Research
Archival and Collections Research
The museums Archival Research Wing contains a library of books pertaining to General Historical Information, Arkansas Resources, Civil War, Native Americans, and published Family Histories. Shelves are dedicated to books, transcriptions of public records, and historical journals from each of the twelve counties served by the museum. A public access computer, microfilm reader/printer, and video-viewing station provide important historical information. Research takes place around comfortable tables in a pleasant environment with volunteers to assist visitors.
None of our archival resources can be accessed on line due to the time it takes to place them there. Researchers are invited to come to the museum to gain information directly from our holdings.
We welcome all researchers to our archives. While not required, we strongly recommend the scheduling of research visits. A pre-scheduling of your visit can become vital if you are from out of town and traveling to our museum. The OIRM docent and archival staff are volunteers. While we strive to have volunteer staff available to assist researchers during all operational hours, there are times when we are limited on personnel. Coordinating with us on your planned visit allows us to ensure a volunteer assistant is available to maximize archival resources as well as capitalize on your valuable time. To schedule an archival research visit, please call 870-793-2121 or email us. We look forward to assisting you.
Independence County Public Tax Records are housed in the museums vault room. Docents will bring out the volume requested to be studied by researchers.
- Original Real Estate Tax Records inclusive from 1840-1900
- Original Personal Property Tax Records 1840-1930
- Other Independence County original public records
- Miscellaneous Records
Independence County Probate Packets, boxes 1 through 142, cover the 1830s through 1930s. These packets are invaluable resources for those searching death records. They contain vouchers, letters of administration, descriptions of personal and real property, and names of heirs. A surname index lists all estates probated.
Historical Society Journals from Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff counties are on the archival library shelves. Published city, county, church, and school histories are also available.
Surname and Community History Files are housed
in filing cabinets alphabetically for visitors to search through for
genealogical or historical information. Researchers are encouraged to add
unbound copies of their family history to the files.
Click for
Surname File
Community History File
Independence County Marriage Record Index 1824-2005 is available to visitors using the research computer in the archival wing.
Maps are placed on an accessible rack in the library and also within a multi-drawer map case that Docents may retrieve for the visiting researcher. Modern county maps in the rack include Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff.
- Maps of Arkansas
- U.S.Geological Survey Quadrangle Maps, showing land forms and unnamed building locations.
- Cemetery Direction Maps for 12 Counties
Ledgers in Museum Collections
- Business
- Goodwin Drug Store ledgers and papers, 1886-1950
- Organizations
- Government
Microfilm Holdings in the Archives can be viewed and printed.
- Tax and Survey Records by County
- Will and Probate Records by County
- Deed Indexes by County
- Marriage Records by County
- Miscellaneous Independence County Records
- Batesville Daily Guard Newspaper 1907 - 1957, with a few exceptions during those years.
Oral History Cassette and Video Tapes can be played in the museum. They cover a wide range of subjects interesting to researchers.
- Video Tapes, including large collections filmed by Hail Bryant.
- Compact Disk Interviews,are being collected, and copies are available for listening and note-taking in the museum.
Computer Access is Available to the Researching Visitor, including material on Compact Disks, Internet Sites, and the Museums Collections.
- Compact Disks can be viewed on the Visitors Computer in the Library.
Old Independence Regional Museum Collections are entered into the PastPerfect Collections Management System on networked computers in the museum. A visiting researcher may access information about every item in our collections through the Visitors Computer. The Collections data are Read Only files and cannot be edited through the visitors computer.
- PastPerfect as a Collections Card Catalog will give such information as: collection names, date received and from whom, object identification and provenance, subjects related to the object. It will allow specific research through four categories or catalogs of the museum collections.
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