The wonders of ACPL
There are some destinations that simply make a genealogist’s face light up.
The Family History Library.
The National Archives.
The Library of Congress.
And the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Where — blissful sigh — The Legal Genealogist will be speaking on Saturday, October 26 in an all-day program sponsored jointly by the Allen County Genealogical Society and the Genealogy Center.1
It’s hard to know even where to begin to describe the joys of a trip to the Genealogy Center. I suppose I could quote the website: “The ACPL Genealogy Center is a unique and valuable resource for the Northeastern Indiana community and the entire genealogical community at large. We have one of the largest research collections available, incorporating records from around the world. Our staff specializes in genealogy and is always available to help.”2 But that doesn’t do it justice.
I could mention its African American gateway to research resources around the country and the world, or its growing collection of family Bible records, or its collection of resources for military research, or its mindboggling resources for Indiana genealogy, or its program of collecting oral histories — and it still wouldn’t do it justice.
I could mention the research guides, on subjects like adoption, or using census records, or even Eastern European research — and we still wouldn’t have covered it all.
I could mention the world-class librarians — director Curt Witcher and his amazing staff — every last one of them genealogists themselves, or the newspapers on microfilm, or the finding aids to records of the National Archives, or the state snapshots showing the vast range of holdings for every state in the country… and we’d still have a ways to go to mention everything.
Sigh… See what I mean?
This gem of a library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is just one of those places that’s going to make a genealogist’s face light up.
Including mine.
This coming weekend.
C’mon out and join us.
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Genealogical gem in Indiana,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 21 Oct 2019).
SOURCES
- See registration form, Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (https://www.acgsi.org/ : accessed 21 Oct 2019), and event announcement, Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center (http://www.genealogycenter.org/ : accessed 21 Oct 2019). ↩
- “Who We Are,” Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center (http://www.genealogycenter.org/ : accessed 21 Oct 2019). ↩
That was the library that broke our very first brick wall.
My wife grew up in Ft. Wayne, so when we would go back there to visit her family, I would go to the ACPL to hunt dead relatives while she hung out with the live ones. Sadly, they are all gone now, so I have no excuse to go back there, but it definitely made my face light up every time I went there. And, of course, Cindy’s Diner across the street. And if you like hot dogs, there’s Coney Island not too far away.
Their Allen County collections are just fabulous! And much of it, although not all, is online. Great for me, a researcher with deep roots in Fort Wayne.