The Curse of the CourierPosted on March 14, 2014May 22, 2015 by srabun@uoregon.edu The History page of Historic Oregon Newspapers online provides essays for each title in the collection describing the unique history, content and context in which each newspaper was produced. Several new essays, written by our ODNP Essayist and graduate student in the University of Oregon’s Historic Preservation program, Emily Vance, have just been added to the site, covering many of the Oregon City titles and others that have recently been added to the database. While researching the history of the Oregon City Courier, Emily began to notice an eerie trend amongst the paper’s many editors over time. In what seems to be the beginning of an “X-Files” of sorts for Oregon’s historic newspapers, Emily shares the secrets that she uncovered in her debut blog post, “The Curse of the Courier!” *************************************************************************** The Oregon City Courier has a long and intriguing history in the state. We have the advantage of being able to look back at one of the very first issues in 1883 and follow the paper’s transformation over time, which was suspicious to say the least. During its 67 years in print, the Courier changed names and editors perhaps a little too frequently. From 1902 to 1919, when the turnover rate for the Courier was at its peak, the paper was replacing its editor about every two years. Not long after leaving the paper, several of the Courier’s editors would fall victim to mysterious illnesses or bizarre accidents. Suicide, social scandals and even exploding coffee pots seemed to be drawn to editors-past. Perhaps it was being passed around so much, the ever-changing names and owners, that left the Courier feeling abandoned, unwanted and, ultimately, vengeful. Perhaps it was the ghost of President William McKinley who came back to haunt the men who so harshly criticized him, hoping that maybe next time they’ll put the assassination of a president on the front page and not on page six, crammed between advertisements for Castoria Digestive Syrup and fur coats: Hail to the Chief?Oregon City courier=herald. (Oregon City, Or.) 1898-1902, September 20, 1901, Image 6. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063697/1901-09-20/ed-1/seq-6/ What was lurking in the pages of the Courier? What could explain the mysterious circumstances surrounding the lives and deaths of the Courier’s editors in the early 1900s? Our story begins on April 15, 1904 when John H. Westover, after only two years at the helm of the Oregon City Courier, innocently sold the paper to Shirley Buck and Professor Henry L. McCann. Westover had only just moved to Oregon and after resigning his post, immediately left the state for reasons unknown. McCann and Buck remained for a very short time as well, and both left the paper in 1906. In 1910, only a handful of years after leaving the Courier, McCann was found dead “by the side of a deserted cabin in a lonely canyon” a few miles outside of Condon, a gunshot blow to his head. He had committed suicide after scandalous accusations arose while he was principal at Gilliam County High School, a post he had taken after leaving the Courier. Rumors of McCann being “mentally unbalanced” surrounded his death, but no such charges of mental deficiency surfaced before his work at the Courier. One editor’s unfortunate fate…Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, June 01, 1910, Image 5. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1910-06-01/ed-1/seq-5/ After McCann and Buck, editorship passed to Edward Brodie and A. E. Frost. After hitting the two year mark, they, too, turned the paper over to the next unsuspecting editor, William A. Shewman, who took charge in 1908. Shewman would remain at the Courier for three years – a year longer than most – which may have been his undoing. Shewman left in 1911, at which point his health declined sharply. Shewman would never recover after working at the Courier and passed away in 1913 after battling a long and serious illness. Morning enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) 1911-1933, April 22, 1913, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063701/1913-04-22/ed-1/seq-1/ M. J. Brown replaced Shewman in 1911. Instead of resigning his post at the two year mark, the Courier had something else in store for Brown. In 1913, Brown was indicted for criminal libel due to matters printed in the June 27th issue of the Courier. The scandal involved Brown publishing allegations that several county officials rebated their own taxes. Despite the rather unexciting criminal delinquency, Brown remained at the helm of the Courier until February 18, 1915, at which point he sold the paper – two years after his indictment. His four years as editor is truly a remarkable feat but one which must have surely left him mad, since he immediately left town after selling the paper, never to be seen again. Well, at least for several years. More reliable sources indicate that he actually just moved to Corvallis to start a poultry farm. Scandalous!Oregon City courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1902-1919, June 27, 1913, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063698/1913-06-27/ed-1/seq-1/ E. R. Brown, unrelated to