Oklahoma Historical Society (2024)

The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) has been collecting, preserving, and sharing the history of Oklahoma and its people since 1893, before statehood in 1907.^[1] This is the major resource for Oklahoma genealogy. They offer much information online – or at least there is an online index and you can request the actual records, for example from their indexed vertical files.

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

The Gateway to Oklahoma History provides free access to 189,095 issues and 967,391 pages of historical newspaper content free of charge. You can search for newspaper articles by keyword, date, publication, or location. See The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Many more newspapers on microfilm are available to view at the Research Center.

Territorial Records[edit | edit source]

The Oklahoma Historical Society has numerous records from the territorial period, including these:

• 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census
• First Directory of Oklahoma Territory
• Territorial Incorporation Records

To see other territorial records and instructions for finding more, such as marriage records, click here.

Native American Records[edit | edit source]

Many resources are available from OHS, including these:

• Seminole Rolls
• Dawes 1896 Applications
• Dawes Final Rolls
• Removal of Restriction, Five Tribes
• Township plats for Creek Nation
• Individual Indian Files, Plains Tribes
• Finding Your American Indian Ancestors

Genealogy[edit | edit source]

A variety of records are available online, including some land records, county records, school records, divorce records, directories, funeral home records, and military records are available here. Besides this goldmine of records, they also have the following:

• Manuscript Collection 1800-present (bulk 1890-1945)
• Audio and Oral Histories The Oral History Collection includes approximately 3,000 recorded interviews pertaining to a wide range of Oklahoma topics. The interviews date from 1956 to the present day.
• Newspaper Archives Microfilm collection is separate from the Gateway cited above. The newspaper collection currently consists of over 4,400 titles on approximately 33,000 reels of microfilm (of which 28,000 reels were produced in-house.) OHS has the oldest, largest, and most complete collection of newspapers available within the State.
• Vertical Files These cover a variety of subjects including towns and counties in Oklahoma, various events, American Indian tribes and biographical files and some specific families. Files may contain newspaper clippings, WPA writings, pamphlets, brochures, programs, and fliers.

Photographs[edit | edit source]

The OHS began collecting photographs in 1893, and today there are an estimated 9 million images in the photographic archives collections. There are two places to view photographs online. Visit the OHS Research Center's online catalog at http://www.okhistory.org/catalog or visit The Gateway to Oklahoma History at http://gateway.okhistory.org.

To see their photo search instructions, click here. To learn more about the photo collection as well as prices for ordering copies, click here.

Oklahoma History and Culture[edit | edit source]

They also publish The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, a two-volume work. The online version is available for free, and is continually updated. View The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture online at http://www.okhistory.org/encyclopedia/.

Oklahoma Historical Society

Oklahoma History Center
800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
405-521-2491

Oklahoma Historical Society

References[edit | edit source]