Tag Archives: Vermont Digital Newspaper Project

The End of the World was almost Today in 1843 and 1844: the Failed Prophesies of the Millerites

The Burlington Free Press republished an article  on William Miller from the Bennington Banner on February 17, 1843, introducing it with a heavy dose of skepticism:
“It is the latest news from this monomaniac and his whereabouts…This gentleman arrived in this village [Bennington], and commenced a course of lectures on his favorite and celebrated theme–the Destruction of the World by Fire in A.D. 1843…during his first lecture he gave substantially the following description of the MANNER of the Second Advent: ‘A small bright spot will first appear in the east, which will gradually expand as it approaches the earth…At the sound of a trumpet (or some other signal) the bright spot having gradually illuminated the whole heavens, the righteous dead shall rise from their resting places–and the risen and living saints shall together be caught up…the wicked burned up.'”
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“The Parson is a large, thick-set personage, something over 60, and stands on his leathers about five feet ten. He has a large head, and a large square full face, with small blue eyes, a small nose, light complexion, and light hair. He is earnest and vehement in his delivery…” -Burlington Free Press, February 17, 1843, page 1.

Vermont transplant, Rev. William Miller (1782-1849), was a notable Baptist preacher during the Second Great Awakening in the first half of the 19th century. Born in Pittsfield, Mass., he moved with his family shortly thereafter at the age of four to Poultney, Vt. In the 1830s he rose in prominence for his views on the impeding Second Advent of Christ (a day in Christian teachings when Christ will return again and take believers up to heaven, leaving all else on earth to burn) nationwide after partnering with Joshua V. Himes, a well-known Boston Baptist minister. Pamphlets, periodicals, speeches, and newspapers largely assisted in the spread of his radical views. Continue reading The End of the World was almost Today in 1843 and 1844: the Failed Prophesies of the Millerites →

Women’s History as it Happened, in the News

It’s Women’s History Month; thus an appropriate time to reflect on women in history as seen in  newspapers. Chronicling America‘s newspapers from 1836-1922 help capture an integral period of time in the women’s history: here we see the growing effort for suffrage and equal rights, the passage of the 19th Amendment, and the emergence of such pioneering women as Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony, Dorothy Dix, and so many more.

The Topics page on Chronicling America contains a number of intriguing women’s history topics, from developments in women’s sporting fashion to Clara Barton’s founding of the American Red Cross; see them below:

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“Miss Jennie Durkee, the original bloomer girl” -Middlebury Register, April 2, 1897

Happy searching!

To learn more specifically about Vermont women in history, visit the Vermont Historical Society’s “Vermont Women in History” database.

‪#‎WomenYouShouldKnow‬

User Spotlight Series: Egbert Stolk

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Egbert Stolk examining a wall at New York’s Tenement Museum, while an intern there this summer. Photograph by Alexandra Brown.

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Egbert Stolk writes as a guest blogger for our User Spotlight Series this month. Egbert                recently graduated from the University of     Vermont’s Historic Preservation Program with a Master of Science. Below he shares his experience of using Chronicling America to research immigrant stories for The Burlington Edible Food Tour.

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In my work for the edible food walking tour in Burlington, Vermont, we strive to gather immigrant stories who were working directly or indirectly in the food industry in Burlington. The different ethnic groups that came to America, and in our case specifically Burlington, also brought their food traditions with them. Sometimes traditional food was sold in shops or otherwise immigrants sold American food, while cooking ethnic food at home. In The Burlington Edible Food Tour we try to uncover immigrant and food stories, and places that relate to these stories. We used the online newspaper database Chronicling America to find more stories for the tour. For example: to locate street vendors and restaurants owned by immigrants and events pertaining to those businesses. It was very helpful as history is sometimes lost forever, but with the help of century-old journalism we are able to reconstruct part of Burlington’s immigrant              history. Continue reading User Spotlight Series: Egbert Stolk →

How-to: Clip, Save, and Print Quality Images from Chronicling America

Many thanks to a patron who requested this how-to, as the ability to clip, save, and print quality images from Chronicling America can be a challenge! We have a few tried-and-true techniques  (and free!) to help you out.

Chronicling America offers a few different ways to easily clip, save, and print images, with varying quality of the images.

We’ve also  included a few alternative methods that have worked for the project. (Note: we are not promoting any of these resources; while we’ve had successes with these alternative methods and online tools, we understand they may not work well for everyone!)

1. Saving/Sorting Images:

  • Share/Save Button: Chronicling America has a share/save button on the top of each page that allows you to copy and paste the newspaper page’s link, save to your favorites folder, email, share with social media, or download the image to an RSS feed, as a jp2, or pdf.
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Click to enlarge. This share/save button allows you to save or share content with a variety of tools.
  • Bottom Label: Every Chronicling America page has a bottom        label with the newspaper title, date, and a hyperlink. This allows you to copy and paste the information into a document. It’s a great tool for keeping relevant pages organized.
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Click to enlarge. This image shows the bottom of a newspaper page on Chronicling America. A link and content information is given–making it a great way to save the page!

Continue reading How-to: Clip, Save, and Print Quality Images from Chronicling America →

Happy Holidays from VTDNP!

Happy holidays, everyone, from the Vermont Digital Newspaper Project! May you have a warm (emphasis on warm!!), happy, and safe holiday in whatever form that may take.

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An advertisement for a radio from the Caledonian-Record in 1922.

 

Here’s to a fantastic 2014 and an even better 2015.  In honor of the holiday season, we put together a small  album of assorted holiday newspaper clippings from Vermont (all found on                              Chronicling America).

 

View the album on Flickr

View the album on Pinterest

 

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“The Arrival of the New Year” in the Spirit of the Age out of Woodstock, Vermont.

 

Cheers,

The VTDNP team

P.S. Also, a note on holiday craft ideas: old newspaper clippings make for great holiday cards!

P.P.S. Have you seen the Chronicling America Topics Pages for “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”?