National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)

NUCMC is a manuscript collection cataloging service offered by the Library of Congress to archival collection repositories located throughout the U.S.  Archival collections eligible for cataloging can include family papers, personal papers, and collections about a person or subject (which can contain printed material, maps, and photographs), as well as single item manuscripts such as diaries, logbooks, account books, and letters.  NUCMC is therefore a valuable resource for genealogists and family historians.

• NUCMC catalog entries for 1959-1993 are found in out-of-print printed volumes owned by certain libraries and universities (University of Houston and Rice University are two local institutions that own the printed volumes).
• NUCMC catalog entries for 1985-present are found online in OCLC WorldCat.

"Index to Personal Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections 1959-1984 (Vol. 1-2)"

Clayton Library owns this 2-volume set (call number 011.31 I38 USA).  Entries in these volumes refer to individuals identified in the printed volumes.  Each index entry consists of:

• a name
• an epithet or birth/death/lifespan dates
• a two-part citation number

Example:  WAY, Robert --- 1668-1725 --- 83-1615
Explanation:  Robert Way (1668-1725) is found in manuscript collection # 1615, the name and description of which is located within the NUCMC printed volume for the year 1983.

Since Clayton Library does not own the printed volumes, you will need to visit or contact an institution that does (such as University of Houston or Rice University) to be able to find out to what manuscript collection the citation 83-1615 actually refers, and where it is physically housed.

Happy Hunting!

SB