Local History & Genealogy

Local History Overview

Yonkers Public Library (YPL) is always committed to honoring the people’s history of Yonkers and the greater Westchester area. 

Our local history room at the Riverfront Library is a trove of materials: photographs, posters, yearbooks, postcards, reference books, and thousands of other objects that attest to the rich history of our many communities. The Will Library houses a creative studio space with a full suite of equipment, software, and other resources, as well as the Yonkers History Society records. 

We’re actively adding to our library archives of images and video and sound recordings, including interviews with Yonkers residents. 

We can also assist you with researching the history of your family and your ancestors through our genealogical services.

 

Online Resources

Ancestry Library Edition

Ancestry Library Edition logo

Access thousands of genealogical databases including Census and Vital Records, birth, marriage and death notices, Social Security Death Index, naturalizations, Military and Holocaust Records, City Directories, and African American and more.

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Family Search

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Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources. The Yonkers Riverfront Library is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library and offers onsite access to digitized records not available offsite.
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Gale OneFile: World History

Gale OneFile: World History

Gale OneFile: World History contains balanced coverage of events in world history and scholarly work being established in the field.

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HeritageQuest Online

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HeritageQuest Online is a comprehensive treasure —rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more. Discover the amazing history of you with HeritageQuest Online.

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Historical NY Times & NYT Full Text (1851-2019)

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The Historical NY Times includes all the articles published since the first issue of the paper in 1851. Provides full text and full image articles with digital reproductions of every page, every article and every issue in PDF format.

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Journal News in Microfilm

Journal News in Microfilm - Proquest

Full-image newspaper content from the Journal News from 2010 till present.

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Yonkers News Archive - Onsite Edition

yonkers news archive

Access to the Yonkers Herald Statesman (1932-1998), Yonkers Statesman (1863-1932), Yonkers Herald (1891-1932), Yonkers Examiner (1857-1863), Yonkers Gazette (1868-1893) & Yonkers Daily Record (1883).

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Yonkers News Archive - Open Access

yonkers news archive

Explore digitized Yonkers newspapers from any Internet connected device. Yonkers News Archive is the result of a partnership between YPL and Newspapers.com.

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Yonkers Public Library Archive

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An archive of historical pictures of Yonkers Public Library and the city of Yonkers.

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