Local History

Though Royal Oak’s first library appeared in 1852 as a reading room in the Township doctor’s home, it was not until almost the mid-twentieth century before the city’s librarians started collecting information about the city and documenting its history. To use the Local History Room visitors should make a reservation at this link.

The local history collection contains:

  • Yearbooks from Royal Oak High School, George A. Dondero High School, Clarence M. Kimball High School,
    Shrine Catholic High School & Academy, and St. Mary Catholic School starting in 1920
  • Polk City Directories for Royal Oak from 1922 to 1960
  • Bresser’s cross-index directories for the Royal Oak area covering 1952 to 2012
  • Historic atlases of Oakland County
  • A series of lectures by Father Charles Coughlin in addition to his paper “Social Justice” from 1938-1941
  • Old City Ordinances
  • Royal Oak City Budgets back to the 1940s
  • Various City Planning Studies
  • Books about Royal Oak and Oakland County and its residents
  • An extensive newspaper clipping file of Royal Oak newspapers

Local History Room Collection Finding Aid (PDF)

Royal Oak Public Library Timeline

Discover the rich history of the Royal Oak Public Library and learn how it has evolved over the years. Click this link to explore its journey, milestones, and contributions to the community.

The Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, MI) 1877-2015 - Digital archive

The library digitized its holdings of The Daily Tribune microfilm from November 1877 – September 2015. Users can search by name, subject, keyword, or browse by date. It’s an effective tool for finding local obituaries, local news and sports articles, and feature stories about Royal Oak businesses, organizations, local history, and government decisions. And just like the microfilm, users can browse pages as they were laid out in print. This is particularly helpful for users trying to glean a picture of what life was life in Royal Oak in a given month or year when it comes to the prices of goods and real estate, products being showcased in ads, local happenings in social events columns, and feature articles of local interest. For assistance in accessing or searching the databases, contact the Adult Reference Desk at (248) 246-3727.

To use at home or on a personal computer, click HERE

To use in the library computer lab, click HERE

Helpful Search Tips (PDF) | dtSearch Help (PDF)

This project was made possible through the generous support provided in memory of Jane Carpenter, a lifelong Royal Oak resident.

Ford Heritage Vault

Ford is making more than 5,000 curated Ford and Lincoln photographs and product brochures from the first century of the company’s history available to the public online for the first time – and will continue to grow the site as new items are added.

Library of Michigan: Michigan Materials

Contains information about Michigan facts and links to the Michigan Collection including County Guides, Historical Research Collections, Michigan Imprints 1851-1876, Michigan Bibliographies and the Michigan Digital Collections.

Library of Michigan: Michigan Newspapers

Contains links to Michigan Newspaper finding aids for news or obituaries by City and County, a list of newspaper holdings on microfilm, newspaper family histories and other newspaper resources.

Royal Oak Cemetery List 

This list is an Excel file containing information from handwritten books, cards and the Genealogical Society.

The Zekelman Holocaust Center Oral History Department

The Zekelman Holocaust Center's Oral History Department is an ongoing initiative and has collected more than 700 testimonies since the early 1980s of Holocaust survivors, liberators, veterans, other witnesses, and rescuers. These testimonies provide invaluable historical information that can be used by generations of historians, psychologists, and social scientists.