Enrollment options
Optional Course Print Material: American Institutional Records
*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.
Focusing on vital records and the census can yield a rather incomplete picture of our ancestors’ lives. Many researchers may avoid examining institutional records because they believe it is demeaning to the ancestor, or they believe the records will not shed any new information. Institutional records often contain a wealth of information. This course will introduce the student to records of institutions such as orphanages, prisons, poor houses, asylums, and schools. Students will learn how to determine the correct institution, how to find the records, and how to use the records to lead to new sources. The course also covers possible difficulties in records access.
Course Length: 7 weeksMODULE 1
INSTITUTIONAL RECORDS
Types of Institutions We Will Focus Upon
Access to the Records
Terminology
MODULE 2
CLUES TO INSTITUTIONALIZATION
Introduction
Records at Home
Clues in the Census
State and Local Censuses
MODULE 3
THE SICK, THE POOR, AND ORPHANS
Brief History of Almshouses and Poor Farms
Records of County Homes, Asylums, and Other Institutions for the
Poor and Sick
MODULE 4
SCHOOLS
Brief History of Education in America
Teacher’s Records
School Censuses
MODULE 5
PRISONS AND JAILS
Brief History of Prisons and Jails
Jail Registers
State and Federal State Penitentiaries
Military Prisons and Prisoner of War Camps
Roster of Prisoners
MODULE 6
FINDING THE RECORDS
Determining the Correct Institution
City and County Directories
Finding the Records
County USGenWeb Website
County Histories
State Manuals