M. J. Brown, purchased the paper in 1915 but, unsurprisingly, wouldn’t last a year in charge, and Cecil W. Robey was the editor and business manager in 1916. By 1919 when the Courier was printing as the Banner-Courier, Fred J. Tooze and Halbert E. Hoss replaced Robey as editor. Robey, however, wouldn’t get off that easy as the Courier was merely biding its time. The year after leaving the Courier, Robey would fall victim to an “exploding coffee pot” while camping in Molalla country; a bewildering event. The “air tight coffee pot filled with boiling coffee, and the force of the explosion caused the pot to fly into the air, the cover striking Robey in the face, while the hot coffee poured over his face and clothing.” Robey, who was thrown “head over heels,” very nearly lost his sight and suffered bad burns on his face and body. The Curse strikes again!Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, June 09, 1920, Image 2. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1920-06-09/ed-1/seq-2/ In 1924 Edward A. Koen purchased the paper. E. A. Koen, along with his son Edward P. Koen, would edit and publish the newspaper for the next 26 years. The name and editor wouldn’t change for decades. This consistency seems to have appeased the Courier since, it would seem, no ill befell the Koens for decades. It appears the Curse of the Courier is broken… for now. –Written by Emily Vance
Morrow County now represented in Historic Oregon Newspapers online!Posted on March 7, 2014May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu In partnership with the Morrow County Museum in Heppner, Oregon, several early newspapers from Heppner are now available for keyword searching and browsing online at Historic Oregon Newspapers! Heppner Weekly Gazette: June 22, 1883-July 31, 1890 The Weekly Heppner Gazette: Nov. 6, 1890-Feb. 18, 1892 Heppner Gazette: March 1, 1892-Feb. 28, 1901 Heppner Times: Nov. 26, 1903-Dec. 8, 1904 Heppner Herald: May 7, 1914-Dec. 26, 1922 Incorporated on Feb. 9, 1887, the town of Heppner has seen many years’ worth of historical events in the Northeastern region of Oregon. In 1885, Morrow County was created, carved from the already existing Umatilla County. In 1888, Heppner welcomed it’s first railroad line, which was a spur from the Columbia River. As more railroads and roads were added over the years, Heppner became a regional trade center. You can follow the community’s enthusiasm and the development of the railroad through these historic newspapers with a search for “railroad,” limited to Heppner titles with results listed in date order. We found the following entries, but there are over 2,000 pages of Heppner newspapers that mention railroads, so you won’t be bored! In June of 1888, there was much anticipation for the coming railroad as a contributor to economic boom: Heppner weekly gazette. (Heppner, Umatilla County, Or.) 1883-1890, June 14, 1888, Image 2. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071041/1888-06-14/ed-1/seq-2/ By late November of 1888, the railroad was complete, a cause for celebration: Heppner weekly gazette. (Heppner, Umatilla County, Or.) 1883-1890, November 29, 1888, Image 2. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071041/1888-11-29/ed-1/seq-2/ As the county seat, Heppner was and still is the home of the Morrow County Courthouse. Constructed in 1903, it is one of the oldest continually used courthouses in Oregon, not to mention a fabulous example of American Renaissance architecture. That same year, a devastating flood crashed through the town killing hundreds of community members and destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property. Gruesome reports of victims and body parts being found months after the event can be seen in the Heppner Times, from which digitized issues are available from late 1903 to late 1904: Heppner times. (Heppner, Or.) 1???-1912, April 14, 1904, Image 4. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071040/1904-04-14/ed-1/seq-4/ The very same page contains a surprising advertisement for, well, see for yourself: Heppner times. (Heppner, Or.) 1???-1912, April 14, 1904, Image 4. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071040/1904-04-14/ed-1/seq-4/ Another flood struck again in 1918, along with two fires that destroyed many buildings and homes in the community. The Heppner Herald was one of the many businesses affected by the fire of June, 1918, which apparently started in or near the Palace Hotel and spread by wind, destroying four and a half city blocks. Publisher S.A. Pattison gives his perspective in the July 5, 1918 issue of the paper, which came out a day late due to the fire: Heppner herald. (Heppner, Or.) 1914-1924, July 05, 1918, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071037/1918-07-05/ed-1/seq-2/ The Heppner Hotel, built in 1920, was part of the town’s rebuilding after the several disasters, and it is one of the historic buildings still standing in Heppner today: Heppner herald. (Heppner, Or.) 1914-1924, December 14, 1920, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn97071037/1920-12-14/ed-1/seq-1/ These clippings are just a few examples of the content that can be found in Heppner’s historic newspapers. Search or browse these titles and see what other kinds of interesting things you can find!
