New York State Historic Newspapers Project with Chuck Henry

Episode Overview

Dive into the largest state newspaper archive in the country! Chuck Henry, Project Lead for New York State Historic Newspapers, takes us through this incredible digital repository containing over 1,200 newspaper titles, 1.5 million editions, and more than 15 million pages—all available free of charge.

Guest

Chuck Henry

IT Coordinator, Northern New York Library Network

Project Lead, New York State Historic Newspapers

What You'll Learn

🗞️ How the project transformed microfilm archives into a searchable digital collection

🗞️ The breadth of the collection: from 1725 to 2025, covering all 62 New York counties

🗞️ Tips and tricks for searching the database effectively

🗞️ Why this matters for genealogists, historians, students, and curious locals

🗞️ The difference between this free public resource and commercial databases

🗞️ How libraries and historical societies can get their collections digitized

Key Topics Discussed

📰 The Problem with Microfilm

📰 Chuck explains why libraries desperately needed a better solution than basement microfilm readers and hours of manual searching.

📰 Building the Archive

📰 Started in 2004 as Northern New York Historic Newspapers

📰 Expanded statewide in 2014

📰 Now adds approximately 500,000 new pages every year

📰 Second largest freely available newspaper archive in the U.S. (behind Library of Congress)

What's in the Collection

⌨️ 1,200+ newspaper titles from across New York State

⌨️ Earliest: New York Gazette (February 1725)

⌨️ Most recent: Freeport High School newspaper (June 2025)

⌨️ Includes Catskills papers like the Catskill Mountain News, Delaware County Dairyman, Gilboa Monitor, and Callicoon Local Record

⌨️ Multiple languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Gaelic, and Native languages

Search Tips from the Expert

🖱️Start with county-based browsing using the interactive map

🖱️Use Boolean search operators and quotation marks for precise results

🖱️Try alternative spellings for older papers with imperfect OCR

🖱️Browse by specific dates to see multiple newspapers' coverage of historical events

🖱️Create a free account to save searches and make notes

Who Uses It

👉 Genealogists researching births, deaths, marriages, and property transfers

👉 Amateur and professional historians

👉 Students from K-12 through university level

👉 Authors and journalists

👉 Local communities preserving their heritage

The Process

Libraries and historical societies can submit their collections

Funding often available through Empire State Library Network councils

Scanning done in-house in Potsdam, NY

OCR technology makes everything searchable

Original microfilm preserved as permanent backup

Notable Finds Mentioned

Desperate fight with a bear (Stanford Mirror, 1876)

Bootleg liquor tragedy (Delaware Republican, 1926)

Restaurant ads from the 1970s

The "Spiedie Sandwich" historical marker project

Copyright and Access

Content pre-1920s is public domain

1920s-1960s content varies by copyright status

Post-1960s content requires written permission

Everything available free of charge—no paywalls or subscriptions

Resources

New York State Historic Newspapers

New York Heritage

Get Involved

Libraries and historical societies can contact the Northern New York Library Network about digitization services

Create a free account to save searches and research

Optional monthly newsletter available

🎙️ Production Credits

Kaatscast is a biweekly production of Silver Hollow Audio

Host, producer: Brett Barry

Transcription: Jerome Kazlauskas

More at kaatscast.com

Sponsored by The Mountain Eagle

🫆 Mystery Bonus

Do you know where the Mountain Eagle's missing archives are? Previous owners either destroyed them or the microfilm is languishing in an undisclosed ... basement? Contact the show if you have leads!