The Wilmington Library, a newly renovated center city landmark, has been collecting Delaware materials for centuries, and it has many useful resources in the “Delaware Room.” Genealogists, local history researchers, and the public will find gems that should not be overlooked in this reference department. City directories (beginning in 1814), newspapers on microfilm, bound print volumes of older publications, and maps are some of the materials.
One of the treasures I find particularly helpful is the “Delaware Index,” a unique pre-computer age catalog of 3 x 5 cards and vertical files with materials from 1922 to 1977. For the better part of the 20th century, the Wilmington librarians cut out and indexed articles about local subjects and people from many periodicals. Included were newspapers, such as the Delaware Republican, Morning News, Evening Journal, Journal Every Evening, and Sunday Morning Star.
These files, professionally arranged for easy, logical access by patrons, include newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, letters, speeches, maps, and ephemera. It is arranged by subject, so when researchers check on something, they can easily find materials published in the era before digital searches made access almost effortless. Although the staff doesn’t add to these files as databases have replaced this old method for accessing information, they continue to maintain the catalog and the vertical files. This is particularly important because few Delaware newspapers have been digitized.
This storehouse of information, a card catalog full of index cards and file folders packed with aging materials, is an excellent starting place for genealogists or anyone puzzling together narratives from the past in the First State. So be sure to check out these exceptional special collections if you are doing some digging into earlier times.
A modern index picks it up from there. Available online through the library catalog, the News Journal Newspaper Index (1989 – present) is another great tool. The librarians index the major stories on a continuing basis. To search for articles, do an “Advanced Search” in the library catalog. Locate the library field and change it from “any library” to “Newspaper Index (Wilmington Public Library Reference).” Search for whatever keyword or author you are trying to dig up. This is not a full-text database so to read the article you will need to visit a library to access that issue of the periodical.
Remember to use these resources for your local and family history projects all around the state, as the librarians indexed the Delaware newspapers, which thoroughly covered its beat, the First State. I often find nuggets of information that would require hours staring at microfilm readers or paging through newspapers, practically making the data inaccessible because of time constraints. Once I have this information as a foundation, I can build on my research and seek out additional sources, depending on the purpose of my study.
Of course, the Wilmington Public Library also has other local history resources. These include Delaware newspapers on microfilm, starting in 1871, such as the News Journal, Morning News, Sunday Morning Star, Every Evening and Evening Journal. City directories begin in 1814. The Delaware Census and a large collection of books are other items.
The key to accessing much of this information is the reference librarian. These information specialists are the best, even when a line of customers, ringing phones, and cranky photocopiers require some masterful juggling. They know their turf and go out of the way to help patrons find answers to the wide array of questions that get tossed at them. I am consistently amazed at some of the materials they dig up for me to use, the research strategies they suggest, and the useful things these professionals come up with as we patrons look for odd bits of information.
Last Saturday, I worked at the library with the Delaware Collection and while I was there a dazzling array of questions were presented to the helpful librarian staffing reference. She handled it all masterfully, including my questions that required some digging.
Thank you, Wilmington Library.
