Genealogy Periodicals, published at regular intervals whether annually, quarterly, monthly or any other regular (or irregular) timeframe, have always been an important resource in genealogical research. Much of the information published in genealogical periodicals cannot be found elsewhere. County or state census records, cemetery readings, deeds, probate records, and even birth and marriage records are staple components of periodicals. Some are published by state or county genealogical or historical societies. Lineage societies, special interest groups (including ethnic), family/surname associations, and even for-profit corporations also are included in the list of genealogical periodical publishers.
MGC Periodical Holdings:
With over 500 current subscriptions and well over 2,500 titles, the Midwest Genealogy Center has an ever-expanding periodical collection. There are various finding guides to help in your periodical search. Please be aware that the first three guides are lists of periodicals in our collection as of 2018:
- Midwest Genealogy Center Periodical Holdings (PDF, 2.5MB)
- Midwest Genealogy Center Periodical Subject Index (PDF, 1.5MB)
- Midwest Genealogy Center Periodicals by County Index (PDF, 1.2MB)
- Online Periodicals (PDF, 1.1MB), compiled by Midwest Genealogy Center staff
Other Indexes:
Topical, subject, and surname indexes have been published for many genealogical periodicals.
- Periodical Source Index (PERSI) is a multi-volume set (available here at MGC) published by the Allen County Public Library. Each volume is indexed by United States places, families, Canadian places, other foreign places, and research methodology.
- Index to Genealogical Periodicals by Donald Lines Jacobus is a partial index to 85 major genealogical periodicals. Articles are indexed two sections: surname listing and places & subjects.
- Genealogical Periodical Annual Index has been published yearly from 1962 to 2001 and is indexed by surname, location, or topic.
- Mike’s Index – Fox Valley Genealogical Society. This online index includes 26 journal/newsletter titles and 7,000 individual volumes held by the Fox Valley Genealogical Society and can be searched by any combination of name, county, state, article title, and article type.
Most long-running genealogical periodicals publish their own annual indexes. Several have compiled comprehensive, cumulative indexes. These are shelved with the title they index. There are a few statewide indexes providing subject/name coverage for many periodicals within their state. They are shelved by Dewey Decimal number in the Reference Collection. This list of indexes are linked to the MCPL catalog:
- Kentucky Genealogical Index (through 1980) - Every name index to Kentucky Ancestors, Kentucky Genealogist, Kentucky Pioneer Genealogy & Records, The East Kentuckian.
- Minnesota Genealogical Periodical Index (through 1979)
- Missouri Genealogical Periodical Index (1960-1982)
- Ohio Genealogical Periodical Index (through 1985) - state records and county records
- Virginia Historical Index (1619-1930 collectively) - includes seven periodicals and books
- The Genealogist’s Address Book - resources by county in each state
Titles Not Held By MGC:
Should you discover an article reference that is unavailable in our library, you can ask a staff member to complete an interlibrary Serial Request (the first 30 pages are usually free.) If this fails to produce your article, you can get information from the periodical staff about how to order it from the Allen County Library Genealogy Center for a fee.