How to Start Your Own Search
Start by interviewing relatives, asking them questions about your family history. Record names, dates and places. Use an audio or videotape.
Research materials found in your home. Look for genealogical information in family Bibles, diaries, wills, baby books and letters, and on the backs of pictures.
Contact other family members about your search. There is a chance that another family member may be working on a history too. Advertise your genealogical interests in national, regional and local genealogical publications, and in the personal ads of local newspapers.
Pursue county records, such as birth and death certificates, probate records (adoption papers, name changes) or tax records. Birth, death and marriage certificates often contain parents’ names, places of birth and other information.
Visit the Los Angeles Family History Center at the Mormon Library in West Los Angeles, which is open to anyone who wants to trace their family roots. The library has nearly 2 million microfilm rolls, microfiche and books containing records of state and U.S. censuses, naturalizations, births, deaths, marriages and ship passenger lists, land deeds, wills and documents of all religions and denominations.
Check out the branch of the National Archives in Laguna Niguel, which houses service records for the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War; population census reports (1790-1951); various Southwestern and Cherokee Indian records; California Mortality Schedules; Baptismal Records for Los Angeles County; California’s Spanish Archives, and Spanish-American Land Grant Records of California.
Genealogical Societies in Southern California
* Afro-American Genealogical Society, c/o Afro-American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Calif. 90037.
* Hispanic Family Researchers, (714) 894-8161 or (714) 773-5160.
* Immigrant Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 7369, Burbank, Calif. 91510.
* Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles, P.O. Box 25245, Los Angeles, Calif. 90025.
* Southern California Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 4377, Burbank, Calif. 91503.
General Reference Books
* Source: A guidebook of American Genealogy. Compiled by 160 of the nation’s leading genealogists. Edited by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny.
* Ancestry’s Red Book: American’s State, County & Town Sources. Edited by Alice Eicholtz.