In her new post for the #IndianaHistoryBlog, Amy Abbott shares how she used historical newspapers to supplement family history and gain a more nuanced sense of the lives of her ancestors. These newspaper clippings allowed her to see, hear, smell, touch and taste the world as those did in another time.
Microfilm - cross section timeline of newspapers on microfilm
The Genealogy Center at the
Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indianahas local daily and weekly 19th century Newspapers on Microfilmthrough the present time. They also have a two part online Obituary Index with over 780,000 entries. Copies of obituaries are available from their site for a small fee. Obituaries and news items might be the same or different in various daily or weekly newspapers, so it is often worth looking at all of the early newspapers in the library. Newspaper obituaries are available online back to around 2003 on Legacy.com. Obituaries are also available online at local funeral home web pages.
HISTORY JOURNAL | July 18, 1947 | Pages from archived editions of The Journal-Gazette (we had a hyphen then) are...
HISTORY JOURNAL | July 18, 1947 | Pages from archived editions of The Journal-Gazette (we had a hyphen then) are photographed for the creation of microfilm. The project preserved newspaper pages from as far back as 1884.
While this photo might not appear all that exciting at first glance, the historical importance of preserving local news can't be overstated. Pages from newspapers such as The Journal Gazette are regularly consulted for research including books, current news stories and genealogy.
For, when a newspaper library microfilmed, there is no point in saving the old bound volumes of paper any more. Anyone who wants to look up a law suit, or a birth announcement, will be given a roll of microfilm, a projector and a screen to show the film on. He won't have to get his hands dusty handling the old books in which The Tribune has been preserved, and he won't have to be careful for fear he will tear the pages which are brittle and brown with age.
It's Efficient
Oh yes, it's a very efficient system, this microfilming. It saves space--several months of a daily newspaper can be photographed on a roll of film which will be housed in a few inches. And it gives double protection; new roll of film can be shot from the old one before the old one wears out. Moreover, you always can have a duplicate roll in the bank vault, which would give you a comfortable feeling if the library should catch on fire.
The annual observance of "National Newspaper Week” just concluded calls to mind the important place newspapers hold as sources of history. Someone has aid that the newspaper is the "second hand of history”
The value of newspapers in this connection has just been recognized by Judge Elmer E Robinson of San Francisco who has given 45000 colonial and early American newspapers to the library dt Stanford university This makes the largest collection of the sort west of the Atlantic coast.
Writers on American history get nowhere without reading the files of local newspapers the life of Lincoln would have many gaps indeed had not historians scanned thoroughly the Illinois journals of the time. No fundamental biography of an American statesman is published that does not lean heavily on American newspapers. The Stanford collection will save the wear and tear on the few large eastern collections unnecessary for western East.
The one drawback is average newspaper. This has now been overcome by the invention of microfilm which will make collections like Stanford's a permanent addition to American historical resources.
Indiana's journalistic history re mains unwritten, but Indiana State Library hopes to expedite and to encourage the task, should one want to begin. All the raw data will be made available once a three year program to microfilm extant Indiana newspapers from every community is completed. Besides filming papers, a comprehensive bibliographic history of each paper and its publishers and editors will be researched and published.
Historians find information contained in newspapers invaluabie. Indiana's newspapers reflect the moral, cultural, educational, and political development of Indiana. In addition each community's newspaper reflects the area's development local interests and local news necessary for the historian and historical soc:ety to complete the picture of their community. In many instances the newspaper is the only source available. Public documents may be destroyed, as is the case in Dearborn County prior to 1826. The court house burned and with it, the county records. There are many other instances where the public record is no longer extant. Newspapers contain information concerning the county taxes, county expenditures, court notices and legal advertisements. Even the commercial advertisements show the commerce, facilities, and interests of the community.
