.
• Oregon Biography Clippings (8 notebooks, indexed).
• Oregon vital records indexes; deaths from 1903 to the present, marriages from 1971 to the present, divorces from 1971 to the present.

Other Genealogical Sources:

• American Genealogical Biographical Index. Many books that are cited in this index are in the library's collection.
• Boston Transcript newspaper on microfiche.
• Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy.
• Our French, Canadian Ancestors.
• Passenger indexes ; the standard Filby and Germans to American and Italians to America, etc. Also ; Rassmussen's San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists and Overland Train Passenger Lists.
• Pennsylvania Archives.
• Roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865.
• Roster of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps on microfilm, various Oregon cities.
• War of the Rebellion.

Oregon State Library

State Library Building, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301.
Telephone: 503-;378-4243
URL: http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Library catalog online: http://oregon.gov/OSL/.
Photocopying facilities: books, microprints.
Several Internet computers.
Parking: On the street, metered.

Established in 1848, the Oregon State Library's genealogical materials are located on the second floor. Members of the Willamette Valley Genealogical Society staff the genealogical area.

Significant Oregon Genealogical Sources:

• Census; all Oregon federal censuses and provisional and territorial censuses.
• City directories; directories for Salem, Portland, Eugene, and other towns.
• Maps; Metsker atlases.
• Newspapers; Oregon newspapers on microfilm.
• "Oregon Index;" index to over three;quarters of a million records, primarily from newspapers and periodical literature.
• Vital Records; Oregon vital records indexes (deaths from 1903 to the present, marriages from 1971 to the present, divorces from 1971 to the present).
• W.P.A.; unpublished manuscripts for Benton, Clatsop, Coos, Hood River, Josephine, Linn, Morrow, Multnomah, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Wasco, and Washington Counties. Card index to manuscripts. Access to the records requires at least 24-hour notice

Other Genealogical Sources:

• Family history collection.
• Large CD collection.
• New Jersey Archives. Pennsylvania Archives.
• Selection of books for most states.

Oregon State Archives

800 Summer St. NE, Salem, OR 97310
Telephone: 503-373-0701.
URL: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Photocopying facilities: books, microprints.
One Internet computer.
Parking: Metered lot.

For the genealogist, the Archives is the most significant repository for 19th and early 20th century Oregon research. Their "Oregon Historical Records Index," is a searchable database of over half a million entries found in the Archives' holdings. When an entry of interest is found, a reference request can be made by email to: reference.archives@state.or.us. The staff will copy the materials for a small fee.

Researchers should print out the Archives' "Inventory to County Records" for each county they are researching. The Inventories tell what records are available and where they are located.

There are online guides on the website to major Archive holdings.

• Adoption Records
• Census Records
• Land Records
• Military Records
• Naturalization Records
• Probate Records
• Vital Records

Significant Oregon Genealogical Sources:

• Census; all Oregon federal censuses and all Oregon provisional, territorial, state, and Indian Affairs censuses.
• Marriage records for many counties on microfilm.
• Pioneers; biographical files with data on pioneers and historical figures.
• Provisional and territorial government records. These are records for Oregon counties created before statehood, provisional and territorial government records, and records of counties that became part of Washington Territory when it was formed in 1853.
• Military; Indian wars index and papers, Civil War index, World War I index and papers.
• Vital Records; Oregon vital records indexes (deaths from 1903 to the present, marriages from 1971 to the present, divorces from 1971 to the present).
  
  

Rogue Valley Genealogical Society

URL: http://www.rvgslibrary.org/

Library Hours:
Monday through Saturday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Library is open to the public. Non-member fee is $3.00

The Rogue Valley Genealogical Society was founded in 1966 and now has the largest collection of genealogical materials in Southern Oregon. It is a non-profit organization with an extensive collection of genealogical material consisting of books, CDs, film, microfiche and maps representing the United States and foreign countries. Those researching Jackson County Oregon will find vital records, census documents, land records, and over 30,000 local burial records.

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