Thursday, February 7, 2013

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

  Today, thanks to some teacher friends, I learned about the  South Carolina Digital Newspaper Project (SCDNP).  This project is digitizing historically significant newspaper issues so they are available for our use.  What a wonderful, free resource to have, particularly as we try to look at our ancestors in the context of where and when they were living.
During February, in honor of Black History Month, the SCDNP blog will be featuring "influential people and events in the African American community of South Carolina".(1)  The headline below from one of their informative posts, and the article has a number of links to other newspaper articles around the country that reported on Emancipation Day. 

The headline of an article detailing Charleston's upcoming celebration in the South Carolina Leader
(Charleston, S.C.), December 23, 1865

The South Carolina project is part of the larger Library of Congress Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers initiative.  Warning:  the Chronicling America site can be addictive.  Before I realized it, I had spent about half an hour looking at old newspapers, especially the ads, from the 1898-1899 Texas newspapers, the time my Great Aunt Miriam has written her "Variety Book".  It was fascinating to see more things that might have been part of her life at that time.

This post is deliberately short because I hope you will spent time browsing or researching in this historic newspapers.

(1) "Emancipation Day."  South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program.  SCDNP Blog, posted February 6, 2013. http://www.library.sc.edu/blogs/newspaper/2012/02/06/emancipation-day : accessed 7 Feb 2013.

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