The History & Genealogy Department

Located on Lower Level Four (-4) of the Tom Bradley Wing: Department Layout

Phone: (213) 228-7400  |  Fax: (213) 228-7409  |  E-mail (form)

Department Staff

• Linda Moussa, Department Manager (213) 228-7401
• Lisa Falk, Senior Librarian (213) 228-7402
• Carolyn Cole, Senior Librarian, Photographic Collection (213) 228-7403

Materials & Collections

There are over 200,000 volumes in the history book collection with especially strong collections in biography, travel, wars involving the United States, the West, Native Americans, and Los Angeles area history. The California File, a retrospective card file and current computer database, provides detailed indexing to help patrons find information on local people, events, buildings, issues, and neighborhoods.

The Genealogy Collection at Central Library numbers more than 40,000 volumes, including more than than 10,000 genealogies. A family name index to the collection is available through the databases link on the library home page.

The Map Collection at Central Library is one of the largest in American public libraries, with 80,000 maps, 2,000 atlases, 1000 gazetters and over 1000 books supporting the study of maps and mapping.

The collection features United States Geological Survey topographic maps for the entire United States, nautical charts for domestic and international waters, historic street maps of Los Angeles dating back to 1849, historic street guides to 1925, and the Library of Congress collection of Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases on microfilm and online covering the state of California.

The History Department has current subscriptions to selected newspapers published throughout California, along with a representative sampling of papers from other states, as well as The Times of London. Newspapers published in languages in other than English are kept in the International Languages Department. For information on older issues of newspapers, please consult the library catalog's Periodical Holdings.

The Library's collections include 350,000 photographs of Los Angeles beginning in the 1880s and the 2.5 million photo morgue of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner newspaper. View over 60,000 photos online or call (213) 228-7403 for assistance with the Photo collection. Photographic prints may be ordered for a fee.

Telephone Directories

Telephone directories are available in the History Department cover:

• Major California cities (paper copy of directories)
• Many U.S. cities (microformat)
• Major international cities (actual directories and microformat)
• Electronic white and yellow pages for the entire United States

Photofriends

Photofriends is a support group interested in photography and the photographic collections that sponsor the Photographer's Eye and other programs for its members and for the public. For more information, call Carolyn Cole at (213) 228-7403.

Tours

Organized genealogical societies that would like to schedule tours should contact Michael Kirley at (213) 228-7413.

Services

Library staff can answer quick ready reference questions by telephone (213) 228-7000, fax (213) 228-7409 or email.  Staff cannot do genealogical research or obituary searches for patrons though a list of researchers for hire is available.  For information and the fee schedule for telephone and city directory searches, email or mail requests to:

History and Genealogy Department
Los Angeles Public Library
630 W. 5th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Research Guides

These guides have been prepared by History & Genealogy staff in order to assist you in conducting research on popular topics. A reference librarian can give you more detailed direction.

1. Census Tract Maps for Los Angeles County User's Guide
2. Genealogy at Central Library
3. History of your House, Searching for the
4. Map Collection
5. Obituaries in Los Angeles County
6. Sanborn Maps
7. Vital Records