Local historians and researchers throughout the state can benefit from this project; for microfilm files of newspapers are more usable and durable than originals whose bulkiness inhibits interlibrary loan. Mirocrofilm, being very compact and transportable will make this source of invaluabe information available throughout the state and nation. Also microfilm, with a life expectancy of several hundred years, is more permanent than newsprint, specially with the advent of pulp paper, newsprint is in danger of natural deterioration. And if these papers are used, their lifespan is decreased considerably. Moreover, the threat of fires and other disasters also endanger our newspaper heritage.
In many cases only one copy exists and many newspapers are no longer extant. Indiana is in a unique siuation; no other state has attempted or completed a project of this scope. National organizations and states are interested in this pilot endeavor. The Organization of American Historians is currently investigating the possibilities of updating Winifred Gregory's AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS 1821-1838: A UNION LIST OF FILES AVAILABLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. Therefore we are not only preserving and compiling Indiana history, this project wi'l be serving as a pilot for other states and organizations to expedite their errorts in similar activities.
Its success depends on the support from every part of Indiana. Lily Endowment has funded the project for one year and has offered the state of Indiana matching funds to continue it the second and third years. Through this arrangement you can see the project is a cooperative endeavor. The project is designed to promote local participation and cooperation as well. Local participation is sought in various areas.
1. to make available all extant copies
2. to insure the accuracy of the bibliographic history
3. to make this information avail able to the greatest number of people.
Ancestry.com has Indiana, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current. About section: This index allows you to search for your ancestor by name in Indiana newspapers that are available on Newspapers.com™ from the 1800s to the present. Not all newspapers from the state of Indiana are included. Links to the newspaper article in which your ancestor's name was found are included in the index.
Our section on
The News-Sentinel newspaper. Although it ceased publication April 23, 2020 it's website remains online with some of its extensive history archive still online too.
An August 29, 1840 copy of The Fort Wayne Times newspaper is available on the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana website. It has an index of names including the obituary of Revolutionary War soldier Michael Crants who died in Fort Wayne, age about 90 years, a native of Orange County, New York on page 3 column 1.
Journal-Gazette, Fort Wayne on the Allen County Public Library website provides access to past issues of the newspaper from December 17, 1992 to the present, with some exceptions to library card holders. You can use ProQuest Super Newsstand to access outside of the library.
Newspapers.com where you can Search and browse articles from historical newspapers only available within the library or with a subscription. They do offer occasional Free Days on holidays and 7-day Free trials. Here is their list of local newspapers as of March 2022:
Some daily and weekly newspapers like the Journal and Gazette merged into The Journal Gazette newspaper currently the morning delivery newspaper and the News and Sentinel in 1918 merged into
The News-Sentinel newspaperformerly an afternoon newspaper but in 2017 ceased print publication becoming a couple page insert in the morning newspaper with daily digital delivery before ceasing operations completely. They shared a common building, printing press, and some news articles with separate ownership, the Journal-Gazette is still locally owned. Others like Dawson's Daily or Weekly Times either merged into the previously mentioned newspapers or went out of business.
Sshared this December 6, 2022 video from Ancestry on Facebook: Join Crista Cowan for a quick look at how articles from hometown newspapers can add color to your family history.
Newspapers.com has a few short howto videos on YouTube.
Did you know newspaper stories about your ancestors are now hints on your Ancestry® tree? Learn more about the Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index on our blog!
Inspire Lifelong learning library for Hoosiers About page starts with: INSPIRE is a collection of online academic databases and other information resources that can be accessed by Indiana residents. It is also on Facebook. It includes:
Hoosier State Chronicles Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program- see blog Accessing Newspapers Via Inspire, see current blog and the Indiana Newspapers list of freely-accessible, historic, digitized Indiana newspapers organized by place of publication. Indiana Memory collection of online photographs. Search Indiana Legacy online databases for birth, marriage, death, divorce, obituaries, court records, newspapers, scrapbooks, yearbooks, military records, and many other record types.
