Free Online Tennessee 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

• A Digital Collection Celebrating the Founding of the Historically Black College and University (HBCU)
• Digital Commons Collections
• Digital Library of Appalachia
• Digital Public Library of America
• Documenting the American South
• Library of Congress Digital Collections
• National Archives Online Exhibits
• PastPerfectOnline Collections
• Smithsonian Digital Library

Tennessee

• Austin Peay State University Digital Collections
• Belmont University Digital Collections
• Cumberland University Digital Collections
• Digital Library of Tennessee
• East Tennessee State University Digital Collections
• Fisk University Digital Collections
• Freed-Hardeman University Digital Collections
• Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project
• Middle Tennessee State University Digital Collections
• Tennessee State University Digital Collections
• Tennessee Technological University Digital Collections
• Tennessee Virtual Archive
• The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture
• University of Memphis Digital Collections
• University of Tennessee – Chattanooga Digital Collections
• University of Tennessee – Knoxville Digital Collections
• University of Tennessee – Martin Digital Collections
• University of the South Digital Collections
• Vanderbilt University Digital Collections
• Volunteer Voices