The Londonderry Sifter: Sharp and to the Point

One of Vermont’s most unique newspapers, the Londonderry Sifter, will be added to Chronicling America during the third phase of the Vermont Digital Newspaper Project. The story of the Sifter, a weekly paper that served southern Vermont’s West River Valley from 1883 to 1922, is primarily the story of its founder and long-time editor, George T. Shanks.

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George T. Shanks. From Abby Williams, Sifter John: The Story of a Vermont Editor’s Fight for Freedom of the Press.

Shanks was a self-taught printer who started the paper in South Londonderry with no previous newspaper experience. Until 1890, the Sifter displayed lines from the poet John Dryden, “When yellow sands are sifted from below, the sifting billows give a golden glow,” below the title on the front page. Shanks sifted the news to present columns such as “Sifterlets—Short and Snappy” and “State News—Through the Sifter’s Sieve.” He admonished local
correspondents to “sift it” and present only “the pure gold, sharp and to the point.” Shanks was known as Sifter John, even on the paper’s masthead.

sifter2 Continue reading The Londonderry Sifter: Sharp and to the Point →

Announcing our Phase III Titles

We are pleased to announce our Phase III newspaper titles:

  • Orleans County Monitor (1913-1922)*

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    The Semi-weekly Brattleboro Reformer was published between 1897 and 1901.
  • Rutland Weekly Herald  (1861-1873)*
  • Brattleboro Reformer family (1879-1922)
  • Londonderry Sifter (1884-1921)
  • Manchester Journal (1861-1922)
  • Herald and News (1888-1910) (West Randolph, Orange County)
  • Barre Daily Times (1903-1922)
  • Bellows Falls Times (1856-1903)

*- indicates a continuation of a previously digitized title run

The above titles will add at least another 100,000 pages of Vermont newspapers to Chronicling America; this work will be completed by the middle of summer 2016. By the end of this phase, an estimated total of 370,000 pages and 73 titles from Vermont newspapers will be available online, for free, and searchable worldwide.

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The Bellows Falls Times was published between 1856 and 1903.

This remarkable amount of Vermont historic newspapers online would not be possible without the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library of Congress and our state partners: Ilsley Public Library, Vermont Historical Society, Vermont Department of Libraries, and the University of Vermont. We are indebted, too, to those involved in our Advisory Council and Project Management Group.

Some sneak peak article clippings from our Phase III titles:

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From the News and Herald, January 18, 1917

 

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From the Brattleboro Daily Reformer, January 14, 1915

 

150 Years Ago, in the American Civil War: Lee surrenders to Grant

“When this cruel war is over,  praying then to meet again,” went the chorus of a popular Civil War song written by Henry Tucker in 1863. Those words encapsulated so much of what the war was to so many on the war front and at home: a seemingly endless period of waiting, worrying, and hoping. Yet the war in 1863 was only half over. The American Civil War stretched on and on, for four long, bloody years. The beginning of April 1865, though, 150 years ago, marked the Civil War’s decline with decisiveness.

Union victory seemed relatively assured after General Sherman’s March to the Sea in the autumn of 1864. By early 1865, the South did not have the numbers, nor the wealth or resources of the North, to sustain the rebellion much longer. Continue reading 150 Years Ago, in the American Civil War: Lee surrenders to Grant →

We’ll be at the Dynamic Landscapes K-12 Edtech Conference, Will You?

We’re excited to be leading a workshop at the annual Vermont K-12 Edtech Conference at Champlain College in Burlington on May 21st and 22nd! This year’s theme is Dynamic Landscapes: Do, Make, and Create! The two-day conference is sponsored by VITA-Learn, the VSLA (Vermont State Library Association) and the VT AOE (Agency of Education), and is open to Vermont teachers, librarians, administrators, and tech specialists in K-12 schools.

We’ll be speaking on how to use historic newspaper content from Chronicling America in the classroom on Thursday, May 21st at 11 am (D1 Thursday Session 2A). To learn more about our talk and sign-up for our session (if you’re already registered), visit the session website.

For information on the conference and how to register, visit the Dynamic Landscapes website. Hope to see you there!

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Visit our For Educators page to download lessons, view tutorials and more!

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 →