It takes a unique kind of genealogical record to uncover the stories hovering in the shadows of your family history, waiting to be told. It takes a newspaper: a treasure chest brimming with ancestral backstory, and a great resource when vital and other records are missing.
Challenges do face the newspaper researcher. You need to identify the publications covering the places and times your ancestors lived in. You need to locate copies of those old newspapers, which were published by private companies that had shifting publication timelines and titles. Newspapers may be archived in any number of locations and a variety of formats. Finally, newspapers are secondary sources, often written after the events in question by someone who received the information secondhand.
This guide will prepare you to overcome those newspaper research challenges. You’ll learn how to identify the old newspapers you need, access their articles, and get the most from these rich records.
CLUES IN THE NEWS
Obituaries, which became common for ordinary individuals after the Civil War, are probably genealogists’ most soughtafter newspaper items. But they’re just the beginning.
