Every July 4th, we are reminded of the men and women who helped create our country.  This book list includes books about the founding fathers -- men living in the American colonies whose ideas and actions led to the Declaration of Independence and the creation of a new kind of nation.  It also includes books naming women who influenced the founding fathers and contributed to the founding of America.

Gordon S. Wood's Revolutionary Characters: What made the Founders different is concerned with the type of man who became an American revolutionary and founding father.  Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding deals with how our founding fathers living during the Enlightenment where changed by the historical events of the American Revolution. Declaration: the nine tumultuous weeks when America became independent is concerned with the colonists' decision to declare independence from Britain. 

Also included are individual biographies including Benedict Arnold: Patriot and Traitor.  Should Arnold be one of the historical figures dealt with when discussing the men whose actions resulted in the founding of the United States?   Arnold was one of best military commanders on either side of the American Revolution. Willard Sterne Randall's book tells the story of his decision to change sides.   Collective biographies dealing with founding mothers-Founding Mothers: The women who raised our nation, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the struggle for America's Independence, and Glory, Passion, and Principle: the story of eight remarkable women at the core of the American Revolution round out the list.    

Click here for information about these titles in our collection.

Genealogy is the study of a family's history. Genealogy research has grown in popularity with reality shows, like "Who Do You Think You Are", and the easy access to public records that the Internet provides.

The Central library has a genealogy room dedicated to local history specifically for patrons interested in researching their family's roots. This room houses archives of the Pasadena Citizen, the Houston Post, and the Houston Chronicle in microfilm format, which can be viewed with the library's microfilm reader. The Citizen is available as far back as the 1940s. These newspapers are helpful for finding obituaries, and sometimes even birth announcements of family members.

In addition to the newspaper archives, the library houses old City directories, high school yearbooks from all of the PISD high schools, and two filing cabinets complete with local history. The most notable local history record housed is from the Pasadena Bicentennial Oral History Project, which conducted interviews with 100 of the oldest residents in the city. These tapes are available through special arrangement with Lucy Turoff, the Public Service Librarian who oversees the genealogy collection.

Although the bulk of our collection focuses on Pasadena history, we also house books about Texas history, as well as several other states, including Kentucky, Louisiana, and Alabama, and several countries, such as Canada, England, and Spain.

If you are interested in researching your family, but are not sure where to start, the library collection has several books which can serve as a guide. Unlike the materials in the genealogy room, these guides are available for check out. There are even titles that focus solely on using the Internet to research.

Personal assistance in your research is available by contacting Lucy Turoff in advance at extension 4984. Free access to the genealogy room requires a library card.

Helpful Genealogy Research Websites:

http://www.usgenweb.org/ (free)

https://www.familysearch.org/ (free)

http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/index.html (free)

www.genealogy.com (subscription)

www.ancestry.com (subscription)