Highlights from the IFLA Newspaper Conference: Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 4-5, 2014Posted on February 13, 2014July 23, 2025 by srabun@uoregon.edu The International Federation of Library Associations’ (IFLA) Newspaper group recently convened in Salt Lake City for a two-day conference focused on “Spreading the News.” Representatives from across the United States, as well as from other countries such as Finland, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Japan, and Vietnam, presented and shared their processes, expertise, and experiences working with newspapers in a library setting: History of Newspapers Newspapers first appeared available to the public in England around 1620, covering mostly foreign news items. Because each sheet of paper was taxed, the font on these early papers was extremely small, so as to include as much content as possible on each page. The oldest surviving newspaper is the London Gazette, dating back to 1665. In the early 1700s, vital records and news of the local common people began appearing in newspapers, and this practice continued into the 1800s. The Boston News-Letter was the first official newspaper published in the United States, appearing in 1704. As we have blogged about before, the University of Illinois’ History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library (HPNL) has created several short videos focusing on the history of newspapers in the United States before the Civil War. The newest videos, each roughly 20 minutes long, are entitled: “Introduction to American Newspapers, 1800-1860,” “American Newspapers, 1800-1860: City Papers,” and “American Newspapers, 1800-1860: Country Papers.” These and other informational videos are available online through the library’s guide on Antebellum American Newspapers or via YouTube. Genealogy and Newspapers Genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies in North America, and genealogists are one of the largest groups of newspaper researchers – birth, death, and marriage notices published in newspapers often provide a starting point for the information that genealogists are seeking, and ancestors’ names can be found in other types of articles and listings in historic newspapers as well, including: lists of letters remaining in local post offices local news/gossip columns tax notices land claims news/entries from past years published in current papers school stories/honor role listings There are 3200 county courthouses in the United States, and 644 of those have had records destroyed by fire or otherwise. Newspapers help to minimize these losses by providing an alternate record of vital information on ancestors, pinpointing people in time and space. Social Media The rise of social media is contributing to the changing face of current news media and journalism. Now that anyone can post their own news announcements and opinions for the world to see, often with little or no editing or censorship, it is increasingly important to remember to view news reports of all kinds with a critical eye, checking sources, facts, and credibility before spreading the word. Social media outlets, such as Facebook, Flickr, and Pinterest, are increasingly being used by libraries to “spread the news” about collection materials, especially digital newspapers! In Nigeria, about 70% of the population has access to social media, and Nigerian libraries are starting to use social media outlets to promote their resources. Access to Newspaper Content The University of North Texas’ Portal to Texas History website contains over 1.4 million pages of digital newspaper content, made possible by strategic partnerships between newspaper publishers, local libraries, and the University. The University of Utah’s Digital Newspapers website can be searched and browsed at the article level. In partnership with FamilySearch, the genealogical arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Utah is currently indexing all of the obituaries contained in their digital collection. The Arizona Digital Newspaper Program is working on an interactive museum exhibit featuring Arizona’s historic digital newspapers, to debut in April at the Arizona State Capitol Museum. The British Library in London is hard at work preserving and providing access to historic print newspapers, digitized newspapers, and current news, including current born-digital news websites, with a strategy of making all news media accessible to users in one location. The physical library space previously referred to as the “reading room,” is now called the “news room,” and users can research, collaborate, and network to celebrate all things news! The online British Newspaper Archive contains over 7.4 billion pages of newspaper content covering news from the 1700s up to the 1950s. Collaboration is key to ensuring preservation and increasing access to both historic and current newspapers! Scholarly Use of Newspapers The Library of Congress’ Chronicling America newspaper website has proven to be a very useful resource for scholars and researchers of all kinds. A full list of tips, resources, and scholarly use of Chronicling America content can be found on the Library of Congress’ Extra! Extra! NDNP Extras! web page. Here are just a few examples of digital scholarship projects based on Chronicling America content: The Growth of U.S. Newspapers 1690-2011 (Stanford University) Mapping Texts: Assessing Newspaper Quality and Language Patterns (University of North Texas and Stanford University) Data Mining the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Virginia Tech and University of Toronto) Information on how to download bulk full text from Chronicling America’s newspapers can be found