~ Birmingham Public Library ~

Updated 11 September 2006. 

Address: Tutwiler Collection of Southern History and Literature, Birmingham Public Library, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203-2794

Directions: The library is located in two buildings in the center of downtown Birmingham. The Tutwiler Collection is housed in the Linn-Henley Research Library Building next door to the Jefferson County Courthouse. Call the library for directions. They can mail you a map. Parking for both library buildings is located behind the "new" (1984) Central Library building.

Hours: Mon.-Tues. 9-8, Wed.-Sat. 9-6, Sun. 2-6.

World Wide Web: http://www.bplonline.org/

Phone: (205) 226-3665

Fax: (205) 226-3633

E-Mail: Use the Genealogy and Local History Form http://www.bplonline.org/ask/asklibrariangenealogyform.htm.  

Collection Scope: The genealogy and local history collections are strongest for Alabama, but include major holdings for Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana and other Southern states. See  http://www.bplonline.org/sou/

Special Collections: U.S. censuses, 1790-1900, for all Southern states. Selected military records of the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The Harleian Society Publications. Draper Manuscripts. All sources indexed in Swem's Virginia Historical Index. A large collection of abstracted records. Native American censuses for the eastern Cherokee and Creek. The Freedman's Bureau Papers for Alabama. Records of the Superintendent of Education for the State of Alabama, 1865-1870. Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory. Volumes of the American State Papers. The Rucker Agee Map Collection. Includes about 500 atlases and over 4,500 maps of Alabama, showing its history as part of Georgia, Florida and then Louisiana. The Rare Book Collection includes many books published in Alabama, works on travel in the South from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and major works on Native Americans and Native American affairs in Alabama. 

Library Catalog: http://www.jclc.org/services/opacmenu.html 

Reference Services: The staff assists patrons in research, but cannot perform research. They respond to written requests on a limited basis. For example, they will check an indexed book or collection for a specific name. See http://www.bplonline.org/ask/

Guides: See a guide to the library's historical and genealogical collections at http://www.bplonline.org/sou/genbooksbibl.asp. Go to http://www.bplonline.org/sou/researchers.asp for a list of independent researchers.

Copies: Self-service photocopies cost $0.15 for 8 1/2" x 11" and $0.20 for 11" x 17". Copies by mail cost $5.00 plus $0.30 per page for a maximum of 20 pages. To order photocopies by mail, see: http://www.bplonline.org/sou/copiesbymail.asp. For obituary requests, see: http://www.bplonline.org/ask/asklibrarianobituaryform.htm.

Circulation: Materials in the Tutwiler Collection are available for use only within the library. 

Interlibrary Loan: Materials in the Tutwiler Collection are not available for interlibrary loan. 

Thanks to Yvonne Crumpler, Department Head, and Mary Beth Newbill and Mary Ann Ellis, Librarians, Tutwiler Collection of Southern History and Literature, and to Elizabeth E. Swift, System Librarian.

© 2006 Rick Crume