Tag Archives: newspaper

Indiana newspapers: Where to get statistics and titles

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Before you embark on newspaper research, take a moment to assess which publication titles will be helpful to you. Start by discovering which newspaper titles were available in the place and time of your topic. As you go back into the past, you will often run into the following scenarios:

  • In the same town, two or three newspaper publishers will print the exact same title, each of them printed by different people in different periods. Common titles like News, Times and Tribune are examples.
  • Titles often merge over time, resulting in new titles with completely different names, but with an updated coverage area.
  • Titles were often published for less than a decade before disappearing. Although some newspapers have survived for centuries, this is rare.
  • At any given moment during the lifespan of a title, the editor or manager could be replaced many times, with no announcement except for a theme change.
  • A title’s readership or circulation is often not included in the copy either, although publishers typically track this information for their business.

Knowing these roadblocks in advance can give you an idea of where to search. It can also inform you whether the information you desire can be found in a neighborhood newspaper or if you need to expand your circle of research. Where can you find the newspaper data to clear this fog? The Indiana State Library is here to help! Here are two sources that supply the backstory and statistics for local newspaper titles. Together, these two indexes provide information regarding management, editorship and circulation numbers for every Indiana title – and for every calendar year.

“Indiana Newspaper Bibliography” by John W. Miller

Published by the Indiana Historical Society in 1982, this book furnishes the beginning and ending dates of every Indiana title up to that time, the founders and editors over different periods and the places where preserved copies existed in 1982. The book was also designed to tell the stories of publishing staff and title histories, conveying the themes on which they were based and the reasons why changes were made over time. Obviously, this source won’t help much if you are looking into the recent past. For searching newspapers printed from 50 years ago and beyond, it addresses mergers, title founders and even awkward moments when an owner grabbed the printing press and hightailed it to another community. County sections in the book are subdivided by town. At the end of each county section, an index of local titles lays out where prints and microfilms could be found in 1982.

“Indiana Newspaper Directory” by the Hoosier State Press Association

Published annually, these softback books are packed with statistical information for every Indiana title, broken down by daily or weekly categories. The titles in each category are presented in alphabetical order. For each one, the yearly circulation is listed, as well as names of managers and editors. More recent annual issues include each title’s birth year and the weekday publication schedule. Each title is listed as a morning or evening paper as well. Analyzing these statistics over a period of years, the researcher can discover the exact dates and times when papers changed publication strategies and ownership. You can also track a title’s popularity over time. The yearly population of each title’s town or county is provided, so that circulation can be calculated as a percentage. The data was originally shared by publishers statewide to focus efforts and bolster local support for the HSPA and the legacy of titles it represents. The Indiana State Library currently holds issues of the newspaper directory published from 1948 through 2006.

When you are comfortable with the locations, dates and titles that will inform your project, the Indiana State Library Legacy database can help.

This newspaper microfilm index is searchable by town, county or title name. Once you have opened a list of titles that will work for you, check the available date range by clicking on ones of interest. Repeated, merged and closed titles are documented along with the date ranges available in the microfilm cabinets, to help guide you along the way.

This post was submitted by David Pleiss, newspaper librarian with the Indiana Division of the Indiana State Library. 

Treating a rare French newspaper featuring the Statue of Liberty

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In late 2019, a rare newspaper was discovered in the Indiana State Library’s General Pamphlet Collection by Rayjeana Duty, Circulation Support supervisor. The newspaper showed a single sheet from the Le Journal Illustré from May 13, 1883. What made this particular issue of this newspaper unique and special is that it contained articles and illustrations showing the construction of the Statue of Liberty, before it was given to the United States in June of 1885. The images in the newspaper showed not only the Statue of Liberty being built, but also showed various images of the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty.

Upon realizing how unique and rare the newspaper was – and also realizing the poor condition it was in – it was brought to the conservation lab for assessment and conservation treatment. The newspaper was in extremely poor condition. Most of the sheet had been torn along the original folds, and repaired at some point with rubber cement and a thin acidic paper. This caused extremely bad staining throughout the sheet, obscuring both the images and the text. The paper was also extremely brittle and the damage was so severe that the newspaper needed to be handled on a rigid board to prevent pieces from falling off and getting lost. After thorough testing and examination, a plan was put together for a way to remove all of the staining and repair all of the remaining damage.

The first step was to remove all of the old repair paper and rubber cement staining. This was carefully done by applying a solvent to the stained areas on a powerful vacuum table.  The solvent would solubilize the old rubber cement and move it into sacrificial blotter paper underneath. Slowly, this cleared out the staining and allow the removal of the old acidic repair paper without damaging the newspaper.

Once all of the staining and repair paper was removed, all of the tears opened up again.  This was sort of like taking an old bandage off a wound. Since the repair paper was the only thing holding all of the pieces together, once the repair paper was removed all of the pieces came apart. This was the point where it was possible to determine how much of the sheet was missing, and how many holes there were. Due to the brittleness of the paper and the staining, each of the pieces were individually washed in specially modified water to de-acidify the paper. This removed much of the brittleness and resulted in the paper being stronger. Much of the yellowing of the paper also went away.

Once all of the pieces were washed, the reassembly process began. All of the missing areas were filled with re-pulped paper on a suction table and the sheet was lined with a very thin Japanese tissue with wheat starch paste. This tissue was thin enough to still allow for the text on the opposing side to be read.

Working under a microscope, the loose pieces were carefully put back into in their correct spots.

Finally, the newly-filled in areas were carefully in-painted under a microscope to blend in with the surrounding image.

The final result is a newspaper that is better preserved and free of damage. This will allow for better viewing of both the images and the text. Click on the photos below for a larger view.

Translation of the bottom of the page featuring the Statue of Liberty:

The creation of the colossal statue of liberty
Executed by M. Aug. Bartoldi
Visit from M. President to the manufacture Gauthier and Cie, 25 rue de Chazelle (Parc Monceau)

1.       Fabrication in wood of the left hand of the statue.
2.       Modeling the same body fragment, covered in plaster.
3.       Scheme of the interior structure of the statue, facing forward.
4.       Building the statue in the courtyard of the manufacture.
5.       Section of the statue, seen from the side
6.       Modeling in wood of a part, molds built by the woodworkers.
7.       Beating of the copper on the molds built by the woodworkers
8.       Visit of M. President inside the statue. Entry through the right foot.

Drawings by Karl Fichot. See article p. 154.

Learn more about the Indiana State Library’s Martha E. Wright Conservation Lab here.

Translation courtesy of Sophie Barbisan, assistant paper conservator at the St. Louis Art Museum.

This blog post was written by Seth Irwin, conservator, Indiana State Library.