Biographical Sources

American National Biography is the standard American source for biographies of deceased major figures. Can do searches of occupations and limit by date.

Note that if you select American Indian Heritage at Search Special Collections and enter no search term, you get 294 biographies.

World Biographical Information System includes full text of thousands of biographical dictionaries accessible by name of biographee. Partly online full text, partly microfiche or print. More information.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index (BGMI) indexes thousands of English-language biographical dictionaries and other compendia. Not full text; one must do HOLLIS searches for retrieved sources.

Additional sources in Finding Biographical Information

North American Indian Thought and Culture contains an enormous collection of Indian autobiographies and other personal writings.

A to Z of American Indian women, by Liz Sonneborn. Rev. ed. New York : Facts On File, 2007, 320 p.
HOLLIS Record

Native American women: a biographical dictionary, ed. by Gretchen M. Bataille, Laurie Lisa. 2nd ed. NY: Routledge, 2001, 396 p.
HOLLIS Record

Distinguished Native American spiritual practitioners and healers, by Troy R. Johnson. Westport, Conn. : Oryx Press, 2002, 293 p.  
HOLLIS Record

Encyclopedia of frontier biography, by Dan L. Thrapp. Glendale, Calif. : A.H. Clark Co., 1988-1994. 4 v.
HOLLIS Record

Biographical and historical index of American Indians and persons involved in Indian affairs. Boston, G.K. Hall, 1966. 8 v.
HOLLIS Record (Print only)
Internet Archive (May be borrowed; free registration needed)
--Bureau of Indian Affairs file of 200,000 cards with references to monographs, periodical articles, government documents, and BIA archival and manuscript material. Includes both Indians and non-Indians, e.g., Indian agents, anthropologists, BIA employees. Most entries 19th century to about 1950. Indexed by tribe and subject.

Biographical dictionary of Indians of the Americas. 2nd ed. Newport Beach, CA: American Indian Publishers, 1991. 2 v.
HOLLIS Record

Biographical dictionary of American Indian history to 1900, by C. Waldman. Rev. ed. NY: Facts on File, 2001.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text
--Over 1000 biographies of about equal numbers of Indians and non-Indians involved in Indian history (anthropologists, photographers, etc.). Good coverage of variant names and translation problems. Short terminal bibliography. Appendixes list persons by tribe, area of activity (scouts, captives, etc.), topic (exploration, mining & gold rushes, relocation, etc.), and historical period. Substantial name/topic index. Indexed in Biography and genealogy master index.

Great North American Indians: profiles in life and leadership, by F. J. Dockstader. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977, 386 p.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text  --  Another copy

Franz Boas, by Vernon J. Williams (Oxford Bibliographies) is an annotated bibliography of works about Franz Boas, American anthropologist and student of Indian culture.

Biographical Index of Artists in Canada. By Evelyn de R. McMann. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003

American engravers upon copper and steel. David McNeeley Stauffer. 3 vols. New York: B. Franklin, [1964]. AH/C NE505.S8 1964 Reference
Vol. 1: Biographical sketches, with selected illustrations of engravers' works; vol. 2: Check-list of the works of the earlier engravers; vol. 3: Biographical sketches and check-lists of engravings; a supplement to David McNeely Stauffer's American engravers upon copper and steel, by Mantle Fielding.
Pt 1 WBIS

American engravers upon copper and steel: biographical sketches and check lists of engravings. Mantle Fielding. New York : B. Franklin, [1964], c1917. AH/C NE505.S8 1964 vol. 3 Reference, MAIN NE505.F5 1964
Biographical sketches and check lists of engravings; a supplement to David McNeely Stauffer's American engravers upon copper and steel.

American women artists: from the Indian times to the present. Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein. New York: Avon; Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall, 1982. Doe Reference [Biographies] N6505.R8 1982
Comprehensive chronological survey covers major sculptors and painters. Organized by historical periods. Traditional and avant-garde styles represented. Selected bibliography. Illustrated.

American women artists, past and present: a selected bibliographic guide. Eleanor Tufts. New York: Garland, 1984-1989. (Garland reference library of the humanities; v. 504, 1123) 2 vols. Doe Reference [Biographies] N6505.A12.T8 1984
Volume one includes 500 well and lesser-known artists born between the late 17th century and the first half of the 20th century. Covers painters, sculptors, graphic artists, photographers and conceptual artists. Volume two comprises 1,200 artists, including women born in the 1950s, and supplements the first volume by augmenting entries.

