Research in Genealogy - Biography

Biography --- U.S. and England

United States

• Heads of Families at the First Census (Docs Ref CENSUS RANGE 44) - a printed index.
• Who's Who in America (Current ed. Ref, older eds. Knight E 663 .W56) and Who Was Who in America (Ref. E 176 .W64) - prominent people in government. and the professions, earliest one UO has is 1902 as well as most of those since then
• Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: First Families of America (Knight CS 69 .V814) - a seven-volume set compiled from many sources by Frederick A. Virkus so must be used with caution
• Dictionary of American Biography (Ref E 176 .D56) and American National Biography (Ref CT213 .A68 1999) - famous Americans and their families
• National Cyclopedia of American Biography (Ref E 176 .N28) - biographies
• Browse call number area E 176 in the reference collection and in the stacks. (Specialized directories of groups like lawyers, educators, musicians, etc. will NOT be found here.)
• Look at the resources for Oregon biography
• Look at one of these books to find published and unpublished diaries and letters, to see if a person that you are interested in is included:
  • American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals (Ref Z 5305 .U5A74 1983) - organized chronologically, with good name, subject, and geographic indexes.
  • American Diaries in Manuscript, 1580-1954; A Descriptive Bibliography (Ref Z 5305.U5 M32) - a guide to unpublished diaries, organized by date with a name index
  • The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women : An Annotated Bibliography (Ref Z 5305 .U5G66 1987) - organized by year, with a good subject/author index.
• Search the UO Library Catalog by subject (last name first) for the specific person you are researching. Also try WorldCat to see if another library owns something by or about the person you are researching.

England

• Collins's Peerage of England (Knight CS 421 .C74 1812a) - done in 1812 so obviously errors found since then not corrected
• titles beginning: Burke's....are the standard sources for information about extinct baronetcies, landed gentry, English royalty, etc. Similar material of interest are titles beginning: Debrett's... (general area Ref and Knight CS 420 - CS 425)
• Dictionary of National Biography (Ref DA 28 .D4)- very notable dead English people
• Who's Who (Current ed. Ref, older eds. Knight DA 28 .W6) and Who Was Who (Ref DA 28 .W65)- for famous Britons from 1897 to the present.
• Browse call number area DA 28 in the reference collection and in the stacks. (Specialized directories of groups like lawyers, educators, musicians, etc. will NOT be found here; nor will biographical dictionaries of a single English county or region be here. Consult the subject section of the catalog.)
• Search the UO Library Catalog by subject (last name first) for the specific person you are researching. Also try WorldCat to see if another library owns something by or about the person you are researching.