Directories of all sorts, sizes, and subjects can be extraordinarily useful research tools for genealogists. Typically, directories are organized listings, usually of a particular group of people, but may also be of organizations, places, and other subjects which provide some specific, identifying information or data.

Often a researcher may be tempted to think that the only directories available or useful for genealogical research are city directories. City directories, though, are only one of several types of directories family historians can use to enhance the pools of data from which type prove their ancestral liens. Others include those that are geographically oriented, directories of institutions and organizations, professional or occupational directories, directories oriented by hobby or other common interests, and directories of directories.

As a category of research materials, directories can provide some of the best leads for discovering new sources of genealogical data. Besides helping the researcher to find specific, identifying information about a potential ancestor, directories are useful in placing a potential ancestor or relative within a geographic and historic context. They can be used as a census complement when wrestling with an un-indexed municipality or as a census substitute for locations and time periods when state or federal census schedules are not available. Directories can also be useful in assisting with the establishment of migration and settlement patterns. And they are certainly most useful in locating other records and crating new source possibilities. To better understand the use of directories, it is helpful to take a closer look at the various types.

Geographically based directories can be neighborhood, city or town, county, or regional directories as well as telephone books. These are the types of directories that come to mind first when we hear the term mentioned. They may be found as separate publications or as part of city, town, county, and regional histories. Geographically based directories may also have consequential histories had historical recountings, as well as rosters and lists as a part of their texts. The rather long titles of many older geographically based directories tempt the observant researcher to explore them for more than just lists of names.

Once such directory is entitled West Tennessee Combination Directory; Containing the Histories and Directories of Jackson, Brownsville and Trenton, the Representative Business Towns of West Tennessee; together with Historical Sketches of Milan, Denmark, and Spring Creek (Louisville, Kentucky: Circulating Directory Company, 1872). After the prefatory matter, this publication contains a brief history of Tennessee, along with a recounting of the labor and resources of the South, a short dictionary of commercial law, a postal code, tax schedule, and a short history of Tennessee railroads, before beginning a relatively lengthy history of Haywood County. Following that, one finds actual directory pages—those of Brownsville for 1872-73. This same format is followed for the other town directories in this combination directory.

Many geographically oriented directories make use of a significant number of abbreviations throughout their listings. Researchers should always consult the key of abbreviations, usually found either in the front of the publication or immediately preceding the surnames beginning with the letter "A," to make sure the complete citation for an individual is understood. Often, if ethnicity is indicated, it will be indicated in an abbreviated form. In the directory cited above, African Americans are listed as "col'd."

While there is never enough time to fully use all geographically based directories, when one is on the trail of an elusive ancestor, it is prudent to take time to look through the entire directory in hand, not just the alphabetical lists of names. If a researcher depended solely on the alphabetical lists in the West Tennessee Combination Directory, the existence of the Baptist Female Seminary and the Memphis Conference's Female Institute would be completely missed. Those two institutions are not only mentioned in the historical section of the directory; each also has a full-page advertisement.

Advertisements in older directories can greatly enhance our knowledge of the times in which our ancestors lived and can create new possibilities for seeking additional records and sources of data. In the same West Tennessee Combination Directory one can find an advertisement for the Mississippi and Tennessee Railroad which states, "2 Daily Trains leave Memphis for New Orleans, Vicksburg, Mobile, Jackson, Miss., Canton, Shreveport, Monroe, LA and All Points South, Southeast and Southwest." If you had located a family in Memphis in the 1860s and 1870s and then lost track of some of its members, knowing about this rail line and its destination cities would provide you with some locations in which to begin searching.

W.B. Donoho and H.D. Bulkley also placed an advertisement in this directory. They advertised their office, which specialized in southern real estate and immigration. While perhaps not the most attractive ad, they provided five full paragraphs to encourage the reader to make use of their services. "Plantations and unimproved lands colonized with immigrant laborers and their families," "Devotion to the important interests of southern lands and emigration," and "Negotiators of manufacturing, mining and timber enterprises" should all inform the alert researcher of the opportunities in west Tennessee for migration and settlement, and provide a basis for more intelligently looking for records containing personal identifying information.

A number of geographically organized directories are further oriented by ethnicity. One such example is the Dallas, Texas Negro City Directory 1947-1948 (Dallas, Texas: 1948). Ethnic directories tend to provide one with considerably more data than general geographic ones. In this work, everyone in the household is listed. Surnames of those living in the household are indicated parenthetically. The relationship to the head of the household is often listed, as well as a number of middle names. Indeed, this work looks more like a census record than a standard directory.

As with many directories, the advertisements are loaded with useful data for building a context in which to put one's ancestor. In this work we find a full-page ad for Paul Quinn College, indicating it is Texas' "Oldest Negro Institution of Higher Learning Established 1872," along with ads for many minority-owned businesses.

Institutional and organizational directories include school yearbooks, alumni directories, some special club directories, church yearbooks, and the like. Nearly as long as there have been seminaries, colleges, universities, boarding schools, and clubs, there have been directories of their members. Most researchers are familiar with contemporary school yearbooks. Both contemporary and older yearbooks typically provide class or rank listings. Attention should be given to graduating classes and special clubs for the possibility of additional data.

Some smaller school directories that have been used as autograph books can also provide some unexpected tidbits of data. The Year Book of the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Thirty, Miss Barrington's Froebel Kindergarten Primary Teachers Training School (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The School, 1930) in the Allen County Public Library's collection (Fort Wayne, Indiana) is one such example. Photographs of the teachers along with statements of caring begin this publication. There are individual photographs of all students with their signatures, as well as some group photos. One should remember, though, that school yearbooks are but a small portion of institutional and organizational directories.

