Naperville Illinois Family History Center

[[Image:Naperville IL FHC Interior View.jpg|frame|right|400x250px]]
Location and Map:


 * 1320 Ridgeland Rd Naperville, IL 60563
 * The Center is located just north of the intersection of Ogden Avenue and Naper Blvd, immediately north of the McDonald's.
 * As you face the building, the Center entrance is on the left hand side of the building and around back.
 * There are also signs posted at the front doors that will direct you to our entrance. When you reach the Center entrance, ring the door bell and then pull on the door.
 * To find the Naperville Family History Center on a map, click this link: g.co/maps/xkzdf.

Phone: 630-505-0233

E-mail: [mailto:il_naperville@ldsmail.net il_naperville@ldsmail.net]

Center Director: Christine Bell, [mailto:marieb98@yahoo.com marieb98@yahoo.com]


 * Naperville Family History Center Facebook Page this a public page.  You don't need a Facebook account to view it.

Open Hours:


 * Tuesday   12pm - 9pm
 * Wednesday 9 am - 9 pm
 * Thursday  12pm - 9pm
 * Friday      10 am -  4 pm
 * Saturday   9 am - 1 pm

Holiday Closings:




 * Friday and Saturday, July 4-5, 2014 
 * Saturday, October 4, 2014 
 * Wednesday and Thursday, November 26-27, 2014 
 * December 14, 2014 to January 1, 2015 

Upcoming Classes:
Getting the Most from Ancestry.com  This class will explore the tools for doing family history research that are available on Ancestry.com. The Naperville Family History Center has Ancestry.com included in our premium websites. It will also include information on the new LDS Ancestry.com accounts. This class will be offered Thursday, September 18 at 1:30 pm and repeated on Saturday, September 20 at 1 pm.

Getting the Most from Find My Past and MyHeritage.com This class will explore the tools for doing family history research that are available on Find My Past and MyHeritage.com. Find My Past focuses on British records and limited access to the site is available at the Naperville Family History Center. MyHeritage.com is based in Israel and has middle-eastern records and impressive search tools. It is not available as part of the Naperville Family History Center premium websites but a starter account is free. This class will also include information the new LDS accounts for these two websites. This class will be offered on Thursday, October 16 at 1:30 pm and repeated on Saturday, October 25 at 1 pm.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: This center has the ability to recieve any of the films and fiche available through the FamilySearch Catalog.
 * The extended microfilm collection includes all the Chicago Catholic Church records and other Cook County Illinois records,
 * Files describing the Short-term films and Extended Loan Films and Microfiche can be found on theFilms &amp; Fiche at the Naperville Family History Center website
 * FHC Portal This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions. These websites include:
 * The 19th Century British Library Newspapers Digital Archive This fully searchable database of the British Library's newspaper holdings provides a complete run of 48 national and regional Victorian British newspapers for the 19th century from 1800 to 1900. These support the study of colonial history, genealogical research, politics, urban studies, and media courses.
 * Access//Newspaper Archive - World's largest online newspaper archive, Features billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U. S. and the world.; Full page and fully searchable
 * Alexander Street Press – American Civil War – Research database, letters, diaries, photos and posters, 60 collections of audio tracks, videos, images, and playlists in humanities, Literature, Music, Women's History, Black History, Psychological Counseling and Thereapy, Sosial and Cultural History, Drama, Theatre, Film and performing Arts, Religion, Sociology
 * Ancestry Family History Library Edition – U. S. federal and state census records, vital records, passenger lists, Canadian census, church, and vital records, UK census records, birth, marriage and death indexes, and other international records.
 * Find My Past – Create family trees, BMD indexes for England and Wales, parish registers, death duty registers, passport applications, passenger lists leaving UK, 1841 through 1911 censuses, and military records.
 * ArkivDigital Online - Swedish Church Records and much more
 * Fold 3 (as of August 18, 2011) Previous known as Footnote – Resources cover colonial to mid-1900s US records. Includes some census records, vital records, photos, city directories, newspapers, town records, naturalizations, Revolutionary War records and Civil war and later military indexes, World War !!"Old man's Draft"Cards, War of 1812 Pension Files, Mexican War Service Records, World War ! Officer Experience Reports, Confederate Casualty Reports.
 * Heritage Quest Online – Census records (indexed by heads of household, but not years are indexed), digitized searchable books, Periodical Source Index (PERSI), selected records from the Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant application files, Freedman’s Bank Records, and U. S. Serial Set.
 * Historical Map Works Library Edition – Over 800,000 property maps covering the U.S. from late 1700’s to the present, over 100,000 antique maps covering the world from 15th to 19th centuries, and city directories, atlases, business ads, bird’s eye views.
 * Paper Trail – Index to Mormon and Oregon Trail Diaries
 * World Vital Records – Worldwide records including immigration, some U.S., Canadian and U.K. censuses, vital records, parish and land records, family histories, directories, court probate records, digitized books and newspapers, Irish wills and censuses, German Hungarian land census, Scottish death records, England and Wales BMD.
 * Legacy Stories--Put the leaves on your family tree by giving voice to your ancestors. LegacyStories.Org is a social network for all things heritage. Provides a secure platform to upload stories and photos and add recorded narration. The resulting pictures, stories, and narration can be linked as source records on FamilySearch Family Tree. The site offers a full suite of exciting features, including:


