Arizona Genealogy

This page of our website provides links to Arizona genealogy databases and historical narratives about Arizona. These genealogical records may include, vital records (birth, marriage and divorce, death), ethnic records (Native American), court records (land, probate and wills, criminal and civil), church records (Bibles, baptisms, marriages, burials and histories), cemeteries, census records, military records directories and yearbooks.

Arizona Biographies

Arizona Cemetery Records

Arizona Census and Tax Records

Arizona Court Records

  • Arizona, Maricopa County Probate Records, 1870-1930
    This collection contains images of the probate case files from the Maricopa County Superior Court.
  • Inmate Data Search
    100 Years of Inmate Admissions, 1872-1972.
  • Bisbee Deportation Documents – Cochise County Clerk of Superior Court
    The Bisbee Deportation documents are comprised of about 1,600 court documents filed in 1919 and 1920 in Cochise County Superior Court, pertaining to Cochise County Case number 2725, entitled, State of Arizona, Plaintiff, vs. Phelps Dodge Corporation, A Corporation, et als., Defendants,. The Bisbee Deportation started as a labor dispute between some members of the International Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers Union and the three mining companies in early June of 1917. The issues were focused on working rules, safety regulations and the requirement for a physical examination, rather than wages and benefits. With the arrival of hundreds of Industrial Workers of the World sympathizers in late June who were vowing to shut down all the copper mines from Montana to Mexico, the conflict intensified and culminated in a community action on July 12, 1917.
  • Cochise County Territorial Court Documents
    In May of 1881, just three months after Cochise County was formed out of southeastern Pima County, district court sessions began in Tombstone, Arizona. The 652 page collection contains brief notations by the district court clerk of matters and proceedings taken up by the judge – in the order they were presented. Aficionados of Cochise County Territorial history will enjoy “seeing” the characters of the day make their appearance in court – and getting a sense of the cadence of court business procedures from a time long past.
  • Legal and Court History of Cochise County
    The first submission to this collection is the recently rediscovered Coroner’s Inquest of the October 26, 1881 incident commonly referred to as “The Gunfight at the OK Corral.” On March 31, 2010, while reorganizing a records storage area in the old county jail, two deputy clerks discovered these long-missing documents. The OK Corral documents section of this collection includes typewritten versions created in the 1960s by deputy clerks. While there are a few errors in these transcriptions, they can be of help in deciphering the handwritten originals.
  • Arizona, Maricopa County Probate Records, 1870-1930
    This collection contains images of the probate case files from the Maricopa County Superior Court for the years 1870 to 1930.
  • Murder & Mayhem – The Strange Saga of Winnie Ruth Judd
    A selection of photographs and letters from around Arizona about the infamous “trunk murderess”; Winnie Ruth Judd. She was tried and convicted of the murder and subsequent dismemberment of her two friends. In a strange turn of events, she was found insane and placed in the state mental hospital for almost forty years. This is her saga.

Arizona Directories

  • Arizona City and Business Directories
    The directories document the population and businesses of 19th century Arizona and are used on a daily basis by researchers. In addition to a list of residents and businesses, researchers can find occupations, if a woman was a widow or head of household, or whether the resident owned or rented the property. Many directories contain a history of the city, state and region, information on the climate, topography and natural resources of the area, and in some instances photographs.
  • 1881 Arizona business directory and gazetteer
    Containing the names and post-office addresses of all merchants, manufacturers and professional men in the territory of Arizona; territorial, county, city and town officers, a description of the different mining districts and the names of mining superintendents; also, a gazetteer of the counties, cities and towns, giving a full exhibit of their mineral, agricultural and manufacturing resources; with an appendix, containing the names and addresses of wholesale merchants and manufacturers in the city of San Francisco.
  • Flagstaff Telephone and City Directories 1931-1981
    The Flagstaff Telephone Directories span the years of 1931 through 1981 (some years are missing). They include various communities in north central Arizona, including Grand Canyon, Williams, Winslow, Ash Fork, Munds Park, Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Sedona, Seligman, Page, Jerome, and more. The directories sometimes include community street maps. White and Yellow pages are included.

Arizona Genealogy

Coconino County Arizona Genealogy

A history of Williams, Arizona, 1876-1951
James R. Fuchs’ “A History of Williams, Arizona, 1876-1951” chronicles the development of the small Arizona town of Williams. Established in 1881, Williams began as a post office, then a railroad camp. The town’s economy shifted from ranching and railroading to lumbering, and finally, to tourism thanks to its proximity to the Grand Canyon.

Maricopa County Arizona Genealogy

A History of Chandler, Arizona, 1912-1953
“A History of Chandler, Arizona, 1912-1953,” authored by Robert Conway Stevens, is an insightful academic work published by the University of Arizona Press in 1955. This book is a master’s thesis, presented to the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Arizona as part of the requirement for a Master of Arts degree. Over the course of 106 pages, Stevens embarks on a detailed exploration of the foundational years of Chandler, Arizona, from its establishment in 1912 up to 1953. This thesis was originally published in the University of Arizona Bulletin Series, Vo. XXV, No. 4, October, 1954, Social Science Bulletin, No. 25.

Arizona Genealogy

AZGenWeb
AZGenWeb is created by a group of volunteers as part of the USGenWeb Project working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county in Arizona. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone.

State of Arizona Research Library
These files include both biographies and subjects. Biographies include the famous, the infamous and the ordinary. They include more than clippings. There are copies of letters, brochures, programs, etc. Biographical files have a separate collection of Arizona State Legislators.

