Free Online Pennsylvania Digital Archives

The Ancestor Hunt has been cataloging and listing links to free online genealogy collections in over 20 different record categories since 2014. These are available for you to view and use via the Resources tab above.

It occurred to me, however, that 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 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 free online digital archives. 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

Pennsylvania

• Albright College Digital Collections
• Allegheny College Digital Collections
• Arcadia University Digital Collections
• Archives Records Information Access System (Pennsylvania State Archives)
• Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Bryn Athyn College of the New Church Digital Collections
• Bryn Mawr College Digital Collections
• Bucknell University Digital Collections
• California University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Carnegie Mellon University Digital Collections
• Cheyney University Digital Collections
• Clarion University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Collections
• Dickinson College Digital Collections
• Digital Collections at the State Library of Pennsylvania
• Drexel University Digital Collections
• Duquesne University Digital Collections
• East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Elizabethtown College Digital Collections
• Franklin & Marshall College Digital Collections
• Gettysburg College Digital Collections
• Haverford College in Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Historic Pittsburgh
• Historical Society of Pennsylvania Digital Library
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Lafayette College Digital Collections
• LaSalle University Digital Collections
• Lehigh University Digital Collections
• Lincoln University Digital Collections
• Messiah University Digital Collections
• Millersville University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Moravian University Digital Collections
• Muhlenberg College Digital Collections
• Neumann University Digital Collections
• Penn in the Age of Franklin, 1740-1790
• Pennsylvania State Archives
• Pennsylvania State University – Harrisburg Digital Collections
• Pennsylvania State University – Pennsylvania College of Technology Digital Collections
• Pennsylvania State University – University Park Digital Collections
• PhillyHistory.org
• POWER Library: Pennsylvania’s Electronic Library
• Rosemont College Digital Collections
• Saint Joseph’s University Digital Collections
• Saint Vincent College Digital Collections
• Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Swarthmore College Digital Collections
• Temple University Digital Collections
• Thomas Jefferson University Digital Collections
• University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• University of Pittsburgh Digital Collections
• University of Scranton Digital Collections
• University of the Arts Digital Collections
• Ursinus College Digital Collections
• Villanova University Digital Collections
• Washington and Jefferson College Digital Collections
• West Chester University of Pennsylvania Digital Collections
• Widener University Digital Collections
• Wilkes University Digital Collections
• York College of Pennsylvania Digital Collections