Presented below is a short list of research guides created at Shepherd University library Each research guide is discrete and covers certain topics of interest.
Sanborn Maps: fire insurance maps for US cities over time. This resource is available at and through Shepherd University. Off-campus access is limited to Shepherd students, faculty and staff.
WVGeoExplorer Project: mainly provides digitized maps of state and local interest.
While not all local newspapers have been put online for easy access, the Library of Congress's Chronicling America project has quite a few available.
Certain reference books concerning local history are being temporarily housed in the Archive Reading Room. These titles are used primarily for local research.
Prominent men of Shepherdstown during its first 200 years by AD Kenamond
Burials in Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1978-1997 : supplemental to Tombstone inscriptions to 1980 compiled by Hugh E. Voress
Tombstone inscriptions and burial lots compiled by Bee Line Chapter, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution
Two Hundred Years' History of Shepherdstown by Clifford S Musser
How and Where to Look it Up in Jefferson County by William Theriault
Historic Shepherdstown by Danske Dandridge
Several of the above titles have extra copies available; most of them are in the West Virginia Archive. However, a few do have copies that circulate.
Other materials dealing with local history of the Eastern Panhandle and its prominent families is most often found in the local newspapers (on microfilm), in the West Virginia Archive or the Shepherd University Archive.
Please see the Reference and Special Collections Librarian, Ms. Frances Marshall, for assistance if you wish to use these materials.
The helpful texts below are also listed in the Genealogy research guide.
The genealogist's handbook : modern methods for researching family history / Raymond S. Wright, III.
Genealogy online : researching your roots / Elizabeth Powell Crowe.
Write it right : a manual for writing family histories and genealogies / by Donald R. Barnes and Richard S. Lackey ; introduction by John Frederick Dorman.
A student's guide to African American genealogy / by Anne E. Johnson and Adam Merton Cooper.
Bonded passengers to America / by Peter Wilson Coldham.
Local historical societies near Shepherd University include
Historic Shepherdstown and Museum
Jefferson County Historical Society
Berkeley County Historical Society
Libraries
The local area public libraries are excellent places to find information; the largest one in the tri-county area is Martinsburg Berkeley County Public Library. The main branch library in Martinsburg has a room dedicated to local history and family research and there are genealogy classes offered (see the events calendar on the main page).
Other local public libraries include: