The Newberry has an new exhibit on Puerto Rican history curated by students from Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School. To accompany the exhibit, we compiled a pathfinder of Puerto Rican genealogy resources available at the Newberry:
CENSUS
Puerto Rico is included in the U.S. censuses of 1910, 1920 and 1930. These are available in The Newberry through Ancestry.com. Fully indexed by name, or browsable by municipality and barrio.
CHICAGO RESOURCES
Cruz, Wilfredo. Puerto Rican Chicago. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2004.
Call No. On Order.
Padilla, Felix. Puerto Rican Chicago. Notre Dame, Ind.: Notre Dame Press, 1987. Call No. F548.9.P85 P33 1987
DEMOGRAPHIC OFFICES
In Puerto Rico, municipal demographic offices keep vital records. Ask at the 2nd floor reference desk for the set of instructions for contacting a demographic office. There is also a list of offices and contact information on the website of the Puerto Rican Hispanic Genealogy Society.
DIRECTORY
Official Commercial Directory of Cuba, Porto Rico and the entire West Indies….(New York, 1901.)
Call No: H 7097 .64 1901
FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY MICROFILM
The Newberry Library allows researchers to borrow microfilm from the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City. The FHL has collected microfilms of many original records from Puerto Rico, especially Catholic church records. To find out what the FHL holds, researchers can search their catalog on the Internet.
By selecting a “place” search for a particular town or municipality, researchers can see what the FHL holds for that locality. Borrowing microfilm costs $5.50 per reel; orders usually arrive two weeks after the order is placed. For questions about the microfilm loan process, visit the 2nd floor genealogy reference desk, or call 312-255-3512.
GUIDEBOOKS
Byers, Paula K. Hispanic American Genealogical Sourcebook. New York: Gale Research, 1995.
Call No. Local History Ref E184.S75 H563 1995. (2nd floor open shelf)
Ryskamp, George R. Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage. Riverside, CA: Hispanic Family History Research, 1984. Call No. Local History Ref CS16 .R97 (2nd floor open shelf)
Family History Library, Latin America Research Outline (Web site). This document is available at www.familysearch.org in the “Research Helps” section.
ONLINE FORUMS AND MAILING LISTS
GenForum Puerto Rican Genealogy Forum.
Rootsweb Puerto Rican Genealogy ListServ.
SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX
The Social Security Index records death information about individuals in the Social Security System, primarily covering the period from 1965 to the present. It includes residents of Puerto Rico. Freely available online.
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