Sangamon Valley Collection

The Sangamon Valley Collection (SVC), located on the third floor of Lincoln Library, provides in-depth resources for the study of Springfield, Illinois, Sangamon County and the eleven adjacent counties. The collection, established in 1970, contains materials from the past and present. The Sangamon Valley Collection is a non-circulating collection.

Using the Collection | Resources | Digital Collection | Manuscripts & Microfilms | Internet Resources | Databases

 

Collection focus in order of Importance

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• Springfield
• Sangamon County
• Mason, Macon, Madison, Christian, Cass, DeWitt, Logan, Macoupin, Montgomery, and Morgan Counties
• State of Illinois
• Areas that contributed settlers to this area i.e. Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia

 

Using the Collection

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The Sangamon Valley Collection is located on the third floor of Lincoln Library.

Hours:
• Monday 10a.m.-5p.m.
• Tuesday 10a.m.-5p.m.
• Wednesday 10a.m.-8p.m.
• Thursday 10a.m.-5p.m.
• Friday 10a.m.-5p.m.
• Saturday 10a.m.-5p.m.
• Sunday 1-5p.m. (October through April only)
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• For holidays, information on driving directions, and parking, please visit the library's Hours & Information page.

Requesting Copies:
• Copying and mailing obituaries to out-of-area customers costs $2.00.
• Scanning photographs from the SVC collection costs $1.00 per image. There is a limit of 10 images per request.
• Contact Curtis Mann (217) 753-4900, ext. 5632 for information concerning copyright restrictions applying to the use or reproduction of any image or questions regarding purchases.

Technology/Equipment:
• Four microform readers, two with printers
• One photocopy machine
• The machines are coin operated.

 

For more information call: (217) 753-4900 ext. 5634

 

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Resources

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• Photographs
• City and county directories
• High school yearbooks
• City and county government documents
• Long-range planning reports and surveys
• Local Histories
• Maps
• Periodicals
• Books
• Subject vertical files

Index Card File
The card file includes obituary index cards that list name, death date and the date the obituary appeared in Springfield’s Illinois State Journal/State Journal-Register beginning in 1861 to the present in alphabetical order, cards that index senior portraits in the Springfield high school yearbooks, and people who appear in the local county histories.

 

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Manuscripts & Microfilms

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The Sangamon Valley Collection owns a number of unique collections of materials created by/from local organizations, businesses, and individuals. No materials in these collections are available for circulation.

• Manuscript Collections
  • SVC owns a number of unique collections of materials from Springfield businesses, organizations and families.
• Microfilm Resources
  • All microfilm is located in the SVC
• NewsDex
  • SVC has the Illinois Times on microfilm and maintains an online searchable index back to 1981.

 

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Internet Resources

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• 1940 Census
• Community Connections
  Local interest web sites.
• Genealogy Resources
  From the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
• Illinois Newspaper Project
  Locate microfilm of Illinois newspapers.
• llinois Firefighter Line of Duty Deaths Digital Image Collection Database (IFLODD)
  IFLODD documents the ultimate sacrifice of more than 800 Illinois firefighters over the past 150 years.
  The database is searchable by name and agency.
• Lithuanians in Springfield, Illinois
  
• Oak Ridge Cemetery Interment Records
  Several volumes of interment records for Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois have been digitized and made available online at the Illinois Digital Archives. Each volume entry includes the name of the deceased, date of death, age at death, cause of death, designation of the grave location through a combination of block, lot, range, and grave numbers, place of birth, and remarks.
• SangamonLink
  Created by the Sangamon County Historical Society to put the rich history of Sangamon County — home of Abraham Lincoln and the capital of Illinois — at people’s fingertips.
• Springfield Sports Hall of Fame
  The Springfield Sports Hall of Fame honors and highlights the city's finest athletes, historic high school teams and supporters who have helped make local sports programs a success.
  The database is searchable by name and year of induction.
• A Study of the Birds of Sangamon County, Illinois 1970–2010 documents the dramatic changes in the presence and populations of bird species in Sangamon County. The Research eSeries showcases the research of scientists and other staff of the Illinois State Museum and is available in searchable Portable Document Format (PDF) free of charge. Download Part 1 (7.5 MB) Download Part 2 (5.1 MB)

 

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Databases

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The below databases were selected as of special interest for the Sangamon Valley Collection. Also check out Lincoln Library's Electronic Resources, which includes both databases and websites sorted by topic.

Home use allowed with Lincoln Library card:

For use at Lincoln Library only:

 

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