Local History Research

Discover family connections and the stories of Sioux City’s people, places and events using the resources at the Aalfs Downtown Library. We encourage you to visit the Downtown Library and use the genealogy and local history collection onsite to make the most effective use of all resources. Library Research Staff will help you:

• Devise and outline search strategies
• Use catalogs, indexes, and research guides to identify pertinent Library resources
• Locate and use items in the collection and various electronic databases on the Library website

Photocopies and printouts can be made for 25¢/page for black and white and 75¢/page for color.

Requests from Sioux City Newspapers

Research requests for obituaries or articles published in the Sioux City Journal can be made via email, phone, or in-person. For obituary requests we ask that you provide the first and last name of the individual and date of death. For article requests please provide the date when the article appeared in the Sioux City Journal as well as the name of the person or topic featured. Relevant documents found during the search can be scanned and emailed or photocopied and mailed to the requester for $5 per document. Click here to email your request.

Library Genealogy Resources Online

You can search the following genealogy databases with a full access Sioux City Public Library card:

Visit the Aalfs Downtown Library to access Ancestry Library Edition.