Northern Illinois University (NIU) has free, online collections at their library site in addition to their collections hosted by IRAD, Illinois Archives Regional Depositories, for this region. Their collections are grouped into three categories:

• Northern Illinois University Digital Collections

• Northern Illinois University Regional History Center and University Archives

• Northern Illinois University Special Collections

Northern Illinois University Digital Collections:

Southeast Asia Digital Library

Lincoln/Net (primary source documents for the Black Hawk War, Mexican American War, Lincoln Douglas Debates of 1858, & more)

Mark Twain’s Mississippi (with primary source documents for Mississippi River Valley)

Huskie Commons (scholarly material)

NIU Digital Library (a portion listed below):

• W.W. Embree Collection (DeKalb), 1881-1966 (573)

• Postcard Collection (258)

• Historical archives and photographs (168)

• J. Ill. State Hist. Soc (153)

• National Emergency Number Association, 1977 (128)

• Historical Society (123)

• World War I and II Posters(120)

• Vanderhoof Family Papers (Campton Township, Kane County), 1853-1962 (105)–

• Student Publications / Yearbooks (80) Norther, school yearbook for Northern Illinois Normal School/Northern Illinois State Teachers College

• Woodbury-Forsythe Diaries (Sandwich), 1876-1928 (56)

• Spring Creek United Church of Christ (Rockford), 1960-2011 (53)

• Grand Army of the Republic Records (Mendota), 1868-1933 (32)

• Taylor Farm Records (Franklin Grove), 1944-1977(25)

• Sons of Norway, Valhall Lodge No. 168 Records (Rockford), 1907-2004 (12)

• LeRoy Community Grange No. 1873 Records (Boone County), 1933-2000 (10)

• Vertical File Manuscript (3)

Or listed by Genre:

• photographs (560)

• postcards (270)

• diaries (139)

• magazines (periodicals) (128)

• posters (120)

• school yearbooks (80)

• records (documents) (22)

• personal correspondence(15)

• church records (14)

• instructional materials (13)

• correspondence (12)

• minutes (administrative records) (9)

• account books (7)

• receipts (financial records)(6)

• financial records (5)

• membership lists (4)

• administrative records (3)

• annual reports (3)

• bylaws (administrative records) (3)

• color photographs (3)

Or listed by County:

• DeKalb (478)

• Lee (94)

• Kane (38)

• Ogle (38)

• LaSalle (32)

• Winnebago (25)

• Lasalle (22)

• Whiteside (19)

• Stephenson (14)

• Bureau (13)

• McHenry (13)

• Boone (10)

• Jo Daviess (10)

• Cook (3)

• DuPage (3)

• Kankakee (2)

• Lake (2)

• Will (2)

• Champaign (1)

• Edgar (1)

Or listed by Town:

• DeKalb (407)

• Lee Center (51)

• Dixon (26)

• Rockford (25)

• Freeport (13)

• Malta (11)

• Sycamore (10)

• Oregon (8)

• Shabbona (8)

• Creston (7)

• Galena (7)

• Sterling (7)

• Aurora (6)

• Cortland (6)

• Belvidere (5)

• Earlville (5)

• Genoa (5)

• Mendota (5)

• Rochelle (5)

• Waterman (5)

Northern Illinois University Regional History Center and University Archives

NIU IRAD Collections:

• Carroll County Birth Certificates Index, (1877–1913)

• JoDaviess County Almshouse Registers Index, (1846–1938)

• Kane County Circuit Court Case Files Index, (1836–1870)

• Lake County Circuit Court Case Files Index, (1840–1898)

• Ogle County Almshouse Register Index, (1878–1933)

• Ogle County Naturalization Papers (County Court) Index, (1872–1906)

Northern Illinois University Regional History Center and University Archives

University Archives and Regional Collections:

• Inventories of on-site collections

• Browse Digital Collections

Northern Illinois University Special Collections:

• Government Publications

• Map Collection

  • Federal Township Plats of Illinois, 1801-1891 – This database offers full-color images of 3,547 township maps created within the state of Illinois during the nineteenth century. Features included within each six- mile-square are landforms, watercourses, vegetation and topographic elements ranging from roads, farms and settlements to cliffs and natural prairies.

  • Cartography And The History Of Maps And Map-Making

  • Geographic Databases

  • National, Regional And State Mapping Agencies

  • Star Atlases, Maps And Simulations

    • including Center for Burma Studies, ancient maps

  • Niu Mapping And Cartographic Resources

  • State And City Atlases

  • Geographic Information Systems ( Gis ) Data

• Music Library

• Rare Books and Special Collections

• The Donn V. Hart Southeast Asia Collection