U.S. Yearbooks, 1890-1979

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U.S. Yearbooks, 1890-1979

U.S. Yearbooks, 1890-1979

31,318,659 pages in 253,429 yearbooks

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This is one of the largest collections of digitized US yearbooks in existence, providing unprecedented genealogical coverage of individuals who went to high schools in the United States throughout a period of 90 years. Yearbooks are excellent genealogical records that include personal portraits and group photographs. These books can give a researcher insight into students, faculty, and staff who attended or worked at a school. The yearbooks in this huge compendium are primarily from high schools, which in the United States normally comprise grades 9 to 12 or 10 to 12. Seniors, who generally graduated the 12th grade at the age of 17 or 18, are traditionally given special treatment in these yearbooks and are most likely to have an individual portrait that was taken by a local professional photographer – often in a studio setting. Seniors can have additional information, not provided for the lower-grade members, such as their affiliation in school clubs, sports, and other activities and sometimes short biographical statements or anecdotes about or by the student. When searching a large yearbook collection like this one a thorough researcher should try to find each year in which the subject person is present and pay special attention to find them as a senior if possible. The treatment given to juniors, sophomores, and freshmen—grades 11, 10, and 9 respectively—vary in the size and quality of individual portraits and until the mid-to-late 1940s it is common to only find larger group photographs of these lower classes, most often taken on the front steps of the school. In general, yearbooks published in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are more likely to have individual portraits for each student regardless of his or her grade level. This collection also includes a significant number of yearbooks from middle schools and junior high schools as well as some elementary schools. Additionally, schools which provided comprehensive grade levels from kindergarten up through the 12th grade are included and their yearbooks can provide photographs and information on all students attending. Some college and university yearbooks are also included. Yearbooks also provide evidence of residence in the town, city, or county where the school was located. Knowing where a person attended school is an important clue in finding other records about themselves and their families. An important exception to this notion of a student’s permanent residence exists for yearbooks from boarding schools where students often came from other locations, even far away states, to live at the school during the academic term. In these yearbooks from boarding schools the city and state where the student normally resides is regularly included.

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Sample record

Jimmy StewartMercersburg Academy, Mercersburg PA, 1928

James Maitland Stewart (1908 - 1997) was an American actor and military officer who is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. He is shown here as a senior at Mercersburg Academy, a preparatory boarding school, in 1928.