Free Online Ohio Digital Archives

The Ancestor Hunt has been cataloging and listing links to free online genealogy collections in over 24 different record categories since 2014. These are available for you to view and use via the Resources tab above.

There is a massive amount of genealogy and historical material that can help us researchers as we discover who belongs in our family tree, and more importantly, what is their life story. But much of this genealogical and historical material doesn’t fit nicely into a specific genealogy record category.

As researchers, we should avail ourselves of the types of materials listed below. They definitely will help us in our genealogy and family history research  These online resources are available generally at state libraries and archives, larger public libraries, and college and university digital collections. Hence the creation of these lists of links to free online digital archives for the state. I hope they prove useful to you in your pursuit.

Types of Information Available in Digital Archives

• Scrapbooks
• Diaries
• Family Papers, Biographies, and Other Collections
• Letters
• Oral Histories
• Maps
• Bulletins and Newsletters
• Corporate Collections
• Local Community and County Histories
• Photographs and Postcards
• Rare Books and Manuscripts
• Government Publications and Documents
• and Yes, Genealogy Record Collections and Indexes

The Free Online Digital Archives for the state are listed below, preceded by Archives that are available for the region or the country:

Multistate Archives

• Digital Commons Collections
• Digital Public Library of America
• Library of Congress Digital Collections
• National Archives Online Exhibits
• PastPerfectOnline Collections
• Smithsonian Digital Library

Ohio Archives

• Akron-Summit County Public Library Archival Collections
• Antioch College Digital Collections
• Ashland University Digital Collections
• Baldwin-Wallace University Digital Collections
• Bluffton University Digital Collections
• Bowling Green State University Digital Collections
• Case Western Reserve University Digital Collections
• Cedarville University Digital Collections
• Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery
• Cleveland State University Digital Collections
• Dayton Metro Library
• Denison University Digital Collections
• Erie Lackawanna Historical Society Archives
• FamilySearch – Ohio Online Genealogy Records
• Greater Cincinnati Memory Project
• Kent State University Digital Collections
• Kenyon College Digital Collections
• Lourdes University Digital Collections
• Malone University Digital Collections
• Marietta College Digital Collections
• Miami University of Ohio Digital Collections
• National Archives at Chicago
• Oberlin College Digital Collections
• Ohio Genealogical Society
• Ohio History Central
• Ohio History Connection
• Ohio Memory
• Ohio Northern University Digital Collections
• Ohio State University – College of Law Digital Collections
• Ohio State University – Columbus Digital Collections
• Ohio University, Athens Digital Collections
• Ohio Wesleyan University Digital Collections
• Otterbein University Digital Collections
• Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
• Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
• State Library of Ohio
• State Library of Ohio Collections
• The Cleveland Memory Project
• The College of Wooster Digital Collections
• The Digital Shoebox Project: Historical Treasures of Southeastern Ohio
• The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
• The University of Findlay Digital Collections
• Toledo‑Lucas County Public Library
• University of Akron Digital Collections
• University of Cincinnati Digital Collections
• University of Dayton Digital Collections
• University of Toledo Digital Collections
• Ursuline College Digital Collections
• Walsh University Digital Collections
• Western Reserve Historical Society
• Wilmington College Digital Collections
• Wright State University Digital Collections
• Xavier University Digital Collections
• Youngstown State University Digital Collections