Delaware History

Books

Several histories of Delaware have been published. These are useful not only for background history of the state and of specific localities but also because many contain biographical and genealogical information.

Acrelius, Israel. A History of New Sweden, or, The Settlements on the River Delaware. Philadelphia: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1874. Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F167 .A28) Location: Morris Library (F167.A1813 1966) reprint

Bevan, Wilson Lloyd. History of Delaware, Past and Present. 4 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1929. Location: Morris Library (F164 .B57) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .B57): Vols. 3 and 4 contain biographical material.

Biographical and Genealogical History of the State of Delaware, Containing Biographical and Genealogical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and Many of the Early Settlers. 2 vols. Chambersburg, PA: J.M. Runk Co., 1899. Location: Morris Library (F163 .B54) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F163 .B54): In addition to biographies, this publication features city and community descriptions, for all different sizes of places. Descriptions include lists of residents. Place descriptions are at the end of volume 2.

Boyer, William W. Governing Delaware: Policy Problems in the First State. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 2000. Location: Morris Library (JK3716 .B68 2000)

Conrad, Henry Clay. History of the State of Delaware from the Earliest Settlements to the Year 1907. 3 vols. Wilmington, DE: Henry Clay Conrad, 1908. Location: Morris Library (F164 .C75) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .C75)

Delaware, A Guide to the First State. New and rev. ed. New York: Hastings House, 1955. Location: Morris Library (F164 .F45 1955): Compiled and written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Delaware. Originally published 1938. See DELCAT for copies of other editions. See the Special Collections Department for unpublished materials from the FWP.

Delaware Tercentenary Commission. Delaware Tercentenary Almanack & Historical Repository, 1938: Being a Valuable Compendium of Historical Information Concerning the State of Delaware. Wilmington, DE: Delaware Tercentenary Commission, 1938. Location: Morris Library (F164 .D455) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .D455): A valuable historical compendium. Includes: "Vignettes of Delaware History," "Delaware Historical Time Line," and "Firsts in Delaware."

Dolan, Paul, and James R. Soles. Government of Delaware. Newark: University of Delaware, 1976. Location: Morris Library (JK3725 1976 .D64) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del JK3730 .D65)

Ferris, Benjamin. A History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware & A History of Wilmington; With a New Index Compiled by Members of the Delaware Genealogical Society. Reprint ed. Baltimore: Gateway Press; Wilmington, DE: Delaware Genealogical Society, 1987. Location: Morris Library (F167 .F39 1987) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F167 .F39 1987): Originally published in 1897.

Historical and Biographical Encyclopaedia of Delaware. Wilmington, DE: Aldine, 1882. Location: Morris Library (F163 .H67) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F163 .H67)

History and Government of Delaware. (videorecording) John A. Munroe, ed. Newark, DE: University of Delaware, 1963. Location: Morris Library - Media (VHS 4115): A 15 part series on the history and government of Delaware originally broadcast by WHYY TV, Wilmington, Delaware. 15 videocassettes (28 min. each).

Hoffecker, Carol E. Delaware: A Bicentennial History. New York: Norton, 1977. Location: Morris Library (F164 .H62) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .H62)

Johnson, Amandus. The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware River: Their Story and Relation to the Indians, Dutch, and English, 1638-1664. Reprint ed. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1969. Location: Morris Library (F167 .J67 1969)

Martin, Roger A. A History of Delaware Through its Governors, 1776-1984. Wilmington, DE: McClafferty Printing, 1984. Location: Morris Library (F163 .M37 1984) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F163 .M37 1984)

Munroe, John A. History of Delaware. 4th ed. Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 2001; 3d ed. 1993. Location: Morris Library (F164 .M83 1993) Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref F164 .M83 2001) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .M83 1993): Includes an excellent essay on books about Delaware.

Reed, Henry Clay. Delaware: A History of the First State. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1947. Location: Morris Library (F164 .R4) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .R4)

Scharf, John Thomas. History of Delaware, 1609-1888. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Richards, 1888. Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref F164 .S31 1976) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .S31) Location: Morris Library (F164 .S31) Location: Library Databases via American County Histories to 1900: A comprehensive history of Delaware and its people. Vol. 2 contains histories of New Castle County (pp. 611-1028), Kent County (pp. 1028-1200), and of Sussex County (pp. 1200-1346). The print edition is accompanied by a 3-volume index: Index to J. Thomas Scharf, 3 vols. Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1976. Reference and Special Collections (F164 .S33). The Library Database edition does not include the Index but does have keyword searching. Note: the author's name is pronounced "Skarf."

Kent County

Hancock, Harold Bell. A History of Kent County, Delaware. Dover, DE: Kent County Bicentennial Commission, 1976. Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F172 .K3 H35)

New Castle County

Handy, Egbert G. and J. L. Vallandigham, Jr. Newark, Delaware: Past and Present. 3rd ed. City of Newark: Newark Historical Society, c1982; 2nd ed. Newark, DE: Alpha Delta Kappa International Honorary Society for Women Educators, Newark Gamma Branch, 1976. Location: Morris Library F174 .N55 H35 1982 Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F 174 .N55 H36x 1976): Reprint of a classic history of Newark, originally published in 1882 by the Delaware Ledger. See DELCAT for other editions.