at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ocr/. A recent content analysis of dissertations and theses at the University of Arizona Libraries found that students from a variety of disciplines, including history, communication/journalism, political science, sociology, education, literature, arts, and foreign language/literature, have used newspapers in their research. The majority of students used current newspapers published in North America, with a small percentage, mostly in the foreign language/literature discipline, using newspapers published in other countries. Historic newspapers were mostly utilized by history students. Preservation of Historic Newspapers Finnish national law, namely the “Act on Collecting and Preserving Cultural Materials (1433/2007),” requires that all newspapers published in Finland be kept in hard copy at the National Library of Finland, “to preserve the Finnish published heritage for coming generations” (National Library of Finland). Likewise, the British Library in London has undertaken an extensive program to preserve and store the printed hard copies of all newspapers from the U.K.; bound volumes of historic newspapers are shrink-wrapped and stored in a temperature and oxygen-controlled facility, and a robotic system is used to retrieve papers for use by researchers. Unlike our European counterparts, rather than go to great lengths to store printed hard copy newspapers here in the United States, we have turned to microfilm as the preferred archival format for newspapers. From 1982-2011, the federal United States Newspaper Project (USNP) provided over $50 million of funding for libraries across the U.S. to microfilm and catalog historic U.S. newspapers. However, no funding was allocated for preservation or storage of print hard copies, as these were considered local, rather than national, affairs. Some concerned parties have compared historic print newspapers in the United States to the Passenger Pigeon, which is now extinct. Like the Passenger Pigeon, newspapers have been so abundant throughout history that it has seemed like no big deal to just throw them away, especially since many have been made available on microfilm, and now in digital format. Proponents of print newspaper preservation argue that the black and white images available on microfilm render many color printed graphics meaningless, not to mention that many newspapers have been filmed in poor condition or with gaps in content, leaving portions unreadable and thus un-usable. Also, who knows what kinds of future technologies might emerge in say, 5o years? For example, 3D digital might be the next advancement, and microfilm or current digital files might not suffice in a transition to future formats. However, there are some institutions in the U.S. that have committed to preserving print copies, such as Duke University, which houses about 10,000 various titles in print, and the University of Utah’s ARC, or Automated Retrieval Center, where print newspapers are stored in lightweight, water-resistant Coroplast boxes.
New content from Astoria, Grants Pass, and Pendleton now online!Posted on February 11, 2014May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu The last portion of historic Oregon newspaper content from our 2011 National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grant has just been added to Historic Oregon Newspapers online as well as the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website! The following additions can now be browsed and searched at both websites: (Astoria, Or.) The Daily Morning Astorian. Feb. 1, 1893-Sept. 1, 1899 View The Daily Morning Astorian at Historic Oregon Newspapers View The Daily Morning Astorian at Chronicling America (Astoria, Or.) The Morning Astorian. Sept. 2, 1899-Feb. 7, 1902 View The Morning Astorian at Historic Oregon Newspapers View The Morning Astorian at Chronicling America (Grants Pass, Or.) Grants Pass Daily Courier. Jan. 2, 1919-Oct. 28, 1919 View the Grants Pass Daily Courier at Historic Oregon Newspapers View the Grants Pass Daily Courier at Chronicling America (Pendleton, Or.) East Oregonian: E.O. Oct. 2, 1914-March 30, 1915 View the East Oregonian: E.O. at Historic Oregon Newspapers View the East Oregonian: E.O. at Chronicling America We are currently working on digitizing even more content with our 2013 NDNP award, so stay tuned for more announcements as new content becomes available.
New Search Strategies and Genealogy WebinarPosted on January 28, 2014May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu Our colleagues at the National Digital Newspaper Program in Ohio have just released two new resources with tips on searching historic newspapers online via the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website: 1) Search Strategies – “Proximity Searching in Chronicling America” : This video shows how to use proximity searching (searching for keywords within a certain number of words from each other) to find cooking tips and recipes in historic newspapers, as well as why it’s useful to use proximity searching in the Advanced Search feature. 2) Chronicling America for Genealogists Webinar (recording): This webinar was recorded on Jan. 9, 2014, 7pm-9pm and addresses the kinds of family information that can be found in historic newspapers, as well as how to search for family history information in Chronicling America. View just the powerpoint slides here. The Historic Oregon Newspapers website uses the same search and viewer software as Chronicling America, so the tips and tricks covered in these resources can also be applied to searching just Oregon newspapers at http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu. Happy Searching!
