In partnership with the Crook County Historical Society Bowman Museum in Prineville, Oregon, the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program (ODNP) is proud to announce two additional Prineville titles that are now part of Historic Oregon Newspapers online:
Both papers provide a late 19th century perspective on Crook County and serve as precursors to the Prineville Crook County Journal, which can also be found online from January 1901-July 1921.
Here are just a few fun clippings that can be found in these new additions:
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!
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:
By late November of 1888, the railroad was complete, a cause for celebration:
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:
The very same page contains a surprising advertisement for, well, see for yourself:
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:
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:
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!
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:
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:
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!
What better way to stay warm in the coming winter months than to hunker down with Historic Oregon Newspapers online? With over 500,000 pages from 75 titles, you can search and browse to your heart’s delight, especially now that we have added four new keyword-searchable titles from La Grande, Eugene, and Portland! We could have spent hours browsing through these new papers alone, but in order to get this news out in a timely manner, below are just a few examples of content that can be found within the new additions:
Eugene, OR. The Eugene City Guard, from February 12, 1876 – April 21, 1900, “Established for the dissemination of Democratic principles, and to earn an honest living by the sweat of our brow:”
La Grande, OR. La Grande Evening Observer, from December 1, 1904 – December 13, 1911, daily newspaper covering eastern Oregon:
Portland, OR. The West Shore, from August 1, 1875 – March 28, 1891 and The Illustrated West Shore, from April 4, 1891 – May 2, 1891, Oregon’s first illustrated journal with roots as a booster magazine for the Pacific Northwest:
Stay tuned for more announcements and updates to come! Happy Fall, and Happy searching!
In partnership with the Oregon City Public Library, with funding from a Library Services and Technology Act grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Oregon State Library, more historic newspaper content from Oregon City is now available on Historic Oregon Newspapers. The new additions are:
Get ready for some serious keyword searching and browsing! Historic Oregon Newspapers online has just added over 92,000 pages of historic newspaper content from Ashland, Enterprise, Grants Pass, St. Helens, Pendleton, Portland, Salem, The Dalles, and Toledo! See links below for specific titles and date ranges, and use our Search page to quickly scan the content for names, places, and events of interest. Happy researching, and Happy 4th of July!
Attention all historic Oregon newspaper lovers! The Library of Congress and National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) have added hundreds of new Oregon newspaper issues to Chronicling America, the nation’s free, online, keyword-searchable historic newspaper database!
In addition to these Oregon titles, Chronicling America now has an additional 800,000 new newspaper pages from more than 130 new titles from across the country, including all new content from Indiana and North Dakota, as well as new content in French and Spanish from Arizona, Louisiana and New Mexico.
For more info, please see the NEH Announcement of New Release of Chronicling America.
Oregon’s history is not only accessible for searching and browsing through Oregon’s historic newspapers. Several newspapers from other states, available for keyword-searching online through the Library of Congress and National Endowment for the Humanities’ Chronicling America website, can yield a wealth of articles about Oregon. Below you’ll find a few examples of topics and articles that are available, with links arranged by newspaper “sections.”
Although I am not supposed to use the term ‘archive’ for the results of our digitization project (microfilm remains the official archival medium of newspaper content) — the internet ‘archiving’ of cultural materials is a buzz-worthy topic in the news of late.
Especially with the recent launch of Google’s Art Project, there is a growing sense that the time for ambitious, full-scale digitization of cultural relics and resources has finally arrived. Technology is evolving to the point that the ‘library experience’ and the ‘museum experience’ can now be replicated with a high degree of sophistication in an online environment.
“Images are no longer just uploaded onto a website, but can be made stimulating and engaging,” observes Nicholas Serrota, director of the Tate Gallery in London.
Digitized newspapers and paintings are just the beginning: see The best online culture archives, Florence Waters’ recent Telegraph (UK) article with links to help you explore 15 of the top websites. You probably will be amazed by what is available–whether your interest is in art, poetry, film, history, textiles, or even spelunking!