ONLINE NEWSPAPERS IN FAMILY HISTORY

©2019 by Donald R. Snow
This page was last updated 2019-02-03.
Return to the  Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page  or  Don's Class Listings Page .
ABSTRACT: Newspapers began in the US in 1690 and are a great source of information about our ancestors and what happened. This class will discuss how to find newspapers for the time and locality you are interested in, which ones are digitized and online, and how to search them. We will see examples of family history information in newspapers, including vital records, obituaries, stories, and history. The Library of Congress and other agencies are funding groups to digitize newspapers in all the U.S. states and post them online. These start with small-town newspapers since they contain so much family history. The FamilySearch Department of the LDS Church has a major program of indexing newspapers, including obituaries and other information in them. Since newspapers are public, they also have information about living people. The notes for this class and related articles, all with active Internet links, are posted on my website  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html   .

    WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

  1. Instructor is Donald R. Snow (snowd@math.byu.edu) of Provo and St. George, Utah.
  2. See  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html  for these and other related notes. 
  3. Tips: (1) To put an icon on your desktop for these notes, or any webpage, just drag the icon from in front of the address in your browser onto your desktop. (2) To open a link, but keep your place in these notes, hold down the Control key while clicking the link.
  4. The problem for today:  How to find and use information in online newspapers.

    5. KINDS OF INFORMATION IN NEWSPAPERS

  5. Newspapers started in the U.S. in 1690 (see Library of Congress website) and are a rich source of genealogy data.
  6. Types of information
    1. Vital records, birth, marriage, divorce, death and obituaries -- some newspapers published lists of vital records at the end of the year  
    2. News articles and photos -- school, military, current events, both local and worldwide  
    3. Social and society columns
    4. Stories about people
    5. Legal notices and public announcements  
    6. Historical information in newspapers like The New York Times and The London Times  
    7. Classified ads -- e.g. "Search for Missing Friends" Irish ads in The Boston Pilot -- http://www.americanancestors.org/search.aspx?Ca=098&Da=263 
  7. Humorous example -- Warren Ladd read his own obituary in the morning newspaper -- The Lowell Sun 30 Dec 1893 -- http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/11220376/

    8. HOW TO SAVE ARTICLES

  8. Saving and referencing articles 
    1. When you find something, keep track of it and make a copy -- estimated that one-fourth of all websites change every year    
    2. Save the reference, link, and even the webpage itself in a program like EVERNOTE -- free from  https://evernote.com/  
    3. May help to save a screen copy using a screen capture program -- see details below  
    4. Link the website to a person in your genealogy database and on FamilySearch Family Tree
  9. Do screenshots of part of all of screen -- FastStone Capture is a good screen capture program   
    1. FastStone Capture has many features including copying scrolling windows and has an option to join images side-by-side, e.g. newspaper columns  
    2. Last freeware version was 5.3, still available from  http://www.aplusfreeware.com/categories/mmedia/FastStoneCapture.html  
    3. Current version 9 is shareware, available from  http://www.faststone.org/FSCaptureDetail.htm   for a one-time license fee of $20
  10. My system for naming screenshots, document scans, and files so they sort into a timeline for the person's life  
    1. Name of file -- "SurnameGivenNames(Married name)(birth year-death year)-(Event date YYYY-MM-DD)-Event-Description--DateOfScreenshortOrScanned.ext"  
    2. Example -- ManwaringDiane(Snow)(1934-2012)-2012-10-10-Obituary-SaltLakeDeseretNews-2012-10-13-Ancestry-com--2014-04-10.pdf   
    3. Including birth and death years shows time period and distinguishes people with same name, so no need for Jr., Sr, etc., unless that was really part of their name 
    4. Maiden name of woman is at start so everything for her sorts together -- married name in parentheses helps in identification  
    5. For events and type of record I use one or more keywords in caps like BIRTH, MARRIAGE, DEATH, NEWS, LDS, DOC, SCHOOL, EDUCATION, CENSUS, LETTER, MEDICAL, MILITARY, HISTORY, GENEALOGY, TALK, AUDIO, etc. -- this allows showing only certain types of events, if you want   
    6. Event dates are in International Date Format YYYY-MM-DD after name so the files sort chronologically for each person -- putting date anywhere else or in another format makes titles not alphabetize chronologically to form a timeline   
    7. Freeware program EVERYTHING from   http://voidtools.com/  finds and lists all files for the person chronologically, wherever they are on your computer and by using keywords you can show only certain types of events or documents  
    8. See more details in my Screen Capture and Freeware Corner notes on  http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html   