Arizona History

  • Arizona Ancient Ruins
  • AZGenWeb Postcard Project
  • History of Arizona vol. 1
  • New Empire and Her Representative Men
  • Arizona Historical Books
    This collection of books and periodicals represents early Arizona history. The historic collection dates from territorial through statehood and in to the 1920s. Materials selected include territorial legislative acts, Arizona histories from the early days of statehood, and Arizona, The State Magazine, a publication spanning fifteen years of Arizona’s early history. Within this collection, there are many great photographs, articles, and ads that share the story of Arizona’s early years
  • Arizona Latina Trailblazers
    Latina Americans have had a profound, yet often overlooked, impact throughout Arizona’s history. This collection shines the spotlight on Latina pioneers in government, business, law, politics, music, and arts.
  • Arizona Mines
    The Mines Collection of the Arizona Geological Survey contains information on thousands of Arizona mines — only a select few are displayed here. All told, the collection comprises more than 82 linear feet of files filled with old newspaper clippings, accounts of mine histories, geologic reports, mineral assessments, production reports, historic letters inquiries of ore reserves and economic viability, and to a lesser extent, maps, geologic cross-sections, assay reports, mine schematics, and photographs.
  • Arizona Mines and Minerals – Federal Materials
    This federal collection, which represents the rich history of mining and mineral resources in Arizona, contains federal reports and studies about select Arizona mines, mineral assessments, and mining activities.
  • Arizona Pioneers’ Home Resident Index: 1911-2000
    This is an index to the Arizona Pioneers’ Home records. The Home was established by the Territory of Arizona in 1911 in order to take care of aged and infirm Arizonans. Initially, a “men only” institution (principally miners), a woman’s wing was added in 1916. Today the Pioneers’ Home admits “pioneers” who are at least 70 years of age and have been an Arizona resident for at least 50 years.
  • Arizona State Archives – State, County and Local Government Records
    Records in the Arizona State Archives were created by individuals or agencies within state or local government organizations. Agency records include those from boards, commissions and departments, as well as executive, legislative and judicial branches and date from 1863 to the early 1990s. Local records include those from county and city governments and date from 1863 to the 1940s.
  • Arizona State Archives Historic Photographs
    The photograph collections in the Arizona State Archives include images from state government as well as private collections. Archives’ photographs focus upon the unique cultural heritage of the state and territory of Arizona, beginning in 1863. The principal focus within the collections are materials which predate World War II, some as early as the 1860s. The images presented in this collection represent a sample of the images at the Arizona State Archives.
  • Arizona State Archives Manuscript Collections
    The manuscript collections at the Arizona State Archives contain information relating to the history, culture and businesses in Arizona. They document everyday life from territorial times forward.
  • Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame
    The Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame posthumously commemorates Arizona women who have greatly contributed to their communities and state through hard work and leadership. Four to six Arizona women are inducted every two years. The exhibit features custom quilts, made by the Arizona Quilter’s Guild and the Phoenix Area Quilters Association, of the women who were inducted by 2006. The Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame is helmed by the Archives division of the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records and housed at the Carnegie Center in Phoenix.
  • Arizona’s Saints and Shady Ladies
    The women of the West were both saints and shady ladies. They did not and could not fit the Victorian models of womanhood. Those artificial standards were impossible to maintain in the newly settled West. Instead they lived practically and industriously. Famous or “unsung heroines,” their lives and works shaped the form and spirit of the state of Arizona. This selection of images found within our various photograph collections is in honor of both the saints and shady ladies of our state.
  • Colorado Plateau Digital Archives Selections
    The topics represented in this selection from Northern Arizona University Cline Library include: Colorado River running, surveying, and exploration; Grand Canyon hiking and tourism; railroad and timber; landscape photography of Northern Arizona; and Native American communities on the Colorado Plateau. Formats include photographs, textual materials, maps, oral histories, and moving images.
  • Early Life in Taylor, Arizona 1878-1940
    The artifacts and historic sites that are included in this collection not only serve as examples of daily pioneer living in Taylor, Arizona, but also provide insight into the changes which occurred as the citizens of Taylor adjusted to world, national and community development.
  • Flagstaff, Arizona Historic Property Surveys
    This collection documents the property surveys that resulted from the strong interest among the Flagstaff community that emerged in the 1970s to document and preserve historical structures around the town. The Flagstaff Historic Sites Commission, the Arizona Historical Society-Northern Division/Northern Arizona Pioneers Historical Society, along with other notable institutions, in cooperation with the City of Flagstaff worked toward determining which properties in a given survey area would qualify for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Arizona State Historic Property Inventory Forms were used to document these selections comprising over 1,000 buildings, many of which retained their original architectural integrity with minor or no alterations.