St. Helens Mist: New Content Just Added!Posted on January 7, 2014May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu New content from Columbia County’s first newspaper, St. Helens’ Oregon Mist, later titled the St. Helens Mist, has just been added to the Historic Oregon Newspapers website! The Oregon mist. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) 188?-1913, March 27, 1912, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2004260421/1912-03-27/ed-1/seq-1/ Working backwards through time in our digitization efforts, the Oregon Mist is now available for keyword searching and browsing from July 15, 1910-Feb. 14, 1913, and the St. Helens Mist is now available from Jan. 2, 1913-April 22, 1921. This newly added content was digitized in partnership with the St. Helens Public Library, with a grant from the Columbia County Cultural Coalition. The Oregon mist. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) 188?-1913, April 10, 1912, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2004260421/1912-04-10/ed-1/seq-1/ Earlier issues of the Oregon Mist, from Aug. 7, 1891-July 7, 1910, are scheduled to be digitized over the next two years as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. Stay tuned for more announcements and highlights to come!
Dear Santa…A Christmas Tradition in Historic NewspapersPosted on December 19, 2013May 22, 2015 by srabun@uoregon.edu ‘Tis the season! Oregon’s historic newspapers are full of holiday cheer from years past! As the Christmas holiday approaches, so too do thoughts of Christmas traditions, such as selecting and/or decorating a Christmas tree, hanging Christmas lights, sending Christmas cards and singing Christmas carols. The list of Christmas traditions goes on and on! Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1903-1919, December 25, 1914, Image 12. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn99063957/1914-12-25/ed-1/seq-12/ Writing letters to Santa Claus is one of the most apparent (and most entertaining) Christmas traditions that can be traced through our newspapers. It is difficult to know just how long this tradition has been in play, but a search for “Dear Santa” on the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website reveals that children were writing letters to Santa by at least 1874. The following clip from an Ohio newspaper even reveals the children’s logic behind publishing their letters in the newspaper: The Stark County Democrat., December 24, 1874, HOLIDAY EDITION, Page 7, Image 7, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84028490/1874-12-24/ed-1/seq-7/ This early example reveals that children were already writing letters to Santa in the late 1800s. However, publishing children’s letters to Santa did not become a widespread trend among newspapers until the turn of the 20th century. The oldest letter to Santa that we found in Historic Oregon Newspapers is from 1890: The daily morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1883-1899, December 19, 1890, Image 3 http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn96061150/1890-12-19/ed-1/seq-3/ While this letter was not written with the explicit purpose of being published in the newspaper, it was sent to Griffin & Reed, a local stationary and bookstore in Astoria at the time. Apparently, many retail stores served as the destination for such letters, since Santa Claus often appeared in the stores to spread Christmas merriment and listen to children’s wishlists. For example, the Olds, Wortman & King department store in Portland made Santa welcome in the store, and encouraged children to write to him, publishing a select number of letters in the Oregon Daily Journal as part of their advertising: The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972, December 22, 1905, Image 5 http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn85042444/1905-12-22/ed-1/seq-5/ By 1908, many newspapers were regularly publishing letters to Santa each year, especially the Oregon City Courier: Oregon City courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1902-1919, December 18, 1908, Image 3 http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063698/1908-12-18/ed-1/seq-3/ In 1912, the U.S. Postal Service started the “Letters to Santa” program with the goal of responding to children’s letters and providing help to children in need. The program continues today, thanks to Postal workers, volunteers, charitable organizations and corporations. The following clip illustrates the very beginnings of this idea: East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, Umatilla Co., Or.) 1888-current, December 07, 1912, EVENING EDITION, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn88086023/1912-12-07/ed-1/seq-1/ According to the U.S. Postal Service, “In 1912, Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock authorized local postmasters to let employees and citizens respond to these letters. This became known as Operation Santa. In the 1940s, mail volume for Santa increased so much that the Postal Service invited charitable organizations and corporations to participate by providing written responses and small gifts” (Letters to Santa Program FAQs). The letters continue to crop up over the years in our historic newspapers, revealing all sorts of interesting wants and needs, special requests, and selfless thoughts of giving to others. Some of the letters are quite surprising, such as this gem from the Sunday Oregonian: The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, December 21, 1919, SECTION THREE, Image 56 http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1919-12-21/ed-1/seq-56/ Some children actually admitted to being naughty, but would still request gifts for themselves and others, such as this boy, whose letter was published in Ashland High School’s student newspaper: Rogue news. (Ashland, Or.) 19??-????, December 19, 1956, Image 3 http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2013260024/1956-12-19/ed-1/seq-3/ Looking back through these letters leads to many interesting questions and thoughts. In what ways have “Dear Santa” letters changed over the years? What kinds of gifts are still on lists today, and which ones are no longer desired? How many children continue to write Santa telling him that they have moved, or to request gifts for friends and family? How do your Christmas wishes compare to these letters? The letters featured here represent just a snapshot of all that can be found by searching historic newspapers. Try searching keywords such as “Dear Santa,” “Letters to Santa,” “Christmas,” “Santa Claus,” and “Christmas Tradition” and see what comes up. There are always new and exciting images and texts just waiting to be discovered! Happy searching, and happy holidays from ODNP!