Many locales around the country had numerous special clubs and organizations in the early to middle parts of this century. Examples of these clubs include women's reading clubs, fortnightly clubs, garden clubs, library book clubs, Shakespeare clubs, Altrusa clubs, and sports-related organizations. These clubs often published directories of members, which also included a list of their activities and engagements.

Professional and occupational directories are yet another type of directory and can include physicians' directories, lists of lawyers, and clerical directories, to name just a few. These directories are often further organized by geographic location. An example of such a directory is the Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly (Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Tennessee Historical Commission, 1975079. Volume 1: 1796-1861; Volume 2: 1861-1901). Besides well-written, fact-laden biographical sketches, the researcher will find sources cited for each sketch. Usually two sources are provided for data in the biographies, with some individuals having up to 10 sources listed after their sketches. This is another fine example of how the use of directories assists one in locating potential sources of new information.

Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1975-76: A Reference Book of the Clergy of the Provinces of Canterbury and York and of Other Anglican Provinces and Dioceses (London: Oxford University Press, 1976) is an interesting example of a contemporary occupational directory. Each person listed in the directory is followed by an assortment of facts relating to education and religious service, and finally place of residence. Like many directories, having the key to the abbreviations close at hand will serve the researcher well.

Similar to occupational directories are common interest or hobby-related directories. These directories can include social registers and membership directories. Some of these directories may actually be titled as biographical directories or guides, and may be further arranged by geographic area.

The Graduates Club 1909 list of members (New Haven, Connecticut: The club 1909) is an example of a specialized, common-interest directory. The Club, located in New Haven, Connecticut, admitted only members who received a degree from a university or college approved by its board of governors. Other entrance requirements are spelled out in the prefatory matter of the directory, all of which can be used by the skillful researcher to glean additional information about the members listed in the publication. The main text contains a list of members, giving not only residence information, but also the names of the individuals' colleges and years of graduation.

A final category of directories might be called "directories of directories." While most of these directories could fit rather comfortably into one of the other categories mentioned above, their importance begs that they receive some special treatment. The distinguishing mark of these publications is that they provide great assistance to the genealogical researcher in identifying other directories and data sources. The three most useful of these directories are the American Library Directory, 1995-96 (New Providence, New Jersey: R. R. Bowker, 1995), the Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada (Nashville, Tennessee: American Association for State and Local History, 1990), and the Encyclopedia of Associations (Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1996).

The American Library Directory provides one with a state-by-state listing of libraries. The publishers strive for comprehensiveness, and the citations for each library attempt to indicate that institution's unique holdings. The genealogical researcher should be particularly aware of what is listed under "subject interests" and "special collections" for libraries in their research areas. One may not automatically think of the Rusk County Library in Henderson, Texas as a genealogical gold mine. If one is researching in Rusk County, however, it is an institution that cannot be overlooked, as "Rusk County genealogy & history" is listed as the library's subject interest, and "Texas Heritage Resource Center" is listed under special collections. The Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada does much the same thing for historical societies. Mother lodes of information can be uncovered in some of the most unlikely places with the use of these directories.

The Encyclopedia of Associations is a publication which can be effectively used to identify unique libraries, resources, and publications. It is a useful exercise to cross-reference each of one's ancestors' occupations or hobbies in the Encyclopedia of Associations. What one may uncover could lead to some valuable information sources. If one had an ancestor who worked with the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, the bridge Line Historical Society is worth knowing about, as it has a library, online databases, and a monthly bulletin. The Society of California Pioneers, founded in 1850, is listed in this publication as having a library with 15,000 holdings and a newsletter. The Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers actually lists a directory among its several publications. Locating an association which may have covered an ancestor's work, hobby, or other activities opens the door for the possibility of locating other, more specific directories and historical data. It may take a bit of time, but it is time well spent.

And where can you begin to find all these useful directories? Immediately upon identifying a potential ancestor in a new geographic location, an excellent research strategy to employ is to identify and obtain information on the major public libraries in that city and county, along with the historical societies, and obtain data about that region's state library. The American Library Directory as well as the Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada mentioned above are both great places to start gathering that data. Most public libraries have as one of their basic missions collecting all the published materials for the particular areas they serve. This would certainly include city and other directories. The American Library Directory may also point you to large regional or special research libraries which may have significant collections of directories for larger geographic areas. Historical societies often end up being the repositories for the very special, unique, or few-of-a-kind publications for the areas they serve. And state libraries also attempt to collect all the published materials for the states in which they reside. For states that do not have a state library (Minnesota, for example), the state historical society often fills the traditional state library role.

Many libraries have access to an online, end-user product called FirstSearch. This product is actually a collection of many databases. The one database genealogists should be most interested in is the WorldCat database. In many respects, it is a worldwide catalog to several thousand library collections. It is not only a great way to locate various types of directories, it is also a super tool for finding other useful historical and genealogical publications. The Internet and the various search engines available on it can also lead one to both other print directories and a growing number of online directories. Searching for birth parents and birth children as well as lost relatives, army buddies, and college classmates will become easier as more contemporary directories are made available on the Internet. @USA: A Directory of City Directories is one of a growing number of well-known sites on the Internet for a listing of directories.

There are a number of print sources that can aid you in finding older directories. Major reference works such as Ancestry's The Source should be consulted. Other specialized bibliographies such as the Greenwood Press reprint of Dorothea N. Spear's Bibliography of American Directories Through 1860 (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1978) should also be sought out in one's research process. Making full use of the widest range of directories will certainly be of great assistance in determining who went where and did what in one's ancestry!