What Makes Us Different?
Our collection includes but is not limited to:
- The PULLMAN COLLECTION of employee records
- Cemetery Master Index of 93 area cemeteries, containing over 62,500 names
- Chicago City Directories* 1871-1917, 1923, 1928-1929
- Oak Forest Hospital Cemetery records 1910-1971
- Blue Island Sun Obituaries Index 1919-1969
- Calumet City Naturalization records 1906-1954
- Calumet City Burial Permit records c. 1925-1941
- Records of several local funeral homes*
- Acme Steel Newsletters 1926-32, 1935-50, 1954-61
- Hammond City Directories* 1943-1974
- 600+ family histories*
- Selected funeral homes’ records
- County Histories and Atlases*
- Church histories and records*
- High School yearbooks*
- Regional telephone directories*
- Local area information files
- Microform and CD materials*
* see our online catalog
Library visitors have access to:
FamilySearch — SSGHS is a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, providing access to millions of records including additional digital records and images not available outside a FamilySearch Family History Center or an Affiliate Library. When you are inside the SSGHS Library using your own computer, you will be able to access the “locked” records at FamilySearch.org. You will be prompted to sign up for a FREE account through FamilySearch.org, or to sign in to your own existing FamilySearch account and then you can access the records. The service is available during normal library hours.
Ancestry Library Edition — When you are inside the SSGHS Library, you may access Ancestry Library Edition using your own computer. Distributed exclusively by ProQuest and powered by Ancestry.com, Ancestry Library Edition delivers census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more. Content is from North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and more. This resource is provided through the generosity of one of our members.
Our helpful Library Volunteers are genealogists themselves, and are happy to assist you.
2022-2023 Membership Year
Our 2022-2023 Membership Year runs from September 2022 to August 2023. Click here to join, or to renew your current membership. (You may print, complete and mail a membership form along with your check, or you may join or renew online by using PayPal.)
Upcoming Programs
See our calendar for programs, Special Interest Groups, and other activities. COVID note: Wearing masks is optional.
The SSGHS Library is a non-profit 501(c)3, non-circulating reference and research library that is open to the public. The Library contains more than 14,000 books and items for the United States as well as many other countries. Our card catalog is online (see top of page).
Where The Trails Cross
Where The Trails Cross, The Journal of the South Suburban Genealogical & Historical Society, is published twice a year.
Volume 52:1 (Fall/Winter 2021) and 52:2 (Spring/Summer 2022)
These issues of the journal of SSGHS are available to those who are members during the 2021-2022 member year, and to societies with whom we exchange journals. Issues are password-protected. Members, to access this issue, please click the Members Only tab at the top right of the page.
