United States History: Family History

The University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.

We acknowledge the people – past, present, and future – of the Dkhw’Duw’Absh, the Duwamish Tribe, the Muckleshoot Tribe, and other tribes on whose traditional lands we study and work.

Welcome to the Family History Guide.  This guide describes some of the resources available at the UW Libraries that can be useful for those researching family history. Though the UW Libraries does not have a genealogical collection, many parts of our collection complement the genealogical holdings of local public libraries.  

This is a tiny sampling of primary source collections available at UW Libraries. More comprehensive lists can be found under History by Topic, History by Region, & Primary Sources by Type. UW only digitized collections of primary sources are also listed on Digital Collections A-Z

The following research databases will help you identify articles in the field of history that can provide historical context for your family history. For additional research databases see those listed under History by Region & History by Topic.