  • Historic Downtown Glendale
    This collection represents South 1st Avenue, now 58th Drive and Glendale Avenue, from around 1910 to 1950. It depicts early development in downtown Glendale, Arizona. The collection also includes photos of the Sine Family, a pioneering family to Glendale, who were instrumental in the development of downtown Glendale. Most of the photos were collected by pioneering Glendale citizens and given to the Glendale Arizona Historical Society. The pictures depicting the Sine Family and their businesses were donated to the Society by Arthur Sine.
  • The History of Sedona
    The “History of Sedona” is a collection of historic images presented as a series of sub-collections divided by historical theme or context. Lacking a newspaper before the 1960s and a city government before 1988, these photographs come from private collections of area pioneer families who have generously shared this wealth with the Sedona Historical Society. The images reflect the rich and unique history of Oak Creek Canyon and the greater Sedona area beginning in the 1870s with the arrival of the first permanent Euro-american settler.
  • Jewish Life in Arizona
    This collection presents selections from the archives of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society of over 50,000 photographs depicting aspects of Jewish life in Arizona. Photographs in this collection were donated to the Arizona Jewish Historical Society by a variety of sources, including photography studios, newspapers, local organizations, and private donors.
  • Marshall Trimble On Arizona
    Marshall Trimble is considered the “dean of Arizona historians” and has taught Arizona history at Scottsdale Community College for 40 years. His first book was published in 1977 by Doubleday & Company, New York. Since then he’s written more than twenty books on Arizona and the West. Trimble is one of the state’s most popular speakers and performers. He’s also an educator, lecturer, folk singer and stage performer.
  • Mexican Heritage Project
    This assortment of images was selected to share a broad sampling of the images collected as part of the Mexican Heritage Project. These photographs portray a wide range of subjects, including formal studio portraits of individuals and groups, street scenes, parades, wedding portraits, interiors, ranch scenes, musical groups, workers, theatrical productions, school class photos, and casual family snapshots.
  • Old Age Pension Index
    Searchable index of people who received a Yavapai County Old Age Pension during the period 1933-1937
  • Sonoran Heritage – A Learning Library Program
    The Sonoran Heritage Collection is a series of learning packets, materials and resources, media, and posters released in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the Tucson Public Library. This program was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and was designed to explore the history, culture, and peoples of the Sonoran desert region of Arizona and Mexico. Topics include “Clothes and Costumers,” “Play,” “Power,” “Shelter,” “Family,” “Work,” “Genius,” and “Destiny.”
  • Territorial and Early Statehood Arizona Postcards
    This collection includes postcards which represent Arizona subjects or were posted from Arizona post offices up until the year 1920. They are a visual demonstration of how Arizona has changed since the territorial period and many of the cards show towns, buildings, and ways of life which no longer exist.
  • This Day in Arizona History
    This Day In Arizona History charts some of the memorable moments in our state’s history spanning Arizona’s Territorial Days to the late 20th century. This Memory Project collection shows the breadth of history from the political to the personal, noting the births and deaths of the famous and the infamous, the building of key Arizona landmarks, and the twists and turns of government, the economy, science and technology and society. The impact of Arizona’s growth, the Great Depression, two World Wars and social revolutions in the mid-20th century can be seen throughout the collection. Also included are smaller (but just as telling) moments in history such as local dairy price wars, the trial use of camels in the desert, and Girl Scout cookie sales. The images corresponding to each day’s event come from the more than 750,000 images in the Arizona Historical Society’s photographic collections.
  • Town of Carefree, Arizona
    This collection documents the creation of the town of Carefree, the business lives of its founders (K.T. Palmer and Tom Darlington), its battle for incorporation, and the everyday activities of its residents from inception to the present day.
  • Trading Post Families of Winslow
    This collection offers images of the rugged individuals and families who operated trading posts on the remote tribal lands around Winslow. Starting in the 1880s, over a dozen families with ties to Winslow worked at nearly 30 locations throughout the region and established unique relationships with Navajo and Hopi artists and families.
  • Why Arizona
    Why Arizona? is an online collection of materials describing the history of migration to, from and within Arizona.
  • William P. Jones Collection
    The William P. Jones collection is a small series letters dating from 1860 to 1867. William Jones was born to Porter Jones and Elizabeth Jenkins Pendleton in 1837, and was listed in the Arizona census of 1864. As a young man, Jones traveled first to Virginia, California, then to Aurora, Nevada Territory, and finally to the Hassayampa, Arizona Territory, where he worked in the mining industry. The letters home to his family in the east detail Jones’ travels, work, and day-to-day existence. Jones’ letters to his family end in 1864, and are picked up in 1866 by J.T. Alsap (a member of the Masons with William P. Jones), informing Mr. and Mrs. Porter Jones that their son was killed in a conflict with local Native Americans. Jones passed away at the age of 27, and is buried in plot 56 at the Masonic Cemetery in Prescott.

