Note the newspapers; invaluable, once you have established some NC "wheres". North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill www.lib.unc.edu/ncc The North Carolina Collection houses works about North Carolina and those written by and about North Carolinians. The main focus of the collection is not genealogy, but there is a great deal of genealogical information in the collection. Many items are located in the Reading Room and are freely accessible, while some items must be requested at the desk. All items acquired since 1993 are in the online catalog, but a small percentage of older items are only listed in the card catalog in the Reading Room. Some of the more important genealogical resources in the collection are: Federal Census Records - All federal censuses of North Carolina that have been released to the public, for the years 1790 to 1920, are on microfilm in the North Carolina Collection. Indexes are shelved at call number CR310 in the Reading Room. Local histories - the North Carolina Collection has a comprehensive collection of local histories relating to North Carolina. Genealogical information often can be found in these histories. Newspapers - Newspapers can be a gold mine of genealogical information, and the North Carolina Collection has a large collection of old newspapers on microfilm. One strategy in using these newspapers is to find the death date of the person you are researching, and then look through the person's hometown newspaper for an obituary. With luck, a great deal of biographical information can be found in this manner. Often, marriage notices can also be found, complete with descriptions of the wedding and what everyone was wearing. However, it is important to know that before the twentieth century, obituaries and marriage notices were usually only printed for a town's prominent citizens, and some newspapers did not generally print obituaries until the 1920s or 1930s. The North Carolina Collection has an index to all newspapers ever published in the state, titled The North Carolina Newspaper Project Union List, located behind the main desk. They will gladly let you see it upon request.