Bert Dunn— Historic Oregon Newspapers advocate and history buff— describes his new book and his important fundraising work for digitization of Coquille newspapers.
Can you tell us a little about your project and yourself?
Working with my coauthors we have completed a photographic history book on Coquille, Oregon. The book titled Coquille was published by Arcadia Publishing within their Images of America series. I am retired and living in Springfield but Coquille is my hometown. My coauthors were Andie Jensen of Coos Bay and Yvonne-Cher Skye of Coquille.
What led you to Historic Oregon Newspapers?
I was always curious about Coquille history but become more interested after using the ODNP website to access historic newspapers for prior projects. These projects included completing an exhibit for the Springfield Museum and assisting another author on his book.
The ODNP website proved so useful that I began raising money to digitize historic Coquille newspapers. The results have been amazing; 35 years of newspapers have been completed and another 17 years are being funded. Vast amounts of new historical information are now easily accessible and searchable by the public.
How did you use Historic Oregon Newspapers online and which titles were useful to you?
The ODNP online historic newspapers were an extraordinary source of valuable information for our book. I was able to search many papers simultaneously. I found relevant information in many papers including the Coquille, Bandon, Roseburg, Coos Bay and Portland papers.
Where can we purchase/access your book?
The book is available through national retailers as well as numerous outlets in southwest Oregon including the Coquille Valley Museum.
What’s your next project?
I will continue to work on raising money to put Coquille newspapers online as they effectively support future research of many people including authors, teachers, students, genealogists and general history buffs. I will also be an ongoing advocate and coach for new users of the ODNP website.
Blog post compiled and edited by Jes Sokolowski
The City of Turner, Oregon, was incorporated in 1905 and by 1920 publisher Pearl P. Hassler had already established a newspaper for this new Marion County municipality. Each Thursday, The Turner Tribune brought four (or more!) pages of world, national, state, and local happenings to Turner’s nearly 300 residents.