Family History
Discover your family history, local or across the world.Databases
American Ancestors
From the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the country’s oldest genealogical organization.
Ancestry Library Edition
Billions of genealogy records, including census, death, marriage and military records
Biography Reference Center
Coverage for several of the most popular and heavily-researched biographies and genres. Includes those contained within Biography Today and Biography.
Fold3 (Main Library only)
US military records, including stories, photos, and personal documents.
MyHeritage
Access to billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos and other resources in thousands of databases that span the past five centuries.
The subscription databases are openly accessible to all patrons from any of our library locations. Home access to the subscription databases is limited to Grand Rapids Public Library cardholders only.
Books & Magazines
We have an extensive collection of genealogy books and magazines, covering not only Grand Rapids but also the entire United States. Search the collection here:
Web Resources
Grand Rapids and Kent County
- WMGS databases
Indexes to thousands of local records from the Western Michigan Genealogical Society: obituaries, marriages, funeral records, and more.
- Grand Rapids City Cemeteries
Search for burials by cemetery, under Genealogy Information
- Kent County GenWeb
Biographies, indexes, plat maps, cemetery records, and more.
- Kent County Clerk
Birth, marriage, and death records for Kent County
Michigan
- Michigan Biographical Index
A cumulative index to books and periodicals
- Seeking Michigan
From the Library/Archives of Michigan, includes death certificates, state census records, Civil War service records, and more.
- Closed Adoption Agency Records
Closed adoption agencies in Michigan and who holds their records
General
- FamilySearch
A large, free database with over one billion indexed records online.