“History at Your Fingertips”: A Guide to Hoosier State Chronicles and Indiana Memory posted Feb 26, 2022 by Allen County Public Library on YouTube Join Justin Clark to learn more about Hoosier State Chronicles, Indiana’s statewide historical digital newspaper program, and Indiana Memory, a digital library containing materials from institutions across the state, are free resources from the Indiana State Library. This presentation will cover how researchers can use both collections, including search techniques, item descriptions, and application with other source repositories, such as the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). Justin Clark is a public historian and serves as the Digital Initiatives Director at the Indiana Historical Bureau, a division of the Indiana State Library. He holds a B.S. in History/Political Science from Indiana University Kokomo and a M.A. in Public History from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. He specializes in newspaper digitization, digital collections management, and digital history advocacy.
Fort Wayne newspapers at Hoosier State Chronicles
In May 2022, there were over 19,000,000 pages up from 14,000,000 in 2018 of local newspapers on 3 pages under Titles in City: fort wayne, indiana
contact information
Fort Wayne, Indiana daily morning newspaper.
P.O. Box 88, Fort Wayne, IN 46801
See more on the Journal Gazette on our Places pages.
Ink - online back to December 2009
Fort Wayne, Indiana African American community newspaper serving Northeast Indiana’s African American communities in the cities of Fort Wayne, Kokomo and Marion, Indiana.
KPCNews.com publishes several local area weeklies:
Fort Wayne Newspapers will purchase The Star, based in Auburn and serving DeKalb County, and other publications from KPC Media, the two companies announced Wednesday. After the acquisition is complete, the former KPC publications will become part of Fort Wayne Newspapers, of which The Ogden Newspapers owns controlling interest. Editors and reporters with the KPC publications in northeast Indiana will continue to work in and serve their communities from their individual markets, said Michael Christman, a regional publisher with Ogden and also former president and CEO of Fort Wayne Newspapers. Copied from KPC Media Group announces sale of company from Staff Reports published May 18, 2022 on KPCNews.com.
News Sentinel.com - contact information
Fort Wayne, Indiana Monday through Saturday afternoon newspaper
July 6, 1833, the first issue of the Fort Wayne Sentinel was published. It became the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel in 1918, after merging with the Fort Wayne News, and is one of Allen County’s oldest businesses. See more on the News-Sentinel on our Places pages.
Senior Life - online archive back to 2009 "Publications for Active Senior Living
Comprehensive coverage for adults 50 years and better. 6 editions: 5 in Indiana: Elkhart/Kosciusko counties, South Bend/St. Joseph and surrounding counties, Northwest Indiana including Lake and Porter counties, Fort Wayne/Allen and surrounding counties and Indianapolis/Marion and surrounding counties; 1 in Ohio: Cincinnati/Hamilton/Northern Kentucky and surrounding counties. "
Today's Catholic - online archive back to 2006
Fort Wayne, Indiana Catholic newspaper
Whatz Up
Columbia City, Indiana a free-distribution arts & entertainment weekly newspaper serving northeast Indiana, including Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Noble, DeKalb, Steuben and Lagrange counties.
Genealogy Librarian Allison DePrey Singleton of the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center provided information about German-language newspapers in
Fort Wayne not mentioned on new state historical marker on German-language newspapers published October 16, 2017 in
The News-Sentinel newspaper. The Genealogy Center has a year or so of Freie Press - Staats-Zeitung July 1, 1926 - January 29, 1927 on their Newspapers On Microfilm page. This was in response to story in this post below when a new state Marker Dedication: German Newspapers' Demise located at 41 S. Delaware St. in Indianapolis by the Indiana Historical Bureau was about the demise of German-language newspapers during WWI. The Täglicher Telegraph und Tribüne were published near there before it was forced to close in 1918.
Thank you to the Indiana German Heritage Society, the Indianapolis - Cologne Sister City, and the Indianapolis Mayor's Office for their help with today's dedication ceremony for our newest state marker examining the demise of German-language newspapers during WWI. The marker is located at 41 S. Delaware St. The Täglicher Telegraph und Tribüne published near here before it was forced to close in 1918.
On June 1, 1918, the final issue of the German newspaper Indiana Telegraph und Tribüne was published. It was among over 175 German-language newspapers published in Indiana between 1843 and 1920. These newspapers served as important vehicles for readers in integrating and maintaining their cultural identities with American values.