Arizona Oral and Video Histories

  • Alpine Area Family History Preservation Project
    This collection of oral histories portrays the lives of pioneers and early settlers in the closely-knit communities of Alpine, Blue, Nutrioso, Eagar, Springerville, and Luna, NM in the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s.
  • Capturing Arizona’s Stories
    Capturing Arizona Stories is a collection of oral histories contributed by public libraries across Arizona as part of the Capturing Arizona Stories project which encourages communities to take an active role in collecting their own histories by sharing and recording stories. The oral histories cover a range of topics and provide insights into local communities, their people, and events through the experiences of individuals.
  • Listening to Glendale’s Past
    Listening to Glendale’s Past is a collection of oral and video histories, most with transcripts, of people connected with Glendale in a myriad of ways, reliving life from the early 1900s to the present. These histories are presented in a series of sub-collections divided by the organizations that collected them.
  • Oral Histories of Gila County
    Oral Histories of Gila County is a compilation of interviews, a part of the Arizona Memory Project, to commemorate Arizona’s first 100 years of Statehood. It was made possible by partial funding by an LSTA Grant. The oral historian, Joyce McBride, began interviewing in September 2007, choosing Gila County because it uniquely represents every aspect of Arizona’s culturally diverse history.
  • Oral Histories of Gila County Ranchers
    The Oral Histories of Gila County Ranchers captures 5-7 generations of stories from pioneers and early settlers in Arizona, some arriving shortly after the Civil War. Not only did these families come early, but they also remain in place, or nearby, to this very day. Their stories provide a unique and fluid account of how this segment of Arizona’s culture has adapted to pressures and influences brought about by environmental and political events.
  • Oral Histories of Globe High School, Globe, AZ
    This collection of oral histories is a small sample collected from alumni as a tribute to Globe High School.
  • Oral Histories of Pinetop, Lakeside, McNary and Whiteriver, Arizona
    The Oral Histories of Pinetop-Lakeside, McNary and Whiteriver project captures the cultural history of SE Navajo County from before Arizona’s statehood to the turn of the 21st Century. Each of their achievements helped make Arizona the great state it has become.
  • Oral Histories of the White Mountains
    This audio collection consists of snippets from interviews with residents who lived in and around the White Mountains area. The 1977 interviews were part of a Northland Pioneer College project to document the history of the Northeastern Arizona region. Complete interviews can be obtained from the Show Low Historical Society Museum.
  • Perspectives of the Past – Pima County Oral History Project
    To celebrate Arizona’s centennial, Pima County Public Library interviewed longtime residents to gain perspective on how our area has changed over the last 100 years. These oral histories preserve the stories of Pima County and connect us with our past.
  • San Luis Takes Its Place in Arizona’s History – The Migrant Worker Experience
    This collection of oral histories and photographs provides insight into a part of the history of Yuma County Arizona that has been overlooked. The interviewees are Mexicans and Anglo-Americans who settled in the southern towns of Yuma County, primarily in San Luis. They came to farm the land as Braceros, migrant field workers, and homesteaders and they stayed to play an important role in the history and development of Arizona.
  • Sharlot Hall Museum Audio Collection
    The Sharlot Hall Museum Oral History collection represents a cross-section of a larger collection of interviews, presentations, speeches and radio programs conducted mainly in Prescott, Arizona from 1939 to present.
  • Town of Marana History
    This is a collection of photos and oral histories that represent Marana from the 1930s to the present. The images represent the agricultural significance and community efforts that provided an exceptional quality of life. The oral histories describe cotton farming, the Marana Unified School District, and the 1977 incorporation, among many wonderful stories about growing up and raising a family in Marana
  • Video Histories of Arizona Jewish Residents
    The collection of Video Histories of Arizona Jewish Residents consists of short video interviews of notable Jewish residents in the Greater Phoenix area. Important subjects such as Anti-semitism, family life, business, religion, and the vitality of the Phoenix Jewish community are discussed in the interviews. Subjects share memories which span from Arizona’s admittance to the Union up until the collection’s creation in 2008-2009.
  • The Voices of the Cienega Watershed
    The Voices of the Cienega Watershed is a collection of oral histories and images of the people and places of the Cienega Watershed in southeastern Arizona. This collection showcases the Cienega Watershed, including the viewpoints of the individuals who work, live, or appreciate the special qualities.

Golden Reflections Oral History Project–Memories of Southwest Arkansas

Coordinated through the Area Agency on Aging of Southwest Arkansas, Inc.

  1. Royce Weisenberger — Hope, Arkansas
    Interview conducted by Angela Kay Leslie on November 30, 1997.
  2. John Teeter — Prescott, Arkansas
    Interview conducted by Sarah Huett on October 21, 1997.
  3. Ralph Ross — Magnolia, Arkansas
    Interview conducted by Kevin Solomon on December 9, 1997.
  4. (Jesse) Willis Keith — Sharman/Bussey, Arkansas
    Interview conducted by Cindy Hall on December 8, 1997.
  5. Albert C. Duke — Magnolia, Arkansas
    Interview conducted by Becky Talley on November 15, 1997.

Arizona Immigration and Migration

  • Texas and Arizona Arrivals, 1903-1910
    This collection contains Lists of Aliens Arriving at Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo, Presidio, Rio Grande City and Roma, Texas, May 1903-June 1909, and at Aros Ranch, Douglas, Lochiel, Naco and Nogales, Arizona, July 1906-December 1910 and corresponds with NARA publication A3365. It was filmed at the NARA facility in Washington D.C. The records are arranged in order by the port city then by date and usually contain the date of arrival, full name, age, gender, marital status, occupation, ability to read and write, nationality, race, town and country of last residence, birthplace, and final destination. Other forms might also include a physical description of the person. The states are intermixed.
  • Arizona, Douglas, Arrival Manifests, 1906-1955
    Manifests of permanent and temporary alien arrivals at Douglas, Arizona, September 1906 – October 1955. This collection corresponds to NARA Publication M1760.

Arizona Naturalization Records

Arizona Land Records

Arizona Maps

  • Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
  • Arizona National Forest Maps 1907-1945
    The Arizona State Archives Map Collection contains maps of all current and many former national forests in Arizona. The General Land Law Revision Act of 1891 allowed for setting aside forest reserves which later became the national forests. Presidential proclamations established the first forest reserves in Arizona and New Mexico in 1892. The earliest maps in this collection date back to 1907 with several of the first national forests in the state created by presidential proclamation. The presidential proclamations accompany the 1907-1910 maps.
  • Gila County Maps
    Collection is a gathering of historic maps of Gila County dating back over 100 years. Some of these maps include historic places, names and marking of the Territory of Arizona.
  • Historic Arizona County Road Maps
    This collection of historic Arizona county maps includes maps of each Arizona county, dating from the mid 1880s to 1937. Most of the maps were produced by the County Engineer or County Surveyor and published by the county Board of Supervisors. The 1937 map set covers the entire state and was published by the Arizona State Highway Department.
  • Maricopa County Land Ownership Maps 1903-1929
    This map collection depicts land ownership in Maricopa County for 1903, 1911, 1914, 1917, 1923, 1926 and 1929. Each map sheet depicts one township and range and shows land owners in each square mile section. Note that only land ownership outside the city limits is shown. Individual lots within city limits are not shown.
  • Robert Lenon Map Collection
    The Robert Lenon Map Collection consists of maps from the collection of Patagonia, Arizona-based mining engineer Robert Lenon. The majority of these maps depict ore and mineral mining in the Sonoran desert region of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, spanning the Arizona territorial period of the 1800s up to the 1960s. Additional selections include historical maps of the region, including an 1880 Nogales city block map by Henry Flipper, and maps drawn by Lenon tracing Father Eusebio Kino’s route through Pimeria Alta in the 17th century. This digital collection represents just a small sample of the 9000 maps collected or created by Lenon over the course of his long and varied career.
  • Sharlot Hall Museum Map Collection
    The Sharlot Hall Museum Map Collection consists of approximately 5,000 maps relating to Prescott, Arizona, Yavapai County, and Arizona and the west in general, 1850-present.

