Search for your Native ancestry through our Multicultural Family History links which include Trace Indian Ancestry, Native American Resources on the Internet, and Online Native American Indian Genealogy Records and Databases.

The DPLA was launched on April 18, 2013 and currently offers about three million digital images, books, maps, archival collections available for retrieval by keyword searching. Organizations including the National Archives, the New York Public Library and the Smithsonian are partners in this endeavor along with our own Minnesota Reflections Digital Library.

Looking for a photo of the school your mom attended in Beverly, Massachusetts? An image after a hurricane hit the Florida Keys? Or new photographs of Hubert Humphrey? Large and small repositories from around the country have made their digitized resources accessible by the click of a mouse. Check out this new portal into America’s rich history.

Celebrate your heritage by researching your Irish family history!
Great websites to help you get started include:
The Irish Genealogy Toolkit, National Archives of Ireland and GENUKI. Although Irish research is exciting, it can also be frustrating, due to destroyed records, the high number of famine deaths and the millions that emigrated after 1840. Sláinte!

FamilyTree's 101 Best Genealogy Websites for 2012 lists the Best Online Genealogy Tools, Best Old Map & Photo Websites for Genealogy, Best Websites for Genealogy Research in Military Records and more!

Family heritage scrapbooks are a great way to share information on genealogy. Whether in digital or book format, design pages, with a family tree, photos, documents, recipes and more. Scrapbooks celebrate family history and they make great gifts!

At this national award-winning fair on Nov. 3, learn about genealogy resources at the Library and elsewhere, connect with some of Minnesota's leading genealogy experts, browse literature from genealogy organizations and tour Minneapolis Central Library’s genealogy resources. Registration is required. More info.

Ever wonder what your ancestors did for a living? Were they a soldier, farmer or even a pirate? Our Ancestors at Work and Play web guide can help you research your ancestor's work history.

September 15-October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. Learn more about your Latin heritage through Cyndi's List-Mexico, Cyndi's List-Central & South America, and Cyndi's List-Spain.

In the Ancestry.com database, move your mouse over the word "Search" (between Home and Charts and Forms on the toolbar). From this dropdown menu, select Card Catalog. Use keywork search terms like German or Caribbean or Lutheran to find helpful resources.

Another useful tool is FamilySearch's Research Wiki This site can inform you of the types of records available for specific groups, geographic regions, and how to access them. Here is the link to the home page for researching German genealogy and the link to the African American site.

Would you like help getting started with your family history? Have you hit a brick wall with your genealogy research? At Minneapolis Central Library, 4th floor, genealogy experts are available to help you with your search. Check out the many opportunities to visit with a genealogist!
Tuesdays 5-8 p.m., Wednesdays 10-1 p.m., First Tuesday of the month 1-4 p.m., Second & Fourth Thursday of the month 5-8 p.m., and First & Third Saturday of the month from 12-4 p.m.

Hennepin County Library is now an official FamilySearch affiliate library! FamilySearch has billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land and court records from over 130 countries. HCL patrons now have access to all of these historic microfilm collections.

To order microfilm, visit the FamilySearch website. The site charges $7.50 per reel. Microfilms requested are sent to the Interlibrary Loan office at Central. When they arrive at Central, ILL staff will contact you and ask which library you would like the film sent to Bd, Rd, Sd, or Central where microfilm readers are located. Like other microfilm that is received through ILL, these microfilms are for in-library use only.

For further information, contact JoEllen, Minneapolis Central, 4^th floor 612-543-8186.

Research your Asian ancestry with Cyndi's List & AsiaGenWeb or attend one of the library's Spice & Slice of Asia programs to learn more about Asian culture & history!

When digital access to the 1940 rolls out on Monday, April 2^nd at 9 am Eastern time, only the National Archives will have the data. The 1940 Census will not have a name index for searching when it first becomes available. In order to locate someone, you will need to know his or her address and the Census enumeration district in which that address was located. 
 
To determine the enumeration district, go to the Online Public Access page put in the name of the town, the county and the state. Check the search results for the 1940 enumeration district number.  With that information you will be ready to search the 1940 census!

Check out the detailed questions asked in the 1940 census!  
 
A helpful and entertaining National Archives video (which includes footage from a 1940 film to inform the public about the census) is posted at YouTube.  
  
Databases like Ancestry Library are working to have the 1940 census available on its site in the near future. 

National Women's History Month is a perfect time to research female ancestors.  "Invisible Women Ancestors"   provides great strategies for researching female ancestors who lived before the 20th century and who may be more difficult  to find in standard records