Newspapers at Footnote.com
Mar 29th, 2009 by sharbrough
Historical Newspapers
If you look at the Original Documents page on Footnote, you will see the following entry.
Newspapers (317 titles)
Historic newspapers in large cities around the United States and the world give us a unique, timeless perspective of world events.
I don’t want to quibble over small descriptions, but the “large cities” part might give the reader the impression that they won’t find papers from places like Aberdeen ID, Moville IA, and Edgartown MA. If you click on the link, you’ll see that Footnote has five newspapers from large cities, and that Small Town Papers includes the other 312 titles.
The five historical newspapers are:
- Atlanta Constitution, 1868-1914. You’ll find some coverage here from Reconstruction, the Spanish War. No Braves in the sports section.
- Chicago Tribune, 1849-1923. Civil War, Great Fire, WWI, you bet.
- London Times, 1785-1820, 1860-1865, 1914-1919. You can find coverage of the Rev War, the War Between the States, and the Great War here.
- San Francisco Chronicle, 1865-1920. The Giants were still 35 years away from moving.
- Washington Post, 1904-1906. There was a plan to include WWI, but it’s not online yet.
Reading the Sunday Paper
On 8-April 1923, the front page of the Chicago Tribune blares “Civil War in Roumania” and says that work on a subway might begin soon. The full-page ads look like artwork to me. The thing about researching at Footnote is that you get sucked into reading things you didn’t know existed. The wedding announcements? Gorgeous photos of women wearing the curtains. Did you know that a shipping clerk made $115 per month in 1923? Those 20’s, they were roaring. There’s a photo of the new synagogue for the “oldest Jewish congregation west of New York City.” There’s a photo of Prince Edward of Wales, after winning a horserace.
And Part 2? Sports and Markets?” Kansas Cagers Take National Title,” it says. They won the final over Rockford 43-21. It was a high school tournament that lasted five days. An yes, there is Cubs news. They played the local team in Ft Worth TX, winning 6-0. If you haven’t read an 85-year-old Sunday Paper on a quiet Sunday morning, I submit that you just haven’t lived. Not yet.
And yes. There are comics.