Arizona Military Records

  • Arizona Military Records
    • Arizona Forts
      List of colonial forts, trading posts, named camps, redoubts, reservations, general hospitals, national cemeteries, etc., established or erected in Arizona from its earliest settlement to 1902.
    • Arizona Civil War Records
    • Arizona Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers
      Confederate service records of soldiers who served in organizations from Arizona. The records include a jacket-envelope for each soldier, labeled with his name, his rank, and the unit in which he served. The jacket-envelope typically contains card abstracts of entries relating to the soldier as found in original muster rolls, returns, rosters, payrolls, appointment books, hospital registers, Union prison registers and rolls, parole rolls, inspection reports; and the originals of any papers relating solely to the particular soldier.
    • Civil War Pensions Index Cards
      Each card gives the soldier’s name, unit, the application number, the certificate number and the state from which the soldier served. In some cases, the soldier’s rank, terms of service, date of death and place of death are given. The index cards refer to pension applications of veterans who served in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917. The majority of the records pertain to Civil War veterans, but they also include veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, Indian wars, and World War I.
    • World War I Records
    • World War 1 Draft Registration Records
    • World War II Records
    • World War 2 Casualties – Army, Air Force
    • A Celebration of the Human Spirit – Japanese-American Relocation Camps in Arizona
      The Arizona Historical Society houses two collections pertaining to Arizona’s two World War II Japanese Relocation Camps, Gila River and Poston. Wade Head served as director of the Poston camp from 1942-1944, and his collection focuses on the administration and documentation of camp life. Frances & Mary Montgomery were teachers at Butte High School, located at the Gila River camp. The Montgomery collection contains student photographs and correspondence, yearbooks, and educational materials. This exhibition showcases original artwork, documents and photographs that illustrate the dichotomy of these two collections while honoring the spirit and culture of their American subjects.
    • Arizona Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard World War II Casualty List
    • Korean War Casualty List
    • Vietnam War Casualty List
  • Arizona Bushmasters
    From Indian Wars in Arizona territory to the planned land invasion of Japan in WWII, the history, lineage, and exploits of General Douglas MacArthur’s lead element in the Pacific are depicted in photos and documents. General Douglas MacArthur stated about the Bushmasters: “No greater fighting combat team has ever deployed for battle.” Bushmasters photos, documents, artifacts, and memorabilia can be seen at the Arizona Military Museum.
  • Glendale College – Veterans Heritage Project
    This is a collection of veteran interviews done by students at either Glendale Community College one of the other Maricopa Community Colleges. Many of the veterans interviewed are also affiliated with these colleges either as students or staff. In these interviews, veterans tell the story of their service and offer both fascinating and revealing conversations about their time in the military.
  • Sharlot Hall Museum Military Image Collection
    This collection of still images represent military activity in Arizona, specifically Yavapai County and Northern Arizona, 1864-Present. Subjects included in the collection are Ft. Whipple, Camp Verde, Ft. Apache, Ft. Grant, San Carlos, Ft. McDowell, Camp Huachuca, Ft. Bowie, Camp Hualipai, the Rough Riders and general Arizona military history.
  • United States Registers of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914
    Images and index of men who enlisted in the United States Army, 1798-1914. The registers may provide all or part of the following information: name, rank, regiment, company commander, regimental commander, height, weight, color of eyes, hair, complexion, age, occupation, county or state of birth, date and place of enlistment, miscellaneous remarks. Additional records include Indian Scouts, 1878-1914, Philippine Scouts, 1901-1913, Hospital Stewards, 1854-1889 and Record of Prisoners, 1872-1901.
  • United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934
    Images of the name index to pension files held at the National Archives. The files relate to service between 1861 and 1916. Most of the files are for Union Civil War service but also include the War with Spain, Philippine Insurrection, Boxer Rebellion and Regular U.S. military forces. These records are a part of RG 15 Records of the Veterans Administration and are NARA microfilm publication T288. The event date and place represent the earliest filing of either the veteran,widow or minor.
  • United States National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938
    Images and partial index of historical registers of residents (a record of veterans admitted) for twelve regional homes. Pages in the registers were divided into four parts for each veteran: military history, domestic history, home history, general remarks. Content for these sections includes such information as rank, company, regiment, discharge, when admitted to home, birthplace, age, religion, residence, marital status, name and address of nearest relative, pension information, date and cause of death, and place of burial. This collection is part of Record Group 15 Records of the Veterans Administration and is NARA microfilm publication M1749. Home numbers 1-5064 from the home in Bath, New York are not currently available.
  • United States Remarried Widows Index to Pension Applications, 1887-1942
    This collection consists of two card indexes to widows who had applied for a pension renewal. The first covers service between 1812-1860 and is NARA microfilm publication M1784. The second covers service in the Civil War and later and is NARA microfilm publication M1785. Both indexes are part of RG 15 Records of the Veterans Administration. The files are located at the National Archives.
  • United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933
    Index and images of cards used by the Bureau of Pensions and Veterans Administration to record the payment of pensions to veterans,widows and other dependents. The collection is part of RG 15 Records of the Veterans Administration and is NARA microfilm publication M850.