The U.S. entry into World War I in 1917 created suspicion and antipathy toward German-American schools, churches, clubs, and newspapers. Despite trying to present balanced war coverage, the Telegraph und Tribüne ceased publication due to anti-German sentiment.
The article below, from the April 26, 1918 issue of the Hammond Times, describes the anti-German sentiment in America.
Fort Wayne’s prominent German immigrant population created a market for a slew of German language newspapers. One of the first was Der Deutsche Beobachter von Indiana, starting in 1843. Owned by Thomas Tigar (founder of the Sentinel) and edited by Dr. Charles “Carl” Schmitz, it published out of the offices of the Sentinel for a short time before it folded. The Demokrat, founded in 1876 by editor Dr. U Herrmann (possibly Dr. Alexander Herrmann, a physician in Fort Wayne during the time; “U Hermann” may have been a misprint.) and publisher Fred Schad, ran as a daily paper out of offices at 86 Calhoun for a few years. Catholic Germans were served by the weekly Weltbürger starting in 1883 until 1887. The Freie Presse-Staats-Zeitung, founded in 1908 with the merger of the Freie Presse and the Indiana Staatszeitung, was one of the only German-language papers in Indiana to survive the anti-German sentiments prevalent during World War I. The paper continued publication until 1927. Copied from ALLEN COUNTY NEWSPAPERS: A SHORT HISTORY April 18, 2017 Justin Clark on
Hoosier State Chronicles Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Programblog.
The blog included this image of the Indiana Staatszeitung, January 13, 1872 from the Newspaper Archive.
Die Zeitung or Deutscb Zeitung: It was established in 1856 and two years later merged with another paper whose name is not known.
Der Ft. Wave Denwhat: This paper was founded in 1856 and issued irregularly.
Indiana Staatszeitung: It was founded in 1857, listed in the 1858 city directory, and in 1908 combined with Die Freie Presse. It was a tri-weekly issued in the interest of the Democratic party. Die Freie Presse ceased publication in 1926.
Indiana Volksfreund: This was a weekly Republican paper established in 1871.
Der Anzeiger: No date of the establishment of this paper was found. The Fort Wayne Daily News of Nov. 11, 1874, stated that it was being moved to Grand Rapids, Mich.
Das Ft. Wayne Tageblatt: This was a daily Republican paper founded in February 1876.
Der Wteltbürger: This was a Catholic paper founded in 1883.
Die Ft. Wayne Freie Presse: This was a daily paper founded in 1888, which ceased publication in 1926.
Extra, extra exciting news! We now have over ONE BILLION newspaper pages for you to explore. That means you can uncover more than ever before in the largest online newspaper archive!
Have you made a memorable discovery in the newspaper? Drop us a comment! We’d love to hear about it.
Indiana Farmer 1851-1917 The digital Indiana Farmer gives a rare view of rural Hoosier life from 1851 to 1917. It includes the mechanization of Hoosier agriculture, the founding of Purdue University and the first Indiana State Fair.
We’ve been doing a major revamp of our Indiana State Library Newspaper Collection in Indiana Memory! Not only can researchers access all titles available on Hoosier State Chronicles through this collection, but they can also see unique newspapers from the Indiana State Library that have not been digitized anywhere else, such as the Temperance Spontoon, published in Brookville, Indiana in 1854.
Newspaper Navigator - Search historic newspaper photos! Explore the visual and textual content within the Chronicling America digitized newspaper collection in new ways using machine learning. Dataset and Search Application now live! The Newspaper Navigator Search Application. This experimental web application allows you to browse over 1.56 million images extracted from the Chronicling America database of digitized historic newspapers using machine learning. Now, you can use this tool to search the images by visual similarity by training your own machine learning classifiers!
Did you know that you can search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1925 online? Yep!
"Chronicling America" is a website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Library of Congress (LC), is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages.
Conducting research on a historic site, structure, vessel or landscape? Consult the nation's largest archive of historical architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation - the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection - in http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/
