Learn how to utilize SLPL's Obituary Index and newspaper collection together to locate St. Louis obituaries and death notices.
The St. Louis Obituary Index is a searchable database of names that appeared within the burial permits, funeral notices, obituary articles and fraternal notices of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper for the years 1880-1931, 1942-1945, 1960-1970, Jan-Jun 1971 and 1992-2023.
The St. Louis Obituary Index also includes names from the "Death of the Week", "Card of Thanks" and "In Memoriam" sections of the St. Louis Argus for the years from 1915-1922, 1930-1997.
In this database, you can search by name in the upper right hand corner. You can narrow-down your search results by using the filters in the 'Advanced Search' or from the tabs on the left-hand side of the page.
Each individual result will include their name, the title and date of the newspaper the obituary is located in, and the page number they can be found on.
The Historic St. Louis Post Dispatch (1874-2003) database is a great resource for researching local history, as well as family who lived in the St. Louis area.
If the Obituary Index identifies your specific individual as listed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sometime between 1874 and 2003, this is the database you want to utilize. There are a variety of ways to use this database to find your obituary. One way is to do a keyword search in the 'Basic Search' box. You can also use the 'Advanced Search' tab to narrow down your search. But one of most straight-forward ways to locate the obituary and/or death notice is by searching the specific issue identified via the Obituary Index.
At the home page of this Historic St. Louis Post Dispatch (1874-2003) database, you can click on the 'Publications' tab, which will narrow down the newspaper by dates and title. There are 5 specific publications listed:
Once you click on the 'Publication' that contains the paper you are looking for, you can "Choose an issue to view" by selecting the Year, Month, and Day from the dropdown menus. When you have the correct issue selected, you can 'View Issue.' Each available page from that specific issue should pop-up as a result. The easiest and most thorough process would be to select 'Page 1' of that issue. The front page from that issue will open up and you can navigate page-by-page till you get to the page you are looking for. Navigating page-by-page can help as the Obituary Index may provide the section AND page number (i.e. page C6) and the Publication Issue may be organized by total-counted pages (i.e. page 24 of 36).
If the obituary or death notice is listed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch post-2003, you will want to use the NewsBank database, contact the Genealogy Room at the Central Library at 314-539-0385, or visit us to explore St. Louis local newspapers on microfilm.
The NewsBank database is another free resource SLPL offers to library card holders. It is especially helpful for view more recent newspapers, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Since our Obituary Index only includes local St. Louis listings, you will want to scroll-down and select the 'St. Louis Post-Dispatch Collection' which will be on the right-hand side. This will take you to two options: a TEXT-format option that ranges from 1988-Current; and an IMAGE-format option that ranges from 2020-Current.
The TEXT-format will only show the available text from the newspaper and the IMAGE-format will provide the actual image of the newspaper. Once you select the option you want to use, you can 'Browse Issues by Date' by selecting the Year via the drop-down menu and clicking on the date (month and day) in the calendar.
Once you have the issue selected, you can navigate the newspaper page-by-page, use the page number drop-down menu at the top of the page, or click on the specific page located in the 'Page Thumbnails' section on the right-hand side.
SLPL cardholders can explore this extensive online database of historical newspapers from the early 1700s into the early 2000s. It contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in the US and other countries, including the St. Louis Globe Democrat and St. Louis Argus. Date ranges vary by publication.
This database allows you to do keyword searches, narrow down dates, and select specific locations simultaneously. You can also search for specific newspapers by title and/or location. By utilizing the 'Browse' tab, you can view search through over 100 newspapers that are specific to St. Louis. Both the 'Browse' tab and 'Papers' tab will allow you to search by specific newspaper and date.
Even though this database does not contain obituaries, it can still be an extremely helpful resource - especially if someone in your family passed away in the state of Missouri sometime between 1910 and 1973.
The Missouri State Archives offers access to over 2.5 million digitized death certificates of persons who died in Missouri. Currently, the database covers images of certificates issued from 1910 to 1973. This span reflects the time period from 1910 when the keeping of death records in Missouri became mandatory by law, to the most recent year opened to public access. The Index is updated annually to include another year's worth of records. A smaller database of pre-1910 birth and death records from areas of Missouri where such records were kept is also included.
If the date coverage for the newspaper you are looking for is not digitally available within the previously mentioned resources, please contact the Genealogy Room at 314-539-0385 or submit an Obituary Request using the Obituary Request Form.
The Genealogy Room has a local newspaper collection that far exceeds the collection found digitally. All of these local newspapers are preserved on microfilm and are available for anyone to view. Below is a link to our Newspaper Brochure that identifies the local newspapers we have, as well as the date coverage available.