Arizona Native American Records

  • Current Federally Recognized Indian Tribes by State
  • List of Federally Non-Recognized Tribes
  • State Recognized Tribes
  • Apache Indians
  • Maricopa Indians
  • Mohave Indians
  • Papagoes Indians
  • Pima Indians
  • Yuma Indians
  • Basketry from the Pueblo Grande Museum
    The baskets in this online collection date from the late 19th century to the present. The baskets in the Museum’s collection come from private donations by collectors, from the basket weavers themselves, and from occasional purchases by their non-profit support group, the Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary.
  • Cochise County Historical & Archaeological Collection
    History and culture of Southeastern Arizona from early archaeological digs to modern times are represented by images, documents and a video from the Cochise College Libraries.
  • Cochise County Rock Art
    This collection presents a brief introduction to the rock art of Cochise County, Arizona. A wide diversity of prehistoric and historic rock art is found in the county including petroglyphs and pictographs. Petroglyphs are carved rock designs and pictographs are painted rock designs. Five different cultures are represented in the collection images; Apache, Hohokam, Mimbres and Mogollon.
  • Colorado Plateau Digital Archives Selections
    The topics represented in this selection from Northern Arizona University Cline Library include: Colorado River running, surveying, and exploration; Grand Canyon hiking and tourism; railroad and timber; landscape photography of Northern Arizona; and Native American communities on the Colorado Plateau. Formats include photographs, textual materials, maps, oral histories, and moving images.
  • Curtis the Collector – Native American Baskets, Pottery and Miscellany
    Edward Curtis toured North America, photographing the American Indian, for some thirty years from 1895-1925. During that time, Curtis collected baskets, pots and other items. The Arizona Capitol Museum believes these objects are too impressive to remain hidden in storage any longer. These digital images allow everyone to enjoy the artistry that Curtis photographed and collected.
  • Day Family Collection
    The Day Family collection at the Museum of Northern Arizona is made up of images of the Day Family and their activities as traders and agents on the Navajo Reservation. This collection includes portraits and snapshots of Sam Day, Sr., his wife Anna, and their children Sam Day, Jr. and Charlie Day. Most images were taken between 1890 and 1920.
  • Day Family Records
    The Day Family were Anglo traders, on the Navajo Reservation in eastern Arizona. The collection includes the personal and business papers of Sam Day, Sr. (1845-1925) surveyor, Indian trader, legislator and United States Indian Commissioner; Anna Day, Sam Sr.’s wife (1872-1932); and of their children, Charles L. Day (1879-1918), Samuel Day, Jr. (1889-1944), United States deputy Marshall. The collection contains archaeological reports, Navajo land boundary maps and notes, business records, as well as several documents pertaining to Navajo culture, including a copy of the treaty between the U.S. Government and the Navajo nation. The Day Family Records are particularly rich in chronicling early Anglo and Navajo relations.
  • Early Southwest Archaeology at Point of Pines
    From 1946 to 1960, in the remote pine country of east-central Arizona, the University of Arizona’s Department of Anthropology, under the direction of Dr. Emil W. Haury, operated one of the first archaeological field schools in the nation where hundreds of students were trained in archaeological field work. The school was called the Point of Pines Field School because it was situated and surrounded by significant Mogollon pueblo ruins, the largest being Point of Pines Pueblo. This collection of 39 images from the Arizona State Museum’s Photograph Collection documents the daily life of the camp and the early archaeological processes used in their site excavations. Most of the photos presented here were taken during the 1946-1956 period.
  • Father Augustine Schwarz Photograph Collection
    This collection reconstructs the thirty years of Father Augustine’s service to his Church through his photographs. It contains 163 photographs taken between 1916 and 1940 documenting Franciscan chapels, missions and religious activities at numerous American Indian villages in Arizona. The majority of the images fall into three groups: the Pima people of Central Arizona; the Tohono O’odham of the south, and the Apache in the Whiteriver area of northern Arizona. St. John’s Mission in the village of Komatke, some 14 miles southwest of Phoenix, received the most extensive photographic coverage.
  • Geronimo! Revered and Reviled (The Man Behind the Legend)
    The Geronimo! Revered and Reviled collection of photographs is based on the Charles B. Gatewood and Camillus Sidney (C.S.) Fly collections at Arizona Historical Society Library and Archives, Southern Division. Included are views of Geronimo, Chief Naiche, Gen. George Crook, Santiago McKinn, Indian scouts, and Apache men, women, and children. The C.S. Fly photographs taken at Cañon de los Embudos during the peace conference of March, 1886 represent the only known photographs documenting the meeting. Additionally, there is a copy of Geronimo’s signature and drawings of Fort Lowell, Fort Grant, and Fort Bowie in Arizona Territory.
  • The Hohokam of Pueblo Grande
    Pueblo Grande was a major Hohokam village on the north bank of the Salt River in what is now Phoenix, Arizona. Pueblo Grande was occupied for 1000 years, from about AD 500 – 1450. In addition to dwellings, it contained public architecture, such as the platform mound, a stone reinforced adobe structure the size of a football field, and a multi-storey adobe “big house” like the one at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.
  • Hopi Artists and the Museum of Northern Arizona
    This collection consists of images/portraits of Hopi Artists (with their arts and crafts) who contributed works to the Museum of Northern Arizona’s yearly Hopi festival from 1956-1965. This sampling of images represents only a small portion of the vast original images that exist in the Museum’s vault.
  • Images from the Edward Curtis Collection at the Arizona Capitol Museum
    “The North American Indian,” is Edward Curtis’s grand attempt to represent the various cultures of the American Indians. The twenty volume set, with the twenty accompanying portfolios, contains over 1,500 photographic plates and vast descriptions of American Indian culture. These are the three volumes of “The North American Indian” which include most of the work Curtis did pertaining to the American Indians of Arizona.