Lewis, William Ditto. Index to Handy and Vallandigham’s Newark, Delaware, Past and Present. [Newark, Del.: s.n., 1961]. Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F174 .N58 H352)

Sussex County

Carter, Dick. The History of Sussex County. Rehoboth Beach, DE: Community Newspapers, Inc., 1976. Location: Morris Library (Folio+ F172 .S8C37) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del Folio+ F172 .S8 C37)

Hancock, Harold B. The History of Sussex County, Delaware. Georgetown, DE: Sussex County Bicentennial Commission, 1976. Location: Morris Library (F172 .S8 H35) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F172 .S8 H35)

Periodicals

Delaware History. Wilmington, DE: Historical Society of Delaware. Semiannual. Location: Morris Library (F161 .D47) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F161 .D47): This is the premier historical journal for the State of Delaware. Published since 1946. Issues from 1963 onwards are indexed in America: History and Life, one of the Library Databases. Volume 27 has a cumulative index for 1946 to 1996; located in Special Collections and in the Reference Room (Ref F161 .D47 Cum Index).

Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware. Wilmington, DE: The Society, 1879-1940. Location: Morris Library (F161.D45) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F161.D45): Partial list of contents is available on John Reid's website "Collecting Delaware Books".

Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (PMHB). Location: Morris Library F146 .P48 Location: Internet (http://dpubs.dlt.psu.edu/DPubS?service=UI&version=1.0&verb=Display&handle=psu.pmhb) full text 1907-1999: Some issues in Library Annex; 2006 to present available electronically. See DELCAT for holdings.

Dissertations

University of Delaware doctoral dissertations and master's theses are listed in DELCAT. They can be searched by author, title, subject, or keyword. Note: copies are also available at University Archives.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses / Dissertation Abstracts. Location: Library Databases: The ProQuest Dissertations & Theses / Dissertation Abstracts provides information on North American and some European doctoral dissertations and master's theses from 1861 to present. The database includes abstracts for dissertations from 1980 to present and for master's theses from 1988 to present. Many titles are available in PDF digital format and have 24 page previews available. University of Delaware dissertations full text are available free to University of Delaware faculty, students, and staff. See also Dissertations & Theses @ University of Delaware.

University Archives. Location: Internet (http://www.udel.edu/Archives/): The thesis collection at University Archives includes all doctoral and master's theses from the University of Delaware, dating back to its founding. Additionally, they have undergraduate theses, written for honors bachelor's degrees. University Archives is located in 002 Pearson Hall. Telephone 831-2750. The thesis collection is stored off-site; allow at least one working day for retrieval.

Bibliographies & Indexes

Bibliography of Delaware Through 1960. Henry Clay Reed, ed. Newark, DE: Published for the Institute of Delaware History and Culture by the University of Delaware Press, 1966. Location: Morris Library (F164 .F4) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F164 .R4)

Bibliography of Delaware, 1960-1974. Newark, DE: Reference Department, Hugh M. Morris Library, University of Delaware, 1976. Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref F164B .H84 1976): Continuation of the Reed, Bibliography of Delaware.

America: History and Life. Location: Library Databases: Among other publications, it indexes Delaware History, 1963 to present.

DELCAT Examples

Browse by subject:		Search by keyword:
	delaware--history		swedes and delaware
	Newark (Del.)--history		African Americans and Delmarva
	New Castle Del--Buildings, structures, etc.		smyrna delaware history
	delaware--politics and government
	Delmarva Peninsula--History
	delaware--social life and customs
	New Sweden--History
	[name of person or group]--delaware
	African Americans--Delaware--History

For More Information

Schaefer, Christina K. Genealogical Encyclopedia of the Colonial Americas: A Complete Digest of the Records of All the Countries of the Western Hemisphere. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1998. Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref E18 .S33x 1998)

Delaware Genealogical Research Guide. 3rd ed. Wilmington, DE: Delaware Genealogical Society, 2002. Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref F163 .D349 2002) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del F163 .D349 2002): The most important guide for locating primary sources or for doing genealogical research in Delaware. It covers specific types of records and where they can be found in the state. Edited by Thomas P. Doherty and published by the Delaware Genealogical Society (http://delgensoc.org). Includes a description of the "Family Surname File" at the Historical Society of Delaware, the Tatnall collection and index at the Delaware Public Archives, and the "Delaware Index" at the Wilmington Public Library.

Delaware Supreme Court: Golden Anniversary 1951-2001. Edited by Justice Randy J. Holland and Helen L. Winslow, Esquire. Wilmington, DE: Supreme Court of the State of Delaware, 2001. Location: Morris Library ( KFD512 .D44 2001) Location: Morris Library - Special Collections (Del KFD512 .D44x 2001)

List of Governors of Delaware. Location: Internet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_Delaware)

Notable Americans: What They Did, from 1620 to the Present. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co., 1988. Location: Morris Library - Reference (Ref E176 .N89 1988): Contains lists of famous people. For Delaware, it provides lists of Governors, Senators, Chief Justices, University of Delaware Presidents, and others.