11.9 Yearbooks
One fun type of research is found in scouring yearbooks. Ancestry has the easiest-to search-interface for identifying family members in yearbooks, but each of the big four websites offer yearbook collections. Yearbooks make research come alive and they span the twentieth century. Besides offering photographs of Grandma and Grandpa at their prime, yearbooks document involvement in extracurricular activities and point to hobbies and interests. Sometimes a favorite quote personally selected by the student is included.
Adoptees find yearbooks to be fascinating because yearbooks may provide the first look at biological family members and show what they valued by how they spent their time. Nicknames and associations may also be listed in a yearbook, which gives a researcher an idea not just about what a person looked like, or what clubs they were involved with, but how others perceived them at that time in their lives. If available for members of the research family, photographs and information from yearbooks are a great addition, adding interest and personality to research reports.
CHICAGO STYLE:
Name of collection in quotation marks, “entry for” name of individual, italicized website, access date written in full month, numerical day, year, url.1
“U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016,” entry for Stephen Trotter, Ancestry, accessed February 12, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1265/records/585431824?tid=&pid=&queryId=09c02295-1841-4030-86ab-829e83475361&_phsrc=qeJ4254&_phstart=successSource.
EVIDENCE EXPLAINED:
Start with the name of the school and (location), add the name of the yearbook in quotation marks, page number, name of research subject, description of the database, name of the collection in quotation marks, italicized repository (url : access date). 2
SENSIBLE CITATION:
Collection name in quotations marks, name of the person “yearbook” standardized date, standardized place, describe the database, add identifying information, italicized website, standardized access date. Embed the url from the person’s name to the end of the standardized place of last residence.
“U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016,” Stephen Trotter, 1967, Buscher High School, Santa Clara, California, United States, database with images, page 58, image 62 of 208, Ancestry, accessed 12 February, 2025.
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