Genealogy & Local History

The Emma and Robert Wegman Local History Room

Located on the second floor of the Santori Public Library in downtown Aurora

An excellent place to begin your regional and family history searches. It houses materials related to the history of Aurora, Illinois as well as genealogy reference books. The purpose of the local history collection is to preserve materials that document the history of Aurora and to make these materials available for research. The library holds these materials in trust for future generations, and therefore they can be examined in the local history room only. 

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Collections Available At The Emma and Robert Wegman Local History Room

Archival Boxes – APLD's archival boxes contain primary source materials on a variety of topics. Find folder listings here ().

City Directories – Our collection runs from 1858/1859 to the present, and while gaps exist, we believe no City Directories were done for those missing years. These volumes function somewhat like a telephone book. Each book contains an alphabetical listing of Aurora residents in the pertinent year. Spouses and occupations are included in many of the early books. From the 1895/1896 edition onward, there is a section in the back of each directory that allows you to look up particular addresses by street to see who occupied the premises at that time.

Historic Maps of Aurora – This digital collection of historic maps shows the physical changes and growth of Aurora over several decades. They also illustrate changes in ward boundaries, street names, and, in some cases, building and business locations. Available through the Illinois Digital Archives.

Miscellaneous Collections – The Emma & Robert Wegman Local History Room houses select collections of a variety of books of local interest, archival items, newspaper clippings, photographs, audio/video materials, a local author collection, atlases and plat books, and other microfilmed materials.

Newspapers on Microfilm – The library's collection of microfilm contains reels from a wide variety of Aurora newspapers published through the years. The most complete selection is for:
Aurora Beacon News, Aurora Blade, Aurora Chronicle, Aurora Daily Democrat, Aurora Daily Journal, Aurora Daily News, Aurora Daily Times, Aurora Economist, Aurora Fox Valley Beacon, Aurora Guardian, Aurora Herald Weekly, Aurora Labor Journal, Aurora News Semi-Weekly, Aurora News Times, Aurora Post Journal, Aurora Semi-Weekly Express, Aurora Sentinel, Aurora Sun, Aurora Sunday Journal, Aurora Volksfreund (major condition issues), Aurora Weekly Express, Aurora Weekly Herald, Dubuque Luxemburger Gazette

Special Collections – In 2017, the Santori Library received a generous donation of materials from the Charles and Marie Wilkinson family. This gift includes over 1,800 photographs, more than 1,000 documents, and a variety of personal realia that belonged to Charles, Marie, son Donald and daughter Sheila Scott-Wilkinson. One major item included in this donation was an authentic whip that belonged to former slave Charles Wilkinson, Sr, and was given to his son. Aurora icon and tireless social/civil rights activist Marie Wilkinson used this relic of a sad episode in American History as a teaching tool in many school and social club visits around the city.

Yearbooks – This collection includes yearbooks from various Aurora area colleges, high schools, and junior high schools. The selection of volumes for East Aurora High School, Waubonsie Valley High School, and West Aurora High School are fairly complete. Gaps in coverage exist for many of the other institutions.

• Aurora Central Catholic High School, 1970 – 2006
• Aurora Christian School, 1978 – 1994
• Aurora College, 1913 – 1980
• East Aurora High School, 1913 – 2015
• Illinois Math and Science Academy, 1990 – 1994
• Jennings Seminary, 1909
• Madonna High School, 1933; 1962 – 1963; 1966; 1968
• Marmion Military Academy, 1937 – 2013
• Mooseheart High School, 1923
• Nequa Valley High School, 1998 - 2001
• Roncali High School, 1966 – 1967
• Rosary High School, 1967 – 2016
• Waubonsie Valley High School, 1979 – 2015
• West Aurora High School, 1901 – 2010

Virtual Programs

We offer video programs you can view on YouTube with just a click:

•  African Americans in Aurora: 1921-1955 
•  Baker Broderick All the World's a Stage
•  The Cemeteries of Aurora Part I 
•  The Cemeteries of Aurora Part II 
•  The Cemeteries of Aurora Part III 
•  City in Crisis: Aurora and the Spanish Influenza 1918 
•  City in Crisis: Aurora and the Spanish Influenza Second Wave 
•  George Grant Elmslie and The Crucible of Creation
•  History of the Aurora Public Library
•  Introduction to Online LGBTQ+ Archives
•  The Language of Tombstones 

Digital Resources