chronicling america / chronicling vermont: historic newspapers @ the library of congress

Birdie MacLennan,

University of Vermont

Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress

Tom McMurdo,

Vermont State Library

Vermont Library Conference

Saint Michael’s College

Colchester, VT

May 21, 2013

Erenst Anip,

University of Vermont

Chris Kirby,

Ilsley Public Library

VTDNP: Background

• Part of National Digital Newspaper Program

• Began in 2005; 2-year cycles

• Target: ~100,000 pages of historic newspapers (1836-1922) for LC’s Chronicling America

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

• 32 states funded; 6 million + pages available!

• VTDNP Phase 1 (2010-2012) � ~130,000 pages added

• VTDNP Phase 2 (2012-2014) � underway!

StateProjects

Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress

Today’s program

• Vermont Digital Newspaper Project collaborators offer

an overview of historic Vermont newspapers on

Chronicling America.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

• Coverage: historical themes in Vermont newspapers of

the 19th and early 20th centuries—alongside with other

states' newspapers covering similar themes or topics.

By some estimates, the

influenza pandemic of 1918-

1919 is to have killed 50

million worldwide and some

675,000 in the United States.

Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: The Spanish Influenza in Addison County

When the Spanish Influenza

first struck Middlebury,

Vermont in September 1918

and the population of

Middlebury was 2,914. There

were between 250 and 300

cases of the flu by October

1918 and there were at least

14 deaths due to the flu by

November 8 (Long 12, 35).

A survey of the

Middlebury Register

reveals much about

the experience of the

Middlebury and

neighboring towns

during this pandemic.

Chris Kirby

Ilsley Public Library

January 04, 1918, image 6

(Orwell)

January 25, 1918, Image 6

Flu News Before the Spanish Influenza:

February 08, 1918,Image 5

Flu News Before the Spanish Influenza

February 15, 1918, Image 7

February 15, 1918

Before the Spanish Influenza: Language of the Flu

March 01, 1918, Image 8

February 15, 1918, Image 7

February 15,

1918, Image 8

March 22, 1918,

Image 2

Before the Spanish Influenza: Language of the Flu

January 11, 1918

February 22, 1918, Image 7

Before the Spanish Influenza: Remedies for the Flu

March 08, 1918, Image 2

September 27, 1918

Spanish Influenza strikes Middlebury

October 4, 1918

September 27, 1918,Image 1

Responses to Spanish Influenza: Middlebury College

October 4, 1918,Image 1

Responses to Spanish Influenza in Middlebury

October 4, 1918, Image 1

October 4, 1918, Image 1

October 11, 1918, Image 4

Public Gatherings Banned

October 25, 1918, Image 8

October 11, 1918, Image 1

Dr. Stanton S. Eddy Takes Charge

Dr. Eddy Takes Charge: Pharmacists Respond

October 18, 1918, Image 1

October 18, 1918, Image 1

Spanish Influenza abates?

October 11, 1918, Image 1

October 25, 1918, Image 1

Spanish Influenza abates?

November 01, 1918, Image 1

March 08, 1918, Image 2 November 01, 1918, Image 7

Spanish Influenza: Changing Language

December 20, 1918, Image 1

Spanish Influenza Unabated in Neighboring Towns

January 03, 1919, Image 1

January 03, 1919, Image 4

December 20, 1918, Image 1

Influenza strikes at Home

January 17, 1919, Image 1

January 17, 1919, Image 4

January 24, 1919, Image 1

Family Tragedies

Middlebury Register reporting on the Spanish Influenza:

Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: The Spanish Influenza in Addison County

Chris Kirby

Ilsley Public Library

A Compelling Vermont Story!

Differing Perspectives in Chronicling America

John Brown and the Raid on Harper’s Ferry

Tom McMurdo, VTLIB

Chronicling America is a powerful research tool. The breadth of time covered, nearly a century—1836-1922—gives researchers ongoing coverage of long running events and themes.

Just as important are the growing number of states and publications in Chronicling America that allow researchers to look at events from multiple perspectives.

John Brown is a figure that is still likely to elicit a variety of opinions, depending on whom and where you ask. Was he a terrorist? Or was he the first hero of the Civil War?

John Brown’s Ill-fated raid on Harper’s Ferry, VA took place on October 16-18, 1859. Brown and 20 others captured the armory with the intention to arm nearby slaves and begin an insurgency that would end slavery in the south. Brown and his men, including a freed slave, a fugitive slave, and three of his sons, were cornered in the armory by militia and US Marines. Brown was soon defeated. Among the dead were two of Brown’s sons. John Brown was hanged in Virginia on December 2, 1859. His body was sent to his family farm in upstate NY.