 * 1) Record oral photo narratives directly from your computer microphone.
 * 2) Multi-media story publisher.
 * 3) Social network for feedback and collaboration.
 * 4) Public archives to view and share stories.
 * 5) Five levels of privacy.
 * 6) The Legacy Shop for heritage replayed books, DVD equipment, software, etc.

Hardware and Equipment

 * 7 computers with printers
 * 9 Microfilm readers including 2 with high magnification lenses
 * 2 microfiche readers
 * Microfilm/microfiche copier that can print a hard copy or save a digital image to your portal drive

Staff Research Specialties
Wednesday mornings 9 to noon: Irish research Ask for Christine

Wednesday late afternoon and evenings: Property records, probate records, court archives, cemeteries in Cook County Cook County Pennsylvania; Sweden; Germany; Croatia, early farming communities in Cook and Will counties Ask for Linda

1st and 3rd Wednesday evenings: Uschi is fluent in German

1st and 3rd Thursday afternoons Noon to 3 pm; Ask for Ola for help with Polish records, fluent in Polish and Russian, some Latin

2nd and 4th Thursday afternoons Noon to 3 pm: Ask for Pat for help with Irish and Danish research. Ask for Dave for help with Midwestern States, Tenn., New England and Civil War records. He has genealogical working knowledge of French, German, Spanish, Old German script

Thursday afternoons 3 to 6 pm: Poland, Germany, New England, Midwest; Chicago Roman Catholic church records; passenger list records; can translate Polish, Russian, Latin; Ask for Jerry  Ask for Marty if you need help in Spanish

Friday mornings 10 am to 1 pm: West Prussia, Norway, Chicago Ask for Janet

Friday afternoons 1 to 4 pm: Migration within the the US, Civil War records, Ask for Jan

Links
Dupage County (IL) Genealogical Society www.dcgs.org/

Fox Valley Genealogical Society: www.ilfvgs.org/

Wheaton, IL Public Library Genealogy and Local History: www.wheatonlibrary.org/refdb/dbgeneal.html

Family Search Affiliate Libraries

Plainfield Public Library: http://www.plainfieldpubliclibrary.org/

Indian Prairie Library:http://ippl.info/

Fountaindale Public Library http://www.fountaindale.org/

LaGrange Park Public Library http://www.lplibrary.org/

Volunteer at the Center
Additional volunteers are always needed and welcome. The first and foremost quality you will need to volunteer at the Naperville Family History Center is a desire to help other people to research their family history. You do not need any particualr expertise in doing family history research; serving at the Family History Center is a great way to learn how. You also do not need to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Volunteers typically serve a 3 hour shift at least twice a month. If you would like more information about becoming one of our volunteers, contact Center Director Christine Bell at [mailto:marieb98@yahoo.com marieb98@yahoo.com]