GUIDES & RESOURCES

iLibrary

Newspaper Obituaries

Our Central Library has Indianapolis newspapers on microfilm from about 1822 to the present. You may access the microfilm collection in person during library hours. We can also mail a copy of an obituary to you for a fee. We have limited staff resources for doing searches, so you will need to provide an exact date of death or burial (see sources below). We will search the newspapers within 5 days of the date of death or burial.

If you would like us to send you a copy of an obituary, you will need to provide us with the following information:

  • Full name of the deceased
  • Exact date of death or burial
  • Your name and mailing address

The charge for searching is $1.00 for Marion County residents and $7.25 for Non-residents per name. This includes the cost of copying one page of an obituary. If the obituary is more than one page, we will send you a bill for the extra copies. Pre-payment is required for amounts over $10.00. Mail your request with a check or money order to I-MCPL.

           IMCPL
           Obituary Requests
           Central Library Services
           P.O. Box 211
           Indianapolis, IN 46206

Below are listed sources which may assist you in determining the date of death or burial.

Websites

Crown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill is the largest cemetery in Indianapolis.  You can search their burial database to obtain a burial date.
Marion County Board of Health
Has death records from 1882.
Indiana State Department of Health
Has death records from 1900.
Indiana State Library Genealogy Division
Has a printed index of Marion County death records 1882-1920.