Telephone and City Directories in the Library
of Congress:
Non-Current (Old)
By Barbara B. Walsh, Reference Specialist
Research Guide No. 42
Anyone who is interested in U.S.
telephone directories dating from 1976 through 1995 should make
use of Phonefiche, a University Microfilms microfiche product housed
in the Microform Reading
Room (LJ 139B). This self-service collection consists of yellow
and white pages telephone directories for most U.S. cities and towns.
For most years, there is a published guide to the collection titled
Community Cross-Reference Index. These guides, shelved on top of
the cabinets housing the microfiche, identify the directory in which
a specific community's listing can be found.
To examine non-current U.S. telephone
directories (white and yellow pages) for years not included in
the
set of Phonefiche, one may request the paper copies
in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room by filling out
a call slip using
"Telephone Directory" as the call number, the town and state as
the title, and the years needed as the volume numbers. You should
be aware, however, that pre-1976 directories for fourteen states,
the District of Columbia, and Chicago have been
microfilmed
by the Library of Congress and can only be requested in the Microform
Reading Room (LJ 139B). Additional information about this microfilming
project is contained in the following section.
A major project is underway to
microfilm the Library of Congress's collection of telephone directories
from
the pre-Phonefiche period (before 1976). At present,
directories for Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Connecticut,
Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the city of Chicago can
be requested in the Microform Reading Room (LJ 139B). A guide to
the holdings for each locality is kept at the Reference Desks
in
the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room and the Main Reading
Room.
If you are interested in telephone directories for New
York City and the surrounding area published from 1878-1959,
you should consult a self-service microfilm collection in the Microform
Reading Room.
Non-current editions of U.S. reverse
telephone directories (often titled street address or criss-cross
directories) are housed in the closed stacks. They can be requested
in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room by filling out
a
call slip using "Criss-Cross Directory" as the call number, the
town and state as the title, and the years needed as the volume
numbers. Reverse telephone directories are usually published annually
for major metropolitan areas. Listings are based on telephone
directories
and are arranged both by address and telephone number. There is
no listing by name. An inventory of these directories can be found
in a binder at the Reference Desk in the Local History and Genealogy
Reading Room.
All United States city and state
directories up to and including 1860 are included in a self-service
microfiche collection housed in the Microform Reading Room (LJ
139B). Dorothea Spear's American Directories Before 1860 (Z5771.S7
LH&G and Z5771.2.S68 1978 MRR Ref Desk) is a guide to this
collection.
A large self-service collection
of U.S. city directories on microfilm is available in the Microform
Reading Room (LJ 139B). More than 1200 U.S. cities and towns are
represented in the collection which continues to grow. The years
of coverage
are primarily 1861 through 1960. For information on the cities
included and the years available for those cities, consult U.S.
City Directories on Microfilm in the Microform Reading Room.
Many U.S. city directories in the
Library of Congress are available only on paper. To identify which
communities are represented and the years of coverage, consult the
City Directory Finding Guide kept at the Reference Desk in the Local
History and Genealogy Reading Room. The information in this guide
comes primarily from James Neagles' The Library of Congress:
a Guide to Genealogical and Historical Resources (Salt Lake City, Ancestry,
1989. 381 p.). To request a city directory on paper, fill out a
call slip using "City Directory" as the call number, the town or
county and state as the title, and the years needed as the volume
numbers.
Non-current editions of foreign
telephone directories are shelved in the closed stacks. They can
be requested in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room or
the Main Reading Room by filling out a call slip as indicated above.
The European Division has posted on its web
page European
Telephone Directories at the Library of Congress: Indexes and Digitized
Versions, which includes lists of Library
of Congress holdings of retrospective telephone/address directories
for several European countries and links to digitized retrospective
directories from the Library's holdings.
The collections of the Microform
Reading Room (LJ 139B) include significant holdings of telephone
directories for
a few European countries. These are listed below:
Country |
Microform call number |
Years included |
France ** |
Microfilm 2000/54 |
1883-1959 |
Poland (Krakow area only) |
Microfilm 95/2972 |
1930 |
Yugoslavia (former) |
Microfilm (o) 99/6071 |
1970-1990 |
** For more information on French telephone directories
on microfilm, see Microform Guide 530 in the Reference Assistance
area of the Main Reading Room.
The Library has significant holdings
of non-current city directories for many foreign cities. With
the
exception of most Canadian city directories, they are housed in
the closed stacks and have call numbers. To determine whether
the
Library has a directory for a certain city, search in the Main
Catalog and the Library of Congress Online Catalog using the following
search
strategy: NAME OF CITY and subdivision DIRECTORIES. Then request
the directory in the Main Reading Room or the Local History and
Genealogy
Reading
Room by filling out a call slip. Note: The procedures described
above are not applicable for retrieving directories from Canada,
the United Kingdom, or Switzerland.
For specific information about the
Library's bound holdings of city directories for Canada, the United
Kingdom, and Switzerland, consult the City Directory Finding Guide
kept at the Reference Desk in the Local History and Genealogy Reading
Room. Please note the print copies of Canadian city directories
are treated differently from other foreign directories. Although
they are housed in the closed stacks, they do NOT have call numbers
and should be requested by filling out a call slip as indicated
above.
Researchers interested in pre-1900 Canadian directories should
use the large microfiche collection titled Pre-1900 Canadian
Directories (Microfiche 99/44), which can be requested in
the Microform Reading
Room (LJ 107). Microform Reading Room Guide No. 474, which describes
the collection in detail, is available in the Reference Assistance
Room of the Main Reading Room.
The collections of the Microform
Reading Room (LJ 107) include significant holdings of directories
for several European localities. Listed below are the localities,
microform call numbers, and the years included:
Locality |
Microform call number |
Years included |
Berlin |
Microfilm 32901 |
1891, 1895-96, 1899, 1901,
1905-06, 1908,
1911-14, 1922, 1926-1941 |
Berlin |
Microfiche 85/161 |
1919-1932 |
Leningrad (Petrograd, St.
Petersburg) |
Microfilm 04676 |
1894-99, 1900-08, 1910-17,
1922-1934 |
Moscow |
Microfilm 30585 |
1896-1907, 1912, 1923, 1927-29,
1936 |
All Russia (Major towns throughout
Russia) |
Microfilm 24185 |
1895, 1899, 1903, 1911-12,1923 |
Unlike the collection of U.S. city directories on microform, these
directories must be requested on Microform Reading Room call slips.
|