Artists as illustrators: an international directory with signatures and monograms, 1800 to the present. John Castagno, ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1989.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA155.11.100 Location : Widener WID-LC NC961.63 .C37 1989

*****Artists of early Michigan : a biographical dictionary of artists native to or active in Michigan, 1701-1900 / compiled by Arthur Hopkin Gibson ; research assistants, Beverly Bassett and Jean Spang. Published : Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 1975, 249 p. Location : Fine Arts FA920.570.2

Artists of the American West: a biographical dictionary. Doris Ostrander Dawdy. Chicago: Sage Books, [1974-1981]. 2 vols. Doe Reference [Biographies] N6536.D381
Volume one covers approximately 1,350 painters, illustrators or printmakers born before 1900, famous and obscure, who painted in the American West. 3 v..
Location : Fine Arts FAL-LC N6536 .D38 1974
BGMI, WBIS

Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works. A handbook containing two thousand and fifty biographical sketches., by Clara Erskine Clement and Laurence Hutton. 2 v. 5th ed. Boston: J.R. Osgood & Co., 1889. Online http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.FIG:005497824 Location : Fine Arts Harvard Depository FA431.35
BGMI

Arts in America: a bibliography. Bernard Karpel, ed. 4 vols. Washington: Archives of American Art, 1979.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA281.2.1.4 Library Info Location : Loeb Design Z5961.U5 A77

The Illustrated biographical encyclopedia of artists of the American West. Peggy and Harold Samuels. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA156.2.79
BGMI, WBIS

Index to artistic biography. Patricia Havlice. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2002. Second Supplement. 2 vols. AH/C N40.H38 Suppl. 2 Reference
Covers 131 additional titles published since the first supplement (see entry 17). Includes some French and Spanish titles.

Index to artistic biography. Patricia Havlice. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1973. First supplement, 1981. 2 vols.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA155.36
Supplement: Fine Arts Harvard Depository RFA155.36.2
Index to location of artists' biographies, including 64 works in 10 languages. Basic biographical information, plus variant spellings, pseudonyms and alternate names of artists. Supplement covers 70 additional titles.

Internationales Handbuch aller Maler und Bildhauer des 19. Jahrhunderts. Joachim Busse. Wiesbaden: Busse, 1977.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA155.10 Covers approximately 89,000 artists active in the 19th century. Basic biographical information, with a focus on lesser-known Western artists. Bibliographical references for each entry.

****Jacobsen's biographical index of American artists : artists native to the United States or working in the United States from 1606 to 2002, edited by Anita Jacobsen. Carrollton, Tex. : A.J. Publications, 2002. 4 v. Fine Arts | FAL-LC | N6536 .J33 2002

Mallett’s index of artists: international-biographical including painters, sculptors, illustrators, engravers and etchers of the past and the present. Daniel Mallett. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1935.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA155.53
Location : Widener RR2611.1

Mantle Fielding's dictionary of American painters, sculptors & engravers. Glenn B. Opitz, ed. 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie, NY: Apollo, 1986.
Location : Fine Arts RFA156.2.28.8 (2nd ed.)
Location : Widener RR2611.22 (1st ed.)
Over 12,000 artists from the 18th through 20th centuries. Entries include birth and death dates, exhibitions, collections, education, and awards. Bibliography.
1st ed WBIS

****The New York Historical Society's dictionary of artists in America, 1564-1860. George C. Groce, & David H. Wallace. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957. Doe Reference [Biographies] & MAIN N6536.N4
Brief entries on native or visiting foreign-born artists, covering painting, drawing and sketching, sculpture, engraving, lithography, and silhouette cutting.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA156.2.59
Location : Houghton Reading Room N6536 .N4 1957
Location : Map Coll (Pusey) REF MAP-LC N6536 .N4
Location : Theatre Collection Reading Room N6536 .N4 1957
Location : Widener RR2611.25
BGMI

****Who was who in American art, 1564-1975: 400 years of artists in America. Peter Hasting Falk, ed. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1999. 3 vols.
Location : Fine Arts Reading Room RFA156.2.26.2
Compilation of the original 34 volumes of the American art annual: who's who in art. Covers artists active between 1898-1947. Biographical and historical data on nearly 25,000 artists, including craftspeople, photographers, cartoonists, curators, critics and educators. (check, this is for 1st ed.)
BGMI

Women artists in America: 18th century to the present (1790-1980). Jim Collins & Glenn B. Opitz, eds. Rev. and enl. Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: Apollo, 1980.
Concise entries on 4,000 artists. Covers painters, sculptors, printmakers and ceramists. Illustrated.

Women artists in the United States: a selective bibliography and resource guide on the fine and decorative arts, 1750-1986. Paula L. Chiarmonte. Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall, 1990.

Biographical Index of Artists in Canada. By Evelyn de R. McMann. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003
HOLLIS Record

American engravers upon copper and steel, by David McNeeley Stauffer.  3 vols.  New York: B. Franklin, [1964].
HOLLIS Records Pt 1 in WBIS

  • Vol. 1:  Biographical sketches, with selected illustrations of engravers' works  --  Internet Archive full text
  • vol. 2:  Check-list of the works of the earlier engravers  --  Internet Archive full text
  • vol. 3:  Biographical sketches and check-lists of engravings; a supplement to David McNeely Stauffer's American engravers upon copper and steel, by Mantle Fielding.  --  Internet Archive full text

American women artists:  from early Indian times to the present.  Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein.  NY: Avon; Boston: G.K. Hall, 1982.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text  --  Another copy
Comprehensive chronological survey covers major sculptors and painters.  Organized by historical periods.  Traditional and avant-garde styles represented.  Selected bibliography.  Illustrated.