    FREE ONLINE NEWSPAPER WEBSITES

  11. FamilySearch
    1. FamilySearch Wiki has more than 14,000 articles with the word "newspapers" in them -- Wiki article about U.S. Newspapers is  https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Newspapers
    2. FamilySearch Catalog -- https://familysearch.org/ -- keyword search for "newspaper" has more than 15,000 hits; "newspapers st. george utah" has 157 hits  
    3. New FamilySearch pilot program called "Zoning" for indexing -- http://fh.familysearch.org/system/files/team/ait/Indexing/QuickStart.pdf -- has indexers specify which parts of newspaper pages have genealogy data and should be indexed  
  12. Linkpendium -- http://www.linkpendium.com -- major listing of newspapers in each state, county, and town, whetber hard copy, filmed, digitized, and if online        
  13. Elephind -- https://www.elephind.com/ -- searches and links to world-wide newspapers; list of Elephind newspapers -- https://elephind.com/?a=p&p=browsepubs   
  14. BYU Library Newspaper Links -- http://sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/ > http://sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/periodicals/ 
  15. BYU-I Library Newspaper Links -- http://libguides.byui.edu/content.php?pid=9726&sid=80620
  16. Utah newspapers
    1. Utah Digital Newspapers -- http://digitalnewspapers.org/ -- University of Utah has grant from Library of Congress to digitize all Utah newspapers; chart of papers and dates currently online -- http://digitalnewspapers.org/public/pdf/timeline.pdf 
    2. Pioneer Library website -- http://pioneer.utah.gov/news/index.html  or    Pioneer Library Newspaper Portal -- https://onlinelibrary.utah.gov/news/index.html -- Some require your Utah public library card to access   
    3. Deseret News -- https://www.deseretnews.com/ and Deseret News Archives -- https://www.deseretnews.com/daily-index , and -- https://newspaperarchive.com/us/utah/salt-lake-city/salt-lake-city-deseret-news/ -- https://digitalnewspapers.org/newspaper/?paper=Deseret%20News -- not all back issues have been posted  
    4. For links to early vital records extracted from Utah newspapers see Don's class notes about LDS and Utah Records on  http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html          
  17. Obituary searches -- http://www.legacy.com/ns/about/newspapers/    
  18. Library of Congress Digital Collections -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/ ,  http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ , and  http://www.loc.gov/library/libarch-digital.html .
  19. National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) -- http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/
  20. Wikipedia list of newspapers and links -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives
  21. The Ancestor Hunt -- links, helps, and lessons -- http://www.theancestorhunt.com/newspapers.html  and  http://www.theancestorhunt.com/newspaper-research-links.html#.XFet3lxKiM8   
  22. Online Historical Newspapers Website -- https://sites.google.com/site/onlinenewspapersite/  
  23. GENUKI -- http://www.genuki.org.uk/ -- UK and Ireland  
  24. RootsWeb -- https://wiki.rootsweb.com/wiki/index.php?search=newspapers&title=Special%3ASearch&go=Go  
  25. US GenWeb -- http://www.usgenweb.org/ -- Go to state > county > city  
  26. Cyndislist -- https://www.cyndislist.com/newspapers/ -- more than 1000 links to newspapers   
  27. US Newspaper List -- http://www.usnpl.com/ 
  28. Internet Public Library -- http://www.ipl.org/
  29. Old New York newspapers -- http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html -- can search many old New York newspapers, including the New York Times; read the FAQ before using it  
  30. Small Town Papers -- http://www.smalltownpapers.com/ -- list of several hundred current small town newspapers with archives  
  31. The Olden Times Historic Newspapers Online -- http://theoldentimes.com/index.html  
  32. Google Newspapers -- http://news.google.com/newspapers -- and Google News Archive -- http://www.google.com/archivesearch  (Wait for the search box to open.) -- also see more info about Google Archives Search at  https://support.google.com/news/answer/1638638?hl=en  and Google Newspapers at  http://www.davescomputertips.com/huge-archive-of-digitalized-newspapers/  
  33. Michigan State U Guide to Historical Newspaper Databases -- http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/newspaperguide  
  34. Illinois Newpaper Project (INP) -- https://www.library.illinois.edu/inp/database.php -- has more than just Illinois newspapers  
  35. California Digital Newspaper Collection -- http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc  
  36. Quincy (Illinois) Public Library website -- http://www.quincylibrary.org , then click on Reference and Research tab  
    1. Historical Newspaper Archive -- many articles about the Mormons in Nauvoo  
    2. US National Newspaper websites -- links to many current national newspapers    
  37. New York Times photos -- http://livelymorgue.tumblr.com
  38. Ethnic and trade-type newspapers, e.g. Polish language in Chicago, military newspapers, and Carpenters Union newspapers in various places  

