Using JSTOR for Genealogical Research

JSTOR is a digital library collection containing older and current issues from over 2,000 Academic journals covering over 50 disciplines. JSTOR is a useful, non-traditional source of research for genealogists looking for references to their ancestors. JSTOR can be accessed through the Houston Public Library website with a Library Card if you follow these steps.

1.  On the HPL homepage, click Research
2.  Click the Resources by Category tab
3. Click on Magazines, Scholarly Journals and Publications Resources

4. Stroll down until you see JSTOR

5. Once you click the link to JSTOR, you should either be on the homepage or if you are at home, enter your library card number and password.

6. Click the advanced search tab and type genealogy.

7. The results should pull up every article that mentions the term "genealogy"

Manumission papers of Free people of Color in Petersburg, Virginia from the

The Journal of Negro History

Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1928), pp. 534-538
[After doing a search for "Virginia Emancipation"]

To narrow down your results to the most relevant information, go to the journal filter and restrict the categories to Anthropology, History, African-American Studies, History and Population studies. These are the disciplines most likely to provide relevant genealogical information on your ancestors.
You can also vary the keywords you want to search. For example, you can do searches for "Farmers in Virginia" or "Civil War Maryland" to get a wider variety of search results. You can even type a name of an ancestor.

Happy hunting!!


RS