May 2025 Resource Spotlight: School Yearbooks

The school year is coming to a close, and school yearbooks are being distributed to the students. If you would like to see school yearbooks from the past, the library has a couple resources for you to use: Ancestry.com, opens a new window and MyHeritage Library Edition, opens a new window. While known as a genealogy resources, there are many interesting digitized books available in both, including a growing collection of high school and college yearbooks! When using these resources, you will often find school yearbooks duplicated in both, but not always. Sometimes, the school and year you are searching for will only be available in one or the other. These resources are found linked on the Genealogy Resources webpage. 

The State of Ohio provides free in-library access to Ancestry.com, opens a new window for all Ohio residents to use. To locate the yearbooks: 

1. Open Ancestry.com, opens a new window by clicking on its name from the library’s genealogy webpage 
2. Scroll down to Quick Links  
3. Click on Schools, Directories & Church Histories 
4. Scroll over to Featured Data Collections 
5. Click on U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016 

Now you can either do a search of all the digitized yearbooks by filling in the various search fields or you can choose to Browse this collection where you choose from drop-down menus for: 

• State 
• City 
• School Name 

If you do choose to browse, you will find that, for some of the schools in Mahoning County, yearbooks for various years may be linked under both a specific township and also the main city. For example, Austintown Fitch High School has a few yearbooks linked under the township of Austintown, plus more are found linked under the city of Youngstown. 

The Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County provides free access to MyHeritage Library Edition, opens a new window for all PLYMC library cardholders, both inside and outside the library. To find yearbooks: 

1. Open MyHeritage Library Edition, opens a new window by clicking on its name from the library’s genealogy webpage 
2. Scroll to Categories 
3. Click on Schools & Universities 
4. Click on U.S. Yearbooks, 1890-1979 

Now you can search the collection by filling in the various search fields. If you only fill in a school name or location, you will see all the many years available. Once you click on a result, then you can browse the entire digitized yearbook! 

Another place to check for school yearbooks is this free website: Free Ohio High School and College Yearbooks Online, opens a new window from Ancestor Hunt. Here you will find links to free digitized yearbooks found online from many websites, such as FamilySearch.org, Internet Archive, and the digital archives of various schools, universities and libraries. 

By the way, for school yearbooks not found online, it’s always a good idea to contact the school. Many school districts maintain a collection of their past yearbooks. In fact, for Youngstown city schools which no longer exist, the Library Media Center at Chaney High School, opens a new window (330-744-8822) has a collection. Plus, The archives, opens a new window of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, opens a new window, located at the Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center, opens a new window, include yearbooks from local high schools. Call 330-743-2589 or email archives@mahoninghistory.org, opens a new window for specific information on this collection. 

I hope you enjoy your time delving into the past, viewing school photos from yesteryear. For more on how to use these resources, you can always receive one-on-one help from a librarian by calling 330-744-8636, emailing ASK@libraryvisit.org, opens a new window or visiting any library, opens a new window.