Finding Cartoons and Comics in Historic Oregon NewspapersPosted on December 13, 2013May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu Some of the richest content in our historic newspapers are the political cartoons and comic strips embedded within the pages of text. Newspapers digitized through the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program and made available online at Historic Oregon Newspapers (http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu) are keyword searchable, but it may be difficult to find images, cartoons, and comics. A keyword search for “comics” yields a plethora of pages, but few of them actually contain comic strips. If we delete the “s” and search for “comic,” the results are much more applicable. Newspapers such as the Portland Sunday Oregonian, the Salem Daily Capital Journal, and the Portland Oregon Daily Journal often contain a whole section of comics, often titled “Comic Section,” which is why a search for “comic” is much more fruitful than a search for “comics.” The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, August 10, 1913, Comic Section, Image 75. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1913-08-10/ed-1/seq-75/ The Sunday Oregonian also has a Magazine Section that contains a variety of full page photographs and images. A keyword search for the words “Magazine Section” within 5 words of each other will turn up a large number of interesting results! Here is just one example from the holiday season of 1910: The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, December 25, 1910, SECTION SIX, Image 49. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1910-12-25/ed-1/seq-49/ The Portland West Shore and Illustrated West Shore also contain several images, especially on the front page of every issue. Here is just one of the many illustrations to be found in the West Shore: The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891, July 26, 1890, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2012260361/1890-07-26/ed-1/seq-1/ Political cartoons are a bit harder to come by, since they are not usually labeled with the words “political cartoon.” A search for the words “political” and “cartoon” within 5 words of each other produces very little applicable content. Luckily, this one cartoon just happens to have a statement beneath it containing the words “political cartoon,” making it easily findable: Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1903-1919, June 28, 1904, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn99063957/1904-06-28/ed-1/seq-1/ Few cartoons actually have words printed on or near them. If anything, they might contain handwritten words that are often either misinterpreted or overlooked by the optical character recognition software that makes the pages keyword searchable. If you’re looking for cartoons, the front page of the Morning Oregonian is a good place to start. Editorial cartoons began appearing on the front page of the Morning Oregonian around February of 1903. By 1907, these cartoons were appearing on the front page on a regular basis, and this trend continued up until at least 1922, when almost every issue had a political cartoon on the front page. Take for example this prohibition era cartoon: Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, January 07, 1922, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1922-01-07/ed-1/seq-1/ The Morning Oregonian is likely the most common source for finding editorial and political cartoons, but that’s not to say that other historic Oregon titles aren’t holding interesting cartoon gems within their pages. That’s where the fun of searching and browsing comes in! If you come across any cartoons, comics, or images that might be of interest to others, please leave a comment below, indicating the newspaper title, date, page number, and subject matter depicted. With your help, we can make these culturally significant images more findable for all! For a political cartoons teacher’s guide, please see Political Cartoons in U.S. History, from the Library of Congress’ Teaching with Primary Sources, Teacher’s Guide, Primary Source Set.