  • Images of Tohono O’odham Polychrome Pottery Making Study
    On June 2nd through 6th, 1980, Helga Teiwes visited Hickiwan Village, Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation, Arizona. It was there that she documented Rupert Angea creating several polychrome pots. The process was documented from the gathering of supplies for the actual pot to the gathering of the materials for the creation of the paint. The polychrome pots that were created were donated to the Arizona State Museum.
  • Indigenous Peoples Near Winslow
    This collection offers images, some over 100 years old, of Native American life in and around Winslow, a border town to Hopi and Navajo tribal lands. Members of both nations have migrated between their lands and Winslow for trade, employment, education, public services, and entertainment. Winslow is also a second home to many Laguna families, whose men were employed by the Santa Fe Railway in exchange for the right to cross their Pueblo lands in New Mexico.
  • Left for Interpretation – Petroglyphs & Artifacts
    The Hedgpeth Hills face east, towards the rising sun. At one time, the hills were next to a flowing creek that supported communities of people, plants and animals. Archaic, Hohokam, and Patayan peoples passed through the area and left their mark by pecking over 1,500 symbols into the basalt boulders. We do not know the reason they left the petroglyphs, or what story the markings tell. However, we do know that each generation plays a role in changing the land by communicating their traditions. Today, the Deer Valley Rock Art Center protects the Hedgpeth Hills petroglyph site and offers an opportunity for interpretation and appreciation of cultural expressions.
  • Maricopa Pottery (Connell Collection)
    The Connell Collection of Historic Maricopa Pottery consists of pots that were collected by Eliza Ann Connell and her daughter, Caroline, between 1895 and 1907, in Phoenix. According to documents on file at both Pueblo Grande Museum and the Arizona State Museum, Burridge D. Butler purchased the collection from Caroline Connell Smurthwaite for $500, at the urging of Emil Haury, on behalf of the Arizona State Museum in Tucson. The collection was given to the ASM, where it was cataloged, and, at the request of the donor, 173 pieces were transferred to Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix. The stated intent of the donor was to have at least part of the collection close to where Maricopa people currently reside. The Connell Collection forms the core of Pueblo Grande’s Maricopa pottery collection. Contributed by Pueblo Grande Museum.
  • Medallion Papers
    The Medallion Papers is a series of 39 publications issued between 1928-1950 by the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation. Gila Pueblo, as it later became known, was one of the earliest Arizona institutions doing archaeological surveying and research in the Southwest.
  • Photographs of the Maricopa People by Daniel Boone Linderman
    As a missionary, teacher, and photographer, Daniel Boone Linderman documented the Pima and Maricopa during the early 20th century. His photographs center on Native American ethnography, particularly showcasing mission schools, group portraits of families and their homes, and farming.
  • Select Photos from Arizona Native Basketry Traditions
    On April 12, 1973, Helga Teiwes visited the Gila River Indian Reservation, near Bapchule, Arizona, to document Julia Francisco’s basket making processes. She photographed the gathering, cleaning, drying, and stripping of basket making supplies, such as willow, devil’s claw, and martynia, as well as the creation of a woven basket depicting a squash blossom design. Helga later returned on August 17, 1973 to observe the Cattail Harvest at Stanfield Ditch, where she documented Julia Francisco cutting and collecting cattail, a plant commonly used in her basket making.
  • Selections of Photographs from Helga Teiwes’ Hopi Basket Weaving Project
    Prompted by her interest in Hopi arts and crafts, Helga Teiwes, photographer for the Arizona State Museum, documented Hopi basket weavers over the course of three years in the early 1990’s. She captured the three styles of basketry woven at Hopi: the wicker basketry of Third Mesa, the coiled basketry of Second Mesa and plaited basketry from all of the Mesas. In addition she documented the women who created these works of art and photographed the materials including sivaapi (rabbitbrush), siwi (dune broom) suuvi (sumac) and mooho (yucca). Her photographs illustrate how the materials were gathered and prepared and show the weaving techniques used. This collection of photographs is a representative sample of Ms. Teiwes’s work.
  • Selections of Rosamond Spicer’s Tohono O’odham Photographs
    Rosamond Spicer (1913-1999) received a bachelor’s degree in archaeology from Northwestern University in 1934 and a Master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1938. She lived on the Tohono O’odham Reservation, previously known as the Papago Reservation, from October, 1942, to July, 1943. The photos were taken as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the University of Chicago Committee on Human Development Indian Education and Research Project. The majority of the photos were taken by Rosamond in Topawa, Arizona, where Rosamond lived in the Feast House with her young son Barry. The photos are a mix of representations of everyday life on the reservation and special events such as Rodeo and religious processions. Descriptions of the photos come from an index typed up by Rosamond Spicer in 1994, information she wrote on the back of prints, and from Tohono O’odham members.
  • Tohono O’odham Collection 1970-1980, Helga Teiwes Photographer
    This exhibit is composed of 109 photographs of the Tohono O’odham people taken by Arizona State Museum photographer Helga Teiwes during the years 1970 – 1980. The exhibit is arranged into eleven themes and covers arts and crafts, traditional practices, customs, and way of life.
  • Walter Runke Collection 1901-1903
    This collection contains images taken by Walter Runke at the short-lived Blue Canyon School when he was there from 1901-1903. Images are of the physical buildings, students, school employees (Runke, Nettie Morris, Laura Williams, others), school activities, Blue Canyon, Navajo and Hopi people, Hopi villages, and Navajo textiles.
  • Watercolor Paintings of Maricopa Pottery from the Arizona State Museum
    These 102 watercolor paintings depict Maricopa pottery from the Arizona State Museum’s Smurthwaite Collection. The watercolor paintings were completed by unknown artists employed by the Works Progress Administration in 1939. The watercolors are on lightweight matboard.

