Baby books in the UCLA Special Collections Library

I haven't looked at my baby book or those of my three children in a long time. My youngest child turns 37 in a few days so that book will bring back some great memories. Need to get that box down from the high shelf! My own mother's baby book that was started in 1926 yielded much family history information. I spent some time figuring out what the connection was to those listed as newborn and 1st birthday gift givers for her.

The University of California - Los Angeles Special Collections Library has a huge collection of baby books collected from a variety of places. The library's blog has a post from February 14th, that is titled "Grow(ing) Up! The UCLA Library Baby Record Books Collection." This year is the 10th Anniversary of the beginning of the collection.

The post's last paragraph states "The books and their handwritten and pasted-in contents have been used for research and teaching in pediatrics, printing history, economic and social status, material culture, linguistics, architecture, advertising, folklore, depictions of family, and other topics and disciplines." I sure hope that the other topics include family history.

One baby book item I found in the UCLA Library catalog:

• Baby birth announcements, height and weight chart, and photographs for Charles Wriggins Walker, born 14 February 1914 in Buffalo, N.Y., 1914-1920.

Click here to read the full blog post.


A quick check on ArchiveGrid.org for the phrase "baby book" shows 385 entries. Keep in mind that some hits in any catalog might yield books on how to care for a baby!

U.S. National Library of Medicine Manuscripts

The National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine has an interesting website. One section is devoted to the "History of Medicine." You can browse the finding aids for manuscripts online, check the catalog, view digital images and learn about visiting the library in Bethesda, Maryland. I found the FAQ section quite helpful.

A finding aids entry looks like this:

Title: Zuriel and George Waterman Papers 1774-1817
Abstract: Daybooks, correspondence, ledgers and journals pertaining to medical practice, as well as memorandum books kept on board a privateer during the American Revolution.

The papers of John Shaw Billings include this description:

". . . was in charge of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office. Other items in the collection include genealogy information, diplomas and certificates, draft of History and literature of surgery, copies . . ." [I bolded the word genealogy.]

One set of digital images includes not only medical history of the 19th century, but lots of family history. It is part of "Physicians' Lives in the Shenandoah Valley."

"The Henkel Family Correspondence collection (MS C 291; 1.5 linear feet) consists of 828 letters and is largely the product of Caspar C. Henkel's (1835-1908) life. . . Items dating before 1850 were written by ancestors of both Caspar and his wife, Margaretta . . . Caspar retained letters written to him while he was away at medical school and in the field during the Civil War. Upon returning home from these extended absences, he apparently also collected several letters he himself had written to New Market. He also kept letters written to him from his two brothers during their medical training and afterwards when they lived and practiced away from New Market. Letters written to Margaretta from her sisters during the late 1860s and early 1870s are also included."

Finding manuscript and archival libraries

Is there a place in your family's ancestral county in Minnesota that has information that might be helpful in your family history search? Is there a university library special collections department back in Massachusetts that might hold some old family papers? How about a college archive that holds old student records? Is there a separate archive for a county government? Many websites link to such repositories of original records, rare books, and other research materials. These are a few that lead you to specific places. I want to visit all of the places and look in the original records for family history. I know that in my lifetime I won't be able to do that and also realize that all these places hold will not be digitized, indexed, and online. Have you ever held a dusty, faded leather bound volume of court records in your hands? Has your research uncovered an original diary that clears up some family stories?

• Repositories of Primary Sources
• Directory of State and Territorial Archives and Records Programs
• Cyndi's List of Libraries, Archives, and Museums
• Directory of Historical Records Repositories Hawaii
• Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in the Delaware Valley
• Directory of Corporate Archives in the U.S. and Canada
• Directory of State and Territorial Archives and Records Programs
• County and Municipal Archives in Tennessee
• Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the St. Louis Area