Vermont newspapers began reporting on the raid by the end of the week:

Burlington Free Press, Oct. 21, 1859

Note death notice of John

Calhoun, former surveyor

general of KS. Pro-slavery, he

endorsed a KS state constitution

that favored slavery and

slaveholders.

A prominent rumor is reported

here: “a body of 250 to 800

abolitionists and negroes had

taken possession of the US

arsenal at Harper’s Ferry.” It is

dispelled later in the article.

More Vermont coverage:

Vermont Phoenix, Oct. 22, 1859

Brattleboro’s Vermont Phoenix

clears up rumors and reports

that John Brown is still alive and

in custody on October 22.

Meanwhile in Virginia there is a lot more detail right away:

Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA),

Oct. 20, 1859

The Daily

Dispatch

from

Richmond, VA

filled its

columns with

details about

what was

happening at

Harper’s

Ferry.

The Richmond, VA Daily Dispatch used a different tone from VT’s newspapers on Harper’s Ferry:

Daily Dispatch

(Richmond, VA),

Oct. 20, 1859

“The outrage which has just been enacted at Harper’s Ferry,

the South will feel most deeply. Is it possible—her citizens will

ask—is it possible that the animosity of the North against us

has reached such a degree of all-consuming hate as to drive

any of her citizens upon such efforts, and make them blind,

not only to its vile wickedness, but to its utter folly?”

History repeats itself:

Vermont Watchman and State Journal,

Oct. 28, 1859

The Daily Dispatch

and the Vermont

Watchman & State

Journal (Montpelier)

both pointed out

that President

Buchanan’s

administration had

received an

anonymous warning

in August that the

raid would take

place under the

command of John

Brown.

History repeats itself:

Vermont Watchman and State Journal,

Oct. 28, 1859

The warning letter,

though anonymous

at the time, later

proved to be

written by David J.

Gue of Iowa. The

existence of this

letter has been

dropped from the

popular narrative

of John Brown and

Harper’s Ferry.

Instant politicization of Harper’s Ferry:

Edgefield Advertiser,

Oct. 26, 1859

Predictably, this newspaper

editor writing in the

Edgefield Advertiser (South

Carolina) called it a “hair

(sic)-brained demonstration

by a pack of fanatics and

poor deluded slaves.” he

goes on to discuss how this

will cause the North to pull

back from Republicanism

and to retreat from anti-

slavery stances. Yes, the

opposite happened.

Always other interesting items on the page:

Edgefield Advertiser,

Oct. 26, 1859

On the same page as the

Harper’s Ferry Raid articles

is this chess puzzle. This is

the earliest one I have seen

in my career working with

newspapers. Leisure and

games in the 19th century is

a growing area of historical

research.

Instant politicization of Harper’s Ferry:

The Alleghenian,

Dec. 8, 1859

The editor of the

Ebensburg, Pa Alleghenian

had a much different take

on Harper’s Ferry: the

rapid end of slavery in

Virginia. Of course slavery

would be ended in six

years, but not in the

manner this writer

believed. He argues that

natural progress will

overwhelm the Old

Dominion and end slavery

there.

The Power of Chronicling America:

There are many more newspapers from this era available on

Chronicling America. I have just scratched the surface. I do hope

these examples give you a notion of how great it is to be able to read

contemporary opinions and reports of events from many different

newspapers in many different locales.

Birdie MacLennanVTDNP Project Director

University of Vermont

Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress

Who wasSnowflake Bentley

(in his time)?

Wilson Alwyn Bentley [1865-1931]

in Chronicling America

Basic search …http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

Chronicling

America returns

page images

with highlighted

keywords

Feature-length article on Wilson Alwyn Bentley [1865-1931] in New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]), 26 Sept. 1920, p. 5, image 65.

Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.), 13 Jan.1922, p. 1.

News of Mr. Bentley’s lecture to the Green Mt. Club and ….

Burlington weekly free

press. (Burlington, Vt.),

February 21, 1918, Page 9

Note: Variant spelling [snow flake; two words] in search box yields different result:

Bentley lecture & slide show @ St. Paul’s Church, Burlington

The Sun. (New York [N.Y.]),

18 Jan. 1920. section 4, p.3.

Phrase search for “Wilson A. Bentley” using the Sort menu to display results.

Technique: “The 3,500 snow

crystals that I have

photographed would hardly

make a good snowball … I

permit nothing to interfere

with my work when good

crystals are falling.”

Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 11 May 1907, p. 6.

The St. Louis Republic. (St. Louis, Mo.), 30 Nov. 1901, p.6.

Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 11 Jan. 1904, p.12.

Press coverage of Bentley publications in National Geographic, Harper’s and

Doubleday/Kann.

Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress

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