Monday, March 18, 2013

Women's History Month 2013: City Directories

Resources for Researching Your Female Ancestor, Day # 18

1910 Des Moines, Iowa City Directory from Internet Archive.



One of my favorite resources, city directories, offers researchers so much great information.  I've been able to use these directories to find the actual occupations for women who in the census are listed as "housewife," as well as  addresses, marital status, and more.

Where can you find city directories? Well one place to start is Online Historical Directories, written by fellow blogger Miriam Robbins of AnceStories. Miriam has links for directories organized by place. 

Other places to search for directories include subscription websites and digitized book websites like Google Books and Internet Archive.

Do you have a favorite city directory website? What have you learned about your female ancestors in the city directory? Please leave a comment below and share your resources.

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