American women artists, past and present: a selected bibliographic guide.  Eleanor Tufts.  New York: Garland, 1984-1989. (Garland reference library of the humanities; v. 504, 1123) 2 vols.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text
Volume one includes 500 well and lesser-known artists born between the late 17th century and the first half of the 20th century.  Covers painters, sculptors, graphic artists, photographers and conceptual artists.  Volume two comprises 1,200 artists, including women born in the 1950s, and supplements the first volume by augmenting entries.

Artists as illustrators: an international directory with signatures and monograms, 1800 to the present.  John Castagno, ed.  Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1989.
HOLLIS Record

Artists of early Michigan : a biographical dictionary of artists native to or active in Michigan, 1701-1900 / compiled by Arthur Hopkin Gibson ; research assistants, Beverly Bassett and Jean Spang. Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 1975, 249 p.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text

Artists of the American West: a biographical dictionary, by Doris Ostrander Dawdy. Chicago: Sage Books, [1974-1981]. 2 vols.
Volume one covers approximately 1,350 painters, illustrators or printmakers born before 1900, famous and obscure, who painted in the American West.  3 v..
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text: vol. 1  --  vol. 2  --  vol. 3
BGMI, WBIS

Artists of the Nineteenth Century and Their Works. A handbook containing two thousand and fifty biographical sketches., by Clara Erskine Clement and Laurence Hutton. 2 v.  5th ed. Boston: J.R. Osgood & Co., 1889. 
HOLLIS Record
HathiTrust full text (1907 ed.)
BGMI

Arts in America: a bibliography.  Bernard Karpel, ed. 4 vols. Washington: Archives of American Art, 1979.
HOLLIS Record

The Illustrated biographical encyclopedia of artists of the American West.  Peggy and Harold Samuels. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text
Internet Archive full text
 (1985 ed.)  --  Another copy
BGMI, WBIS

Index to artistic biography, by Patricia Havlice.  Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1973. 2 vols.
HOLLIS Record  --  Internet Archive Full Text: Vol. 1 (A-H)  --  Another copy
HOLLIS Record Supplement (1981. 2 vols.) 
Internet Archive Full Text:  Supplement 1  --  Supplement 2
Index to location of artists' biographies, including 64 works in 10 languages.  Basic biographical information, plus variant spellings, pseudonyms and alternate names of artists.  Supplement covers 70 additional titles.  

Internationales Handbuch aller Maler und Bildhauer des 19. Jahrhunderts.  Joachim Busse.  Wiesbaden:  Busse, 1977.
HOLLIS Record
--Covers approximately 89,000 artists active in the 19th century.  Basic biographical information, with a focus on lesser-known Western artists.  Bibliographical references for each entry.

Jacobsen's biographical index of American artists : artists native to the United States or working in the United States from 1606 to 2002, edited by Anita Jacobsen. Carrollton, Tex. : A.J. Publications, 2002.  4 v.
HOLLIS Record

Mallett’s index of artists:  international-biographical including painters, sculptors, illustrators, engravers and etchers of the past and the present, by Daniel Mallett.  New York: R.R. Bowker, 1935.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text
Supplement  (1948)  --  Internet Archive full text

Mantle Fielding's dictionary of American painters, sculptors & engravers.  Glenn B. Opitz, ed.  2nd ed.  Poughkeepsie, NY: Apollo, 1986.
HOLLIS Record   (2nd ed.)  --  Internet Archive full text
HOLLIS Record (1st ed.)  --  Internet Archive full text
Over 12,000 artists from the 18th  through 20th centuries.  Entries include birth and death dates, exhibitions, collections, education, and awards.  Bibliography.
1st ed WBIS

The New York Historical Society's dictionary of artists in America, 1564-1860.  George C. Groce, & David H. Wallace.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957. Doe Reference [Biographies] & MAIN N6536.N4
Brief entries on native or visiting foreign-born artists, covering painting, drawing and sketching, sculpture, engraving, lithography, and silhouette cutting.   BGMI
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text

Who was who in American art, 1564-1975: 400 years of artists in America, ed, by Peter Hasting Falk. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1999. 3 vols.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text
--Compilation of the original 34 volumes of the American art annual: who's who in art.  Covers artists active between 1898-1947.  Biographical and historical data on nearly 25,000 artists, including craftspeople, photographers, cartoonists, curators, critics and educators. (check, this is for 1st ed.)  BGMI

Women artists in the United States: a selective bibliography and resource guide on the fine and decorative arts, 1750-1986, by Paula L. Chiarmonte.  Boston, Mass.: G. K. Hall, 1990.
HOLLIS Record
Internet Archive full text