    39. COMMERCIAL ONLINE NEWSPAPER WEBSITES (Some are Free for LDS and at FHC's)

  39. Genealogy Bank ($) -- https://www.genealogybank.com/ -- large collection of historic newspapers; can search and see snippets for free; claims that 95% of its newspapers are only on this website and not elsewhere  
  40. Godfrey Memorial Library ($) -- https://www.godfrey.org/ -- free at FHC's -- includes the following:
    1. Newspaper Archive ($) -- https://newspaperarchive.com/ -- claims to be the largest online newspaper archive, includes several New York City newspapers and New York Times archive through 1857-1909  
    2. London (Digital) Times ($) -- https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ 
  41. Newspaper Archive and 19th Century British newspapers available in FHCs through the FHC Portal -- see Wiki article  https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Family_History_Center_Portal      
  42. Gale Digital Collections ($) -- http://www.gale.cengage.com/DigitalCollections/ -- search "Products by Name" to see newspapers 
  43. Newspapers.com ($) -- http://www.newspapers.com  -- owned by Ancestry  
  44. Ancestry's Newspaper Collection ($) -- https://www.newspapers.com/  and  http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=38 -- free to LDS and at FHCs      
  45. The British Newspaper Archive ($) -- http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk -- commercial, but you get a few pages free   
  46. Last Chance To Read ($) -- http://www.lastchancetoread.com -- 18th and 19th Century British newspapers   
  47. Fold3 ($) -- http://www.fold3.com/ -- owned by Ancestry; mostly military records, but includes some newspapers -- free at FHC's   
  48. MyHeritage Newspaper Collection -- https://www.myheritage.com/ -- then Research > Newspapers -- free to LDS and at FHC's   
  49. Personalized Newspaper Gifts ($) -- https://www.simplypersonalized.com/newspaper-gifts/ -- sells newspapers of various dates, etc. 

    51. CURRENT NEWSPAPER WEBSITES - MOSTLY COMMERCIAL

  51. Newspaper websites with archives worldwide -- http://www.refdesk.com/paper.html  
  52. New York Times -- http://www.nytimes.com/ -- free registration, but they charge for some articles; starts with first NY Times in 1851 -- knowing the date and title you may be able to find the same article for free on other websites    
  53. Chicago Tribune Archives -- https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/   
  54. Toronto Star -- https://www.thestar.com/archive.html     
  55. Los Angeles Times -- https://www.latimes.com/ -- free registration   
  56. Salt Lake Deseret News -- https://www.deseretnews.com/  Try
  57. Salt Lake Tribune -- https://www.sltrib.com/ -- Salt Lake Tribune Archives back to 1991 -- http://archive.sltrib.com/index.php?searchtab=archive -- charge for each article, but may be able to get it free elsewhere   
  58. St. George Spectrum -- https://www.thespectrum.com/

    59. ARTICLES ABOUT NEWSPAPERS IN FAMILY HISTORY

  59. Many newspapers are only in paper, microfilm, or microfiche format -- search  http://www.linkpendium.com/  and  https://www.worldcat.org/  to see where located    
  60. FamilySearch Wiki (see above) -- https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page -- do a search for something like "newspapers idaho" (without the quotes)   
  61. Kimberly Powell -- Search The Google News Archive -- https://www.thoughtco.com/search-tips-for-google-news-archive-1422213  
  62. US Newspaper Program --http://www.neh.gov/projects/usnp.html
  63. Readex Newspaper Archive -- http://www.newsbank.com/readex/index.cfm?content=343 -- Click on Digital Collections (upper left side) for Archive of Americana   
  64. Discover Your Ancestors in Historic Newspapers -- https://go.newspapers.com/welcome  
  65. Tips For Newspaper Research For Genealogy -- https://mmgs.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/newspaper_research.pdf  
  66. Learn More About Using Old Newspapers for Genealogical Research -- http://theoldentimes.com/learnmore.html       
  67. Dick Eastman on digitizing small town newspapers -- http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2011/11/savingourscom-dedicated-to-digitizing-small-town-newspapers.html  
  68. British Newspapers 1800-1900 -- http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/  
  69. Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group article -- http://svcgg.org/documents/NewspaperHandout.pdf 
      70.   

    CONCLUSIONS

  70. Newspaper articles written at the time are a good source of primary information, stories, and data about our ancestors.   
  71. More and more newspapers are being digitized and posted online, so check back often.  
Return to the  Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page  or  Don's Class Listings Page .