Oregonian Now Available Through Dec. 1922!Posted on December 5, 2013May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu The time we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! Historic Oregon Newspapers online now contains the full 20th century public domain run of the Portland Morning Oregonian and The Sunday Oregonian! All newspapers published on or before December 31, 1922 are considered to be in the “public domain,” which means that copyright permission is not required for reproduction or use of the content. In 1922, the Morning Oregonian successfully launched Oregon’s first commercial radio station, KGW, evidence of which can be found in the newspaper: Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, March 24, 1922, Page 5, Image 5. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1922-03-24/ed-1/seq-5/ Also, by the time 1922 rolled around, the Morning Oregonian was publishing a political cartoon on the front page of every issue! These cartoons are just as telling of the times as the textual content, and can serve to remind us how much things have changed since then, but also how much things have stayed the same! For example, on this day, December 5, in 1922 (91 years ago!!!!), the following political cartoon appeared on the front page of the Morning Oregonian: Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, December 05, 1922, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1922-12-05/ed-1/seq-1/ How does this scene compare to the Congress of today? Knowing the context of these cartoons is crucial to understanding their messages, and the textual articles within the papers help to build that understanding. The Sunday Oregonian also consistently published a Comics Section at the end of each issue, with a more relaxed approach than the highly charged political cartoons of the Monday Oregonian. Stay tuned for our next blog, which will provide a guide to finding cartoons and comics on the Historic Oregon Newspapers site! Happy searching!
Newspaper Image Quality and Oregon City HistoryPosted on November 21, 2013May 11, 2023 by srabun@uoregon.edu The latest additions to the Historic Oregon Newspapers website come once again from Oregon City, but there is more to this story than just an announcement of new content! As you browse through Historic Oregon Newspapers online, you might wonder why some newspaper pages look cleaner or more readable than others. Almost all of the images you see were scanned from microfilm negatives to create the best possible digital image. However, the condition of print papers at the time of filming, as well as the way in which the papers were filmed, underlies the readability of the digital images that we use today. For example, papers that were originally filmed as bound volumes have a center binding that often creates a gutter shadow and/or page curvature, which can obstruct some of the text on each page. Papers with any kind of obstructed text are often difficult to read on microfilm, and thus difficult to read in digital form, not to mention difficult for computer software to “read” when performing the optical character recognition (OCR) that allows us to find information in the papers through keyword searching. Historic print newspapers are fragile and susceptible to water damage, mold, rips, tears, and fading ink: A bound print newspaper from the early 1900s reveals wrinkles on the page from water damage, as well as a mysterious substance that could possibly be mold. Newspapers tend to become brittle and damaged over time, so it’s rare to find many historic print copies that are still in good condition. In many cases, the original microfilm for these newspapers is all we have left to work with. However, if we can locate good quality print copies of a title that was originally filmed in poor condition, we can re-film the paper to create a better, more readable, and thus more usable image. Through our partnership with the Oregon City Public Library, with funding from the Library Services and Technology Act, we were able to re-film portions of the Banner-Courier, the Morning Enterprise, and the Oregon City Enterprise. Many thanks to the Milwaukie Historical Society’s Milwaukie Museum, where these bound volumes of old Oregon City newspapers were kept intact! Notice the difference between papers that were filmed bound as opposed to those filmed flat: Before: Filmed bound: Morning Enterprise, July 2, 1913, page 1. Note the gutter shadow that obstructs text along the left edge of the page, not to mention the page curve that obstructs text on the preceding page. After: Filmed flat: Morning Enterprise, July 2, 1913, page 1. No text is obstructed. To prepare the papers for filming, we first dis-bound the pages of each volume so that we could film them flat, one at a time. Tears or rips in the paper were repaired using Filmoplast (archival quality transparent tape made from paper) and wrinkles and creases were mitigated with a steam iron. The papers were microfilmed using best practices set by the Library of Congress, and then the microfilm was scanned to produce the digital images that are now viewable online at Historic Oregon Newspapers: The banner-courier, Jan. – Dec. 1922 (re-filmed) Morning enterprise, Jan. 1912 – Dec. 1913 (re-filmed) Oregon City enterprise, Jan. 1905 – Jan. 1908 and July 1917 – Dec. 1922 (1905-1906 and 1921-1922 re-filmed) The combination of printed page, microfilming, and digitization has not only helped to preserve the history of Oregon City, but also to provide access to these newspapers to anyone in the world with an internet connection. We hope you enjoy the final product as much as we do! An initial browse through this newly added content has yielded the following clippings, but there are many more articles, images, and advertisements of interest just waiting to be discovered by you! The banner-courier. (Oregon City, Or.) 1919-1950, December 28, 1922, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063699/1922-12-28/ed-1/seq-1/ Morning enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) 1911-1933, February 02, 1912, Image 1. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063701/1912-02-02/ed-1/seq-1/ Oregon City enterprise. (Oregon City, Or.) 1891-194?, October 20, 1922, Page Page seven, Image 7. http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063700/1922-10-20/ed-1/seq-7/ Happy Searching!