Delaware Public Archives Blog

Have you ever been driving along and smelled chicken barbequing?  Did it make you want chicken or make you start thinking about chicken?  Have you ever seen a frying pan big enough that a man could lay down in it? Well then this weekend you will think  you have died and gone to chicken heaven! […]

It’s that time of year: the crack of a bat, the smell of hot dogs, and screaming parents.  Yeah, it’s baseball season!  Whether it’s little league, school, or professional, Delaware has plenty of action for you.  Did you know you can see how baseball has evolved in Delaware here at the Archives?  We have photographs […]

The latest Inside the DPA video has been published to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAin4U4VblQ.  This newest installment, number 10 in the series, focuses on the United States Census and the valuable genealogical information one can gleam from this source.  This video was the first one that featured an off-site shoot.  We’d like to thank the Dunham family […]

We typically do not collect private papers, but we do have some.  One of the collections of private papers we have in our Small Manuscript Collection is the Florence Lewis Papers.  There are several series within this collection, from newspapers to genealogical research notes. But the one I want to talk about today is the […]

This weekend we pause to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  I would like to take a few minutes to tell you that we have lots of records relating to not only Delaware’s involvement in wars, but the individuals who served. We have records from the Revolutionary War up through […]

The Delaware Public Archives will sponsor a workshop entitled Using Heritage Quest to Find Your Family Roots on Saturday, June 5, 10:30 a.m. HeritageQuest Online is a unique resource for both genealogical and historical researchers. With coverage dating back to the late 1700s, researchers can use HeritageQuest to find their ancestors, trace their paths across […]

This past weekend was the spring race for NASCAR at Dover International Speedway.  One might say “What would the archives possibly have on a NASCAR event?”  For starters, we have lots of photographs.  We have great aerial views of Dover Downs from the 1970’s to the 1990’s.  It is incredible to see how the seating […]

We had a group of students come in the other day that was studying early Delaware.  Their assignment was to find interesting tidbits about Delaware.  We sent them to the early court records for each of the counties. They were surprised at what they found. For example, there is a list and description of livestock […]

This Saturday will be the 77th annual Old Dover Days Festival. There will be the traditional Maypole dance, parade, house tours, and many other events. Did you know that Mabel Lloyd Ridgely was one of the founders of Dover Days?  Did you know that the research room was named in honor of her? Mrs. Ridgely had […]

If you were born, married, or attended public school in Delaware, eventually the Delaware Public Archives will have a record of you.  This “behind the scenes” tour of the Delaware Public Archives offers the public the opportunity to learn more about the role of the Archives, and see how the Archives preserves and protects the […]