Local Genealogy

Local Genealogy

A VERY POWERFUL genealogy site is Ancestry, available for FREE at the Central Library only.  Other sites (free anywhere) include:

  • Berkeley Obituary Index
    An index to death stories and obituaries of Berkeleyans, both famous and not, contained in the Berkeley Daily Gazette and other newspapers. Currently available years: 1894 to 1907, 1920, 1923, 1925, 1930-1933, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1941, 1955, 1960-1963 & 1977-1979. Other years are in progress. Call the Reference Desk at 510-981-6148 for more information.
  • Lives of the Dead
    A blog on those interred in Mountain View Cemetery, some of whom were Berkeley citizens.
  • Local Cemeteries
    Including many lists of interred former Berkeley citizens in various Alameda County cemeteries.
  • Social Security Death Index
    The SSDN - where birth dates and/or locations, previous residencies, and so forth are to be found. Search for the persons name. After the search you can limit to, for instance, birth century and decade, and/or birthplace.
  • California Death Index
    California (like most states) has required that all deaths in the state be recorded for over a century. Below are the records (available online for free) for 1940 to 1997.
  • US Genweb Project
    Connect with others researching your family. Select the state you wish to do research in, then the county. Each county is independently run by volunteers, so they are hit-or-miss in quality. Some are great, some not so much. Remember, though: you can always volunteer to make it better.

 

Berkeley Genealogy

How Do I Find Out About People…

  • Who Lived in Berkeley?
  • Who Were Born in Berkeley?
  • Who Died in Berkeley?

1. Find an obituary of someone who lived in or around Berkeley in the "Berkeley Gazette."

2. To find out where someone lived, try historic telephone books or city directories  in Berkeley History Room.

3. Check census records—we have 1860 to 1930 for Berkeleyn on microfilm in Berkeley History Room, and the Ancestry.com database (currently available only at the Central library -- please ask at the Reference Desk).

4.  To find out when someone died, and where they were last known to reside (in Berkeley or elsewhere) try:

5. Plus, the Berkeley History Room has clipping files on many Berkeley people, famous and semi-famous, mostly from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Ask a library staff member for assistance in locating any of these items.

Berkeley Obituaries

The Berkeley Obituary Index is an index to death stories and obituaries of Berkeleyeans, both famous and not, contained in the Berkeley Daily Gazette. Currently available years: 1894-1912, 1920, 1923, 1925, 1930-1942, 1951, 1955, 1959-1965, 1967, 1970-1971, 1977-1980 & 1982. Other years are in progress. Call the Reference Desk at 510-981-6148 for more information.