Arizona Newspapers

Arizona Obituaries

Arizona Periodicals

  • The Saline 1986-2012
    The Saline: the quarterly publication of the Saline County History and Heritage Society. The Saline began publishing in 1986 and continued through 2012. It contained family records, public record transcriptions, and other information of interest to those interested in Saline County history and genealogy. This page provides a list of available online issues as well as indices for the entire series.

Arizona Vital Records

Arizona Birth Records

Arizona Genealogy Birth Certificates, 1855-1942
Arizona is now providing access to digital images in the form of pdf files for any public record birth. The covered years are birth records from 1855-1942.

Arizona, Births and Christenings, 1909-1917
Name index to birth, baptism and christening records from the state of Arizona. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.

Arizona Death Records

Arizona Funeral Home Records
This page links to known Arizona Funeral Records whether they be available online or offline. Funeral records are an invaluable source of genealogical information that can provide insight into the lives and deaths of our ancestors. They offer a wealth of details on the deceased and their family, including their names, ages, dates of death, causes of death, and other key information. While funeral records can be found in a variety of places, genealogists must be careful when interpreting the information they contain, paying close attention to accuracy and cultural context. By using funeral records in their research, genealogists can gain a deeper understanding of their ancestors and build a more complete picture of their family history.

Arizona Genealogy Death Certificates, 1870-1967
Arizona is now providing access to digital images in the form of pdf files for any public record death. The covered years are death records of 1870-1967.

Arizona Deaths, 1870-1951
Another source for digital certificates of Arizona deaths. Digital copies of originals housed at the Arizona Department of Library, Archives and Public Records, Phoenix, Arizona.

Arizona Deaths and Burials, 1910-1911; 1933-1994
Name index to death and burial records from the state of Arizona. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. This set contains 10,168 records.

United States Social Security Death Index 1962-2014
Name index to deaths recorded by the Social Security Administration beginning in 1962. Current as of February 28, 2014.

U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, ($).
This database picks up where the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) leaves off by providing more details than those included in the SSDI. It includes information filed with the Social Security Administration through the application or claims process, including valuable details such as birth date, birth place, and parents’ names. While you will not find everybody who is listed in the SSDI in this database, data has been extracted for more than 49 million people.

Yavapai County Arizona Death Records

City of Prescott Death Records 1899-1906
The “Health Department of the City of Prescott, Arizona Records of Deaths” Index is death records kept by the City of Prescott from 1899 – 1906. Besides the name of the deceased, this City of Prescott Death Index may provide additional information, such as. age, color, sex, nativity, occupation, married/single, cause of death, place of death, date of death and remarks.

Arizona Marriage Records

  • Arizona Marriages, 1865-1949
    This is an electronic index of marriages for the years 1865-1949. This index is not complete for any particular place, region or time period. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index.
  • Arizona, County Marriages, 1871-1964
    Images of county marriage records acquired from county courthouses. This collection does not include Coconino, Navajo and Yuma counties.
  • Western States Marriage Index
    Over the past decade, the BYU-Idaho (formerly known as Ricks College) Family History Center has been extracting early marriage records from counties in the western part of the United States. Virtually all of the pre-1900 marriages are included in the index for Arizona, Idaho and Nevada. Many Idaho, Nevada and Utah counties have been extracted into the 1930’s and some, much later. A significant number of marriages from Wyoming, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, western Colorado and selected counties in California are also included. For more details, see “List of Counties by State”.
  • Arizona Marriage Collection, 1864-1982 ($)
    This database contains information on individuals who were married in Arizona between 1864 and 1982. It is comprised of information compiled by the following two agencies: Upper Snake River Family History Center and Ricks College – The records compiled by this group include marriages from select counties of Arizona between 1864 and 1982. Not all counties are included and within the counties that are included not all years may be covered. These records were extracted from marriage books located at county courthouses. No images are available for these records. State of Arizona- These records are an index to marriages from Maricopa County (Phoenix area) and cover the years 1969-1978 (includes images of the index pages).

Arizona Yearbooks

  • Early Publications of Yavapai College
    This collection captures what it was like to be a student at Yavapai College when it was a small, rural community college in the late 1960’s – early 1980’s. It includes the first published College Catalog, class schedule, and Student Handbook (be sure to read the sections on the dress code and standards for women students). Also included are yearbooks and publications written by journalism students, which highlight college departments and campus activities during the early years.
  • Glendale Community College Yearbooks
  • Thunderbird School of Global Management
    • Thunderbird School of Global Management – Alumni Magazine Archive
      The alumni magazine archive is a collection of the school’s main publication, originally known as The Thunderbird, and later, Thunderbird Magazine. Each issue of the magazine highlights the school’s activities, targeting alumni but also featuring articles and photos of Thunderbird students, staff, faculty, and friends.
    • Thunderbird School of Global Management – Historical Collections
      This collection depicts the story of Thunderbird Field I, a vital World War II air training base at which more than 10,000 pilots learned to fly. The collection then shows the early years of the school, known as American Institute for Foreign Trade. Thanks to the vision of retired Lt. General Barton Kyle Yount and his colleagues, the postwar property was transformed into a school that would become the world’s leading international school of management.
    • Yearbooks 1903-1996
      The Thunderbird Yearbook Collection chronicles the history of the School. Each yearbook is a snapshot of life at Thunderbird with photos of students, administration, faculty and staff as well as campus scenery. The Yearbook Collection represents graduating classes from 1947-1998. The collection begins with the first yearbook published in 1951, as a tribute to the first five years of the American Institute for Foreign Trade and encompasses the first five graduating classes. The last yearbook published was in 1998. Yearbooks are continually being digitized and added to the collection on a monthly basis.
  • Tucson High School Memories 1906-1939
    The Tucsonian annuals, 1906-1939, are important to Tucson’s history because THS was the city’s only high school for 50 years (1906-1956). The vast majority of schools in the Tucson Unified School District are named for Tucson High faculty and graduates from this era. The yearbooks provide insight into the community’s cultural heritage.