Research your genealogy with free resources from the library! Metro Archives and the Special Collections Division have lots of materials and guides. Our genealogy databases help you start your research from home.

Metro Archives

Metro Archives holds birth records, death records, marriage records, wills, Nashville City Directories, court records, cemetery records, naturalization records, and military discharge records. 

Metro Archives also has records pertaining specifically to African American genealogy: county court records, the African-American Marriages Index (1789-1905), Mt. Ararat Cemetery Records, Nashville Globe Obituaries, and the Nashville Enslaved and Free People of Color Database. 

View all Archives Genealogy Resources

Special Collections   

Special Collections holds published county records, community and family histories for Nashville and Davidson County as well as counties throughout Middle Tennessee. Other helpful materials include histories of Nashville businesses and places of worship, Nashville City Directories, news clippings and ephemera files. 

You'll also find genealogy how-to books, as well as genealogical abstracts and indexes for Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Great Britain. 

Learn More About Special Collections