The following guides are available for consultation as you begin your research. For collection inventories and indexes to vertical files such as the Family Files and Newspaper Clipping Files, please see the Finding Aids page.
Genealogy and Library Guides:
Newspapers:
For an inventory of Louisville newspapers housed at the Filson, click here.
For an inventory of Kentucky and United States newspapers on microfilm in the Filson Library, click here.
Don’t see what you’re looking for? Our Collections department also has print issues of many historic newspapers; email gro.l1713491037aciro1713491037tsihn1713491037oslif1713491037@hcra1713491037eser1713491037 for more information.
Health and Medicine:
Interested in researching health-related topics? Review our research guide to finding information on health-related topics in the Filson’s manuscript collection.
Businesses:
Researching a Louisville business? Try searching our Louisville Business Index to find information on local firms.
Louisville Business Index [PDF]
Kentucky Legal History:
The Filson holds published records of the General Assembly of Kentucky (*scattered publications missing), including:
- Acts of the Kentucky General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky [328.7691 K37a]
- Legislative Documents of the General Assembly of Kentucky [328.7691 K37d]
- Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky [328.7691 K37h]
- Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky [328.7691 K37s]
- The Filson also holds Court of Appeals Reports, which are in chronological order by the name of the Court Reporter [RB 348.769 K37ca]
The Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Library has a site on Kentucky Law here: https://library.louisville.edu/law/kentucky/home.
The J. David Rosenberg College of Law Library has a site on Kentucky Legal History here: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ky_legal_history/
The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA) has several online guides to assist you with Kentucky Court Research, which are online here: https://kdla.ky.gov/Archives-and-Reference/Pages/Research-Guides.aspx
Researching Your Home/Building:
Interested in learning the history of your home or building? These guides can help you get started! Click to open a PDF of each guide.
Joanne Weeter, Using City Directories to Determine the Date of Construction for Your Urban Structure, Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission, Louisville, KY, revised 2015 [PDF]
Steve Wiser: Researching Your Home, revised 2020 [PDF] | Using LFPL’s Sanborn Maps [PDF] | Using LFPL’s Louisville Courier Journal Database [PDF]
Filson Staff Examples from Blog Posts [PDF]
Check out Filson staff member Danielle Spalenka presenting on how to research your home from July 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kndCi54snyU&t=62s
Louisville Maps and Atlases are another way to learn about the past ownership of property – see University of Louisville Digital Collections: Louisville Area Maps: https://digital.library.louisville.edu/?f%5Bcity_sim%5D%5B%5D=Louisville+%28Ky.%29&f%5Bresource_type_sim%5D%5B%5D=Maps&locale=en
Digital Preservation and Personal Digital Archiving:
Resource guide with links for getting started on digital preservation and preserving your digital materials.
Personal Digital Archiving Resources guide [PDF]
