Research Databases

Search records, books, serials, and other historical records specific to African Americans to trace your genealogy or to do research.

Ancestry.com delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more. (Not accessible outside the Library.)

Combines numerous biographical resources to provide biographies, obituaries, and photographs of thousands of individuals – both living and deceased.

Open primary source documents from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom. Find historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more.

Explore Dayton history through local news, events and people with the Dayton Daily News Collection. Search current and archived issues (1990-present) with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online.

Biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures, plus thousands of images.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides FamilySearch free of charge to everyone, regardless of tradition, culture, or religious affiliation. FamilySearch is dedicated to preserving important family records and making them freely accessible online, introducing individuals to their ancestors through the widespread access to records.

A collection of historical U.S. military records that brings to life the details of America's military veterans with stories, photos, and personal documents.

Includes Census records (1790-1940), book and article searches, Revolutionary War records, and Freedman's Bank.

This website provides access to numerous Ohio history resources.

A digital collection of Ohio historical artifacts.

Index of 2,850,000 obituaries, death & marriage notices, and other Ohio sources, from 1810s to present.
^{Actual obits may be ordered from over 60 partner libraries; only Hayes Library has online ordering.}

The Sanborn Maps are large scale street plans produced by the Sanborn Fire Insurance company from 1867 to 1970.  Use these maps to locate and identify buildings and neighborhoods, to study the growth of towns and cities, and to study the impact of new developments.

This resource is designed to help users identify flint artifacts, which are some of the most enduring legacies of prehistoric peoples.