Genealogy & Local History
Browse family histories, local records, and a growing surname/locality index. Mississippi is the focus, with migration-path states and other regions represented.
Research Materials
Find Primary Sources
Explore Special Collections on Mitchell Memorial Library’s third and fourth floors.
Third Floor Collections
Manuscripts Division
Mississippi records from the early 1800s onward include personal papers, business records, drawings, recordings, photographs, maps, and artifacts. Strengths include African American history, agriculture, rural life, civil rights, the Civil War, and journalism.
Mississippiana Collection
Mississippi history, culture, and literature, including Mississippi authors, imprints, settings, and MSU-affiliated writers.
Rare Books Division
Thousands of rare and historic volumes preserved for research.
University Archives
Official university records, publications, photographs, audiovisual materials, and memorabilia, including administrative, academic, presidential, and athletic records.
Fourth Floor Collections
Mississippi Political Collections
Correspondence, photographs, oral histories, and memorabilia from lawmakers, politicians, activists, and researchers.
Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana
Lincoln’s life and era, including nineteenth-century political pamphlets and family manuscripts, complementing MSU’s Civil War collections.
Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Museum
Extensive papers and materials documenting Grant’s life, military career, and presidency.