Tag Archives: VTDNP

Historically Speaking Rutland TV Appearance

We would like to dedicate this television appearance to Birdie MacLennan, our Project Director and Principal Investigator, who passed away earlier this week. For this television episode, and as with all else she did, she dedicated a great deal of time, inspiration, and enthusiasm into making this program appearance be the success it is. As with the project itself, it would not have happened without her integral leadership and dedication to Vermont’s history and its historic newspapers. There is so much to be thankful for. We hope you enjoy the episode.

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The Vermont Digital Newspaper Project traveled to Rutland, Vermont, a few weeks ago to be guest presenters on the Rutland Historical Society’s public access television show, Historically Speaking. Every month, the Rutland Historical Society produces a new program on their local public access television station, PEGTV, on various historical topics.

Director and Principal Investigator Birdie MacLennan, Project Librarian Erenst Anip, and Digital Support Specialist Karyn Norwood, met with the curator of the Rutland Historical Society and host of the show, Jim Davidson, to introduce the Vermont Digital Newspaper Project, Chronicling America, and highlight some intriguing local history stories, as well as offer some helpful search tips.

IMG_00002217Photo by Erenst Anip of the PEGTV main office space.

The half-hour episode can be viewed on tv now until the end of the month on PEGTV, Rutland’s Community Access television channel Public 15, on Wednesdays at 4 pm, Thursdays at 1:30 pm, and Fridays at 7:30 pm.

The video can also be viewed on demand online here: Historically Speaking Episode #132 Continue reading Historically Speaking Rutland TV Appearance →

Genealogy Search Tips for Chronicling America

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Often marriages are printed in varying detail in historic newspapers. This notice appeared, among others, in the Bennington Banner and Reformer, October 15, 1903.

The search for ancestors, while generally rewarding, can be difficult and time-consuming; as an amateur genealogist I can attest to this. For genealogy research, certainly, historic newspapers contain a wealth of information about relatives, for newspapers can include local news, marriages and deaths, participant lists (military recruitment lists, organizations, meetings, parties), advertisements, social and political functions, local individual updates (e.g., “Mrs. William Johnson received her parents this past Wednesday”–these may or may not be helpful!), and legal notices (deeds, court happenings, divorces, estates). This is, if you can find it amid hundreds of thousands of pages. Generally, this has often meant hours of scanning newspaper microfilm or going through actual newspapers at a historical society or library.

Thankfully, Chronicling America provides an online platform for searching historic newspapers from across the United States. Chronicling America is an accessible and free search tool that greatly eases the search of newspapers for traces of the past. Currently, thirty-eight states, including Vermont, have over 6.6 million pages from 1,105 newspapers available for search on the website from the years of 1836-1922. Continue reading Genealogy Search Tips for Chronicling America →

User Spotlight Series: Vermont Milk Chocolate Company

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Periodically, we’ll be interviewing researchers and showcasing projects that are using content from Vermont historical newspapers on Chronicling America.

Our first interviewee is Frances Gubler, a graduate historic preservation student at the University of Vermont, who has been conducting research this fall on historic industrial and manufacturing buildings on Flynn ???????Avenue in Burlington, Vermont, as part of a class research project. Fran graciously agreed to meet and share some of her newspaper findings.

To start, I asked Fran what she found valuable about Chronicling America.
“Chronicling America is easy to use. Microfilm is interesting, but it is also intimidating. With Chronicling America, you can do a quick keyword search and get results,” said Fran. Continue reading User Spotlight Series: Vermont Milk Chocolate Company →

150 YEARS AGO: “The Dedication of Gettysburg Cemetery,” The Caledonian, Nov. 27, 1863

The Library of Congress picked an article from The Caledonian (St. Johnsbury, VT) to commemorate the event:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln presided over the dedication of a new National Cemetery at Gettysburg, PA, site of one of the most destructive battles of the Civil War (see the Chronicling America Topics Page on the Battle of Gettysburg – https://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/gettysburg.html – to explore further). The Caledonian (St. Johnsbury, VT) joined other newspapers across the country in describing the events of the day for its readers, including reprinting Lincoln’s now famous speech beginning with “Four score and seven years ago…” The speech was described as “a perfect gem,” “unexpected in its verbal perfection and beauty….” Read more about it!