Newberry Library | Biographical Resources

Biographical Resources

Biographical information is vital to a broad range of research activities. At the Newberry there are many ways to search for biographical information: biographical dictionaries, biographical indexes, and the Newberry Library catalogs.

Newberry Library Catalogs

Here are a couple useful strategies for searching the Newberry Library catalogs.

Location: Search their place of residence. Search by County, State, City and Country.
Example: Will County, Ill.--Biography ; Pennsylvania--Biography; Chicago--Biography ; Spain--Biography
Family Name:Search the catalogs under the Family Name for published family histories.
Example: Smith Family ; Corbett Family ; Robinson Family
Ethnic, Religious & Racial Background: Biographies of many people can be found in dictionaries or directories of the special groups to which they belong.
Example: Jews--Biography ; Germany--Biography ; Indians of North America--Biography
Also consult the Newberry Genealogy Guides for Bohemian, African American, English, French Canadian, Germanic, Irish, Jewish, and Polish biographical sources and subject headings. Guides available at the 2^nd Floor Reference Desk.
Occupation/Academic Discipline:Search by occupation or academic discipline. For writers, try the Dictionary of Literary Biography (Call#: Ref PN451 D5). Works by or about an author often contain biographical information.
Example: American literature--Biobibliography ; Historians--Biography

Newberry Library Online Catalog

Biographical Dictionaries

Dictionary of American Biography. New York: C. Scribner, 1928-96.
Call#: Ref oE176 D56.
Scholarly biographical dictionary includes 3600+ biographies with bibliographies.

American National Biography. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1999.
Call#: Ref oCT213 A68 1999.
Successor to the Dictionary of American Biography.

National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Clifton, NJ: White, 1984.
Call#: Ref oE176 N27.
Comprehensive American biographical dictionary covers 1892-1984. Not alphabetical, use volume indexes and the general index (Call #: Ref oE176 N27 Index).

White's Conspectus of American Biography. MI: Scholarly Press, 1972.
Call#: Ref oE176 W588 1972.

Handbook of North American Indians. Washington: Smithsonian, 1978-98.
Call#: Ref oE77 H25.
Volume 4 is a good starting point. Biography and History Index of American Indians (Call#: Ref oE1209 U494) may also be useful.

Notable American Women. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1971.
Call#: Ref oCT3260 N57.
Biographical sketches of 1800+ women 1607-1950, majority of whom are not included in Dictionary of American Biography.

Notable Black American Women. Detroit: Gale, 1996.
Call#: Ref oE185.96 N68 1992.
500 biographies includes bibliographies and information on archival collections. Detailed subject index , 1730-1958.

Dictionary of National Biography. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1959.
Call#: Ref oDA28 D47.
English biographical resource.

The Newberry has many National Biographical Dictionaries: for example,

Irish (Call#: Ref oDA916 .B6),
Canadian (Call#: Ref oF1005 .D49),
French (Call#: Ref oCT143 .D5),
German (Call#: Ref o CT759 .D48 1995).

Example: [Country]--Biography ; Biography--Dictionaries ; Biography--[Country]

Biographical Indexes

Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Detroit: Gale, 1980-90.
Call#: Ref oZ5305 U5 B57 1980-90 (Bio Index Table).
Index to millions of biographical sketches in 2700+ works covering figures throughout the world.

Biography Index. New York: H. W. Wilson.
Call#: Ref oZ5301 B5.
Cites biographical material appearing in 3000+ periodicals, and 2000+ current books of individual and collective biography.

PERSI. UT: Ancestry, 1997. (CD-ROM available at the 2^nd Floor Reference Desk). Comprehensive index to genealogical and historical periodicals.

New York Times Obituaries Index. New York: New York Times, 1970-1980.
Call#: Ref oCT213 N47 (Bio Index Table).
Alphabetical listing of “Deaths” from The New York Times, 1858-1978.

Personal Name Index to "The New York Times Index," 1851-1996. Succasunna, NJ: RDI, 1976-1996.
Call#: Ref Z5301 F28 1976 (Bio Index Table).
Citations refer to the New York Times Index (Call #: Ref oAI21 N45), not newspaper itself.

Black Biography, 1790-1950. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1991.
Call#: Ref Z1361 N39 B52 1990 (Bio Index Table).

Women in Particular. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1984.
Call#: Ref oHQ1412 H47 1984.
Index to American women from 54 works of collective biography.

American Biographical Index. New York: Saur, 1993.
Call #: Ref oCT211 A45 (Bio Index Table).
Index to 368 biographical reference works published between 1702-1956. Newberry holdings marked in volume one.

British Biographical Index. New York: Saur, 1990.
Call #: Ref oCT773. C75 1990 (Bio Index Table).
Index to 334 biographical reference works published between 1601-1929. Newberry holdings marked in volume one.

Index Biographique Francais. London: Saur, 1993.
Call#: Ref oCT1003 .I53 1993 (Bio Index Table).
Index to 180 biographical reference works published between 1647-1986. Newberry holdings marked in volume one.

Indice biografico de Espana, Portugal e Iberoamericana. New York: Saur, 1990.
Call#: Ref oCT1345 .I53 1990 (Bio Index Table).
Index to 306 biographical reference works published between the 17^th and 20^th centuries.

Indice Biografico Italiano. New York: Saur, 1993.
Call#: Ref oCT1123 .I53 1993 (Bio Index Table).
Index to 321 biographical reference works published between the 17^th and 20^th centuries.

Chicago Biography

When conducting Chicago biographical research consult the Newberry Library's Chicago Genealogy guide.

Chicago & Cook Co. Biography & Industry File. (3^rd Floor Card File).
Chicago and Cook County Sources. (Call#: LFH oZ1298 .C5 S97).
Newberry Library Modern Manuscripts can be an excellent source for Chicago biographical information (Index on NL Checklist Table).
Index to Chicago History. (Call#s: Ref & LFH oF548.1 C465 Index).
Book of Chicagoans & Who’s Who in Chicago. (Call#: E 48962.1). Newberry has 1905, 1911, 1917, 1926, 1931, 1936, 1941. Indicate year on call slip.
History of Chicago. (Call#s: Ref & LFH oF548.3 A5 1975).
History of Cook County. (Call#s: LFH oF547 C7 A5 1973; fF 89624.041).
Chicago and Its Makers. (Call#: Ref oF548.3 G46 1929).