Census records can help you find information about known family members, their relatives, information about where they lived and other relevant information. To search census records, you need a person’s name and state of residence.
The first federal population census information was recorded in 1790 and has been taken every 10 years since then. The 1890 census was almost fully destroyed in a fire, though fragments of the DC census exist. Census records from 1850 onward contain more detailed information than earlier years. There is a 72 year restriction on the public availability of census records - the 1950 census, released on April 1, 2022, is the most recent census available. Before 1870, enslaved Black Americans were not included in census records - it is possible to find census records for free Black Americans during this time period.
How to Access
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has population census records available online from 1790-1950. You can access them at the following link: https://www.archives.gov/research/census
With your DC Public Library card, you can access the online database HeritageQuest to search census records from 1790 - 1940.
The People’s Archive at the DC Public Library holds microfilm records of the 1800-1880, 1900-1930 census records as well as published indexes and schedules for other years.
City, business, and social directories provide clues to address, occupation, race (up to 1870) and familial relationships. This information was collected via door-to-door canvas in December of the previous year. If your home was built and occupied within a calendar year, the residents may not appear in the directory at that address until the following year. From 1914-1973, directories include a separate street address index. Patrons may search for their homes by address to discover its historic occupant. Volumes also contained a business directory, organized by business category.
How to Access
Boyd’s City Directories
1822, 1827, 1834, 1843, 1846, 1850, 1853, 1855, 1858, 1860-1943, 1948, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1973
A small number of Polk’s City Directories, telephone books, and yellow pages directories are available.
The online database HeritageQuest (with a DCPL card) has some city directories. This database is best for searching for individual people rather than browsing the entire digitized directory.
The People’s Archive at the DC Public Library holds selected city directories and telephone books
Select directories between 1860-1909 have been digitized and are available online; an index is available at the following link: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=boyddc.
Government records and published indexes provide detailed information about people who were enslaved and/or emancipated in DC. The Compromise of 1850 prohibited the buying and selling of enslaved people in DC. However, slavery was still allowed in the district until the DC Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862. The DC Emancipation Act allowed for immediate emancipation of enslaved people in the District and provided compensation to the enslavers. Records created by compensated emancipation provide detailed information of both the slave owners and the enslaved people.
For a detailed history about slavery in the district, see Slavery and Emancipation in the Nation's Capital: Using Federal Records to Explore the Lives of African American Ancestors by Damani Davis, 2010 in Genealogy Notes, 42-1.
There may be many different types of records already available to you from within your own family. Collect and organize your family documents and memorabilia, including wills, deeds, photographs, diaries, family bibles or other religious affiliations, certificates, diplomas, scrapbooks, wedding invitations, artifacts, etc. Consult and collaborate with immediate and distant relatives to gather oral histories and learn about family traditions.
Seek out and read published family histories from other people - you may find connections to your own family and/or learn more about the time period and geographic context that may be relevant to your family history.
Many local history institutions hold records relating that can be used when conducting family history research from named family manuscript or photograph collections, records of local business, schools and other institutions, to indexes to local government records.
The next page of this guide outlines the relevant DC History Center Resources.
You can find additional local institutions or projects with Genealogy and Family History resources in the Additional Resources section of this guide.
Newspapers are a good source to search for the names of known family members. They are a good source for obituaries, marriage notices, death notices, and news accounts. While you can find some of this in printed indexes of obituaries and marriage announcements from selected newspapers, many local newspapers have been digitized and are available for online searching. Most available newspapers are from the 20th century.
How to Access:
Vital Records refers to governmental records a person generates through their lifetime - such as birth certificates, marriage or divorce records and death certificates. Depending on the year, many of these records have to be requested from the governing entity who issued them. Some of these records are available on one genealogy databases and online resources and other earlier records are available in printed indexes for a specific time frame.
Government records can be useful for your family history research. You may find some of these records located within the family papers in your possession. You may also request records from federal and local agencies. These include will and probate records, tax assessments and real estate records, guardianship records and records related to enslavement and emancipation. Published indexes are available for many of these records.
Relevant resources:
Exploring your ancestors' connections to the organizations that intersected with their lives can give you an insight into their everyday life. Church, military, school and social club records are useful for verifying dates, geographic location, and learning more about the way they spent their time. Records from cemeteries and funeral homes can help confirm familial connections and dates related to their lives.
Records generated by participating in a congregation may give you additional insight into your ancestor’s life. These records may be held by the institution if it still exists or may be held at a local repository. Published histories of different institutions can also be of use.
The DC History Center holds the records for several local funeral homes. Published indexes of tombstone inscriptions, cemetery records and burial records are available. See the DC History Center Resources, Funeral Homes and Cemetery records section of this guide for indexes and collections available at the Kiplinger Research Library.
Educational records are another avenue you can use to find information about your ancestors in published histories of schools, public school reports, yearbooks, photographs, and copies of oral history transcripts related to the history of DC public schools and local colleges and universities. .
The Charles Sumner School Archives and Museum is the official archives of the DC Public Schools [DCPL] and holds a variety of records related to their history.
Selected Educational Records at the DC History Center:
Existing organizations may keep their own archives or may have deposited records in a local repository. The DC History Center holds the collections of several local social clubs and associations - you can search our online catalog or visit our Exploring the Collections Guide, Manuscripts.
Military records are useful for learning more information about your ancestor and verifying dates and locations of their life. There are many published lists and indices of veterans of early wars. When obtaining military records from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), seek both pension records and military records of active service, if possible.
The Military Reference Branch, National Archives, holds D.C. militia records (RG 94) and records of the United States Soldier's Home to 1942 (RG 231).
Use our Researching Building History Guide to add additional context to your family history research. Use addresses you’ve located to place a person or family in geographical context. Real estate atlases help identify churches, schools, and other neighborhood landmarks that may provide clues to a family’s associations.