52 Weeks of Genealogy Sources: Week 9, GPO Bookstore

The Government Printing Office (GPO) Bookstore has a  multitude of publications including books, maps and timelines that can help you with finding  social history for your genealogy.

According to the GPO website "The core mission of Keeping America Informed, dated to 1813 when Congress determined to make information regarding the work of the three branches of Government available to all Americans. The U.S Government Printing Office (GPO) provides publishing & dissemination services for the official & authentic government publications to Congress, Federal agencies, Federal depository libraries, & the American public." (from http://www.gpo.gov/about/).

There is so much great genealogical treasures from the GPO but for the purpose of this blog posting, I'm just going to focus on titles from the  GPO Bookstore.

The Bookstore allows you to browse by subject links on the left hand side of the homepage.  There are also some category tabs at the top.  I would recommend that you go beyond the subject you are interested in.  I found that the more I clicked around the subject links and the tabs, the more I found.  Some things were not indexed where I thought they  made sense.  For example, they have a publication about resources on researching women at the Library of Congress, American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States.  But it is not part of their Women's History Month Collection. So I would recommend clicking on the subject links on the side and the tabs at the top of the website to find everything you might be interested in.  

They do have a special values tab that is a list of publications that are at a reduced price.  Yes, publications at the GPO Bookstore do cost, they are not free.  Prices range from a few dollars to over $30.00 for a publication. 

You can keep current on what's available at the GPO Bookstore by signing up for the email alert, New Titles by Topic, found on their homepage, upper left hand side.

Just some of their titles include:

Hispanic Americans in Congress 1822-1995

Black Americans in Congress 1870-2007

Women in Congress, 1917-2006

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, L-M

Mud and Guts: A Look at the Common Solider in the American Revolutionary War

Against all Odds, United States Sailors in the War of 1812

Guide to United States Army Museums