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Get started on your family history

Getting started on your family historyFamily research can be an opportunity to learn about the names of your ancestors as well as the history, geography, law, medicine, and customs of other times and places. It can also become a family project that pulls together distant relatives and multiple generations to reconstruct a common past.

These six tips are designed to get you started on researching your family history.

Tip 1: Gathering information

Tip 2: Searching Census

Tip 3: Searching vital records

Tip 4: Newspapers

Tip 5: Were they really orphans?

Tip 6: Kansas Plat Atlas

 

 

State Archives reference staff available for assistance

Our reference staff is happy to advise you as you conduct family history research. You can write or email the reference department for help. Although we are not able to conduct extensive research for you, we can direct you to resources in our holdings and in other repositories. A list of independent researchers for hire is also available. Workbooks on family history research are available in the Museum Store located in the Kansas Museum of History.