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On October 7th, Chronicling America, the website through which the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) content is hosted, reached a huge milestone in its history. “The site now features more than 10 million pages – 74 terabytes of total data – from more than 1,900 newspapers in 38 states and territories and the District of Columbia,” according to the 10-millionth page press release. Through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is celebrating its 50 year anniversary as an independent federal agency, Chronicling America serves as a free and open hub for newspaper preservation for participating institutions.
The University of North Texas Libraries, in partnership with the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, has added 300,000 pages of Texas newspaper content to Chronicling America, and UNT Libraries and the Texas Digital Newspaper Program are proud to have participated. UNT Libraries also previously partnered with the Oklahoma Historical Society to complete 300,000 pages of Oklahoma newspapers for Chronicling America, and is currently partnering with University of New Mexico Libraries to add 300,000 pages of New Mexico newspapers.
Launched by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities in 2007, Chronicling America provides enhanced and permanent access to historically significant newspapers published in the United States between 1836 and 1922. It is part of the NDNP, a joint effort between the two agencies and partners in 40 states and territories.
The NDNP awards grants to entities in each state and territory to identify and digitize historic newspaper content. Awardees receive NEH funding to select and digitize 100,000 pages of historic newspapers published in their states between 1836 and 1922. Uniform technical specifications are provided to ensure consistency of all content, and digital files are transferred to the Library of Congress for long-term management and access. The first awards were made in 2005. Since then, NEH has awarded more than $30 million in support of the project.
If you’re interested in learning more about the National Endowment for the Humanities, NDNP, or the Library of Congress, visit their social media pages:
- LC Social Media
- Twitter: @librarycongress
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LibraryCongress/
- NEH Social Media
- Twitter: @NEHgov
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/National-Endowment-for-the-Humanities-131252093552454/
- What People Are Saying About Chronicling America
In Fall 2015 multiple new partner institutions have received digitization grants to preserve their area newspapers by making them available in the Texas Digital Newspaper Program. We are very excited for these libraries, and we look forward to digitizing and uploading their newspapers. Here is a sneak peek so you can keep your eyes peeled for new research vistas in the near future.
- Silsbee Public Library: Received a Tocker Foundation grant to digitize its Silsbee Bee.
- Wharton County Library: Received a Tocker Foundation grant to digitize Wharton County area newspapers, representing the communities of El Campo and Wharton.
- Nellie Pederson Library: Received a Tocker Foundation grant to digitize the Clifton Record and Clifton Enterprise, in collaboration with the Cleng Peerson Research Genealogy Library.
- Jackson County Memorial Library: Received a Tocker Foundation grant to digitize Edna and Jackson County area newspapers.
- Ennis Public Library: Received a Hancher Foundation grant to digitize the Ennis area newspapers, including the Ennis News.
- Burleson Public Library: Received a Hancher Foundation grant to digitize south Tarrant County area newspapers, representing the communities of Burleson, Alvarado, Keene, and Everman.
- Taylor Public Library: Received a Hancher Foundation grant to digitize selected years of its community and county newspapers.
- The Tarrant County Archives: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected newspapers from the early years of Tarrant County.
- Texas Lutheran University: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of its student newspaper, Lone Star Lutheran.
- Crockett County Public Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of its area newspaper collection.
- San Jacinto Community College-South Campus Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of the South Belt/Ellington Leader newspapers.
- The Humble Museum: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of the Humble Echo.
- St. Mary’s University Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of its student newspaper, The Rattler.
- Mesquite Public Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of the Texas Mesquiter.
- Texas State University: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of its student newspaper, The College Star.
- Friench Simpson Memorial Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of The Hallettsville Herald and The New Era.
- Lamar University Mary & John Gray Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize The Pine Needle.
- McKinney Public Library: Received a Rescuing Texas History 2015 Newspaper grant to digitize selected years of the McKinney Courier-Gazette.
The dedication of the groups who have applied for and received these grants shows the importance of newspaper preservation and access to Texas communities. The preservation infrastructure of The Portal to Texas History ensures that partners’ newspapers will be available for research for generations to come. Texas communities are spread across a huge geographical area and are situated in climates that can cause severe deterioration to newspaper pages, making standards-based digital preservation a critical necessity. We congratulate all of our new partner institutions, and we would like to thank the publishers who have worked with these libraries on making their newspapers accessible for researchers worldwide. Finally, we would like to give our special thanks to the Tocker Foundation and the Ladd and Katherine Hancher Foundation, who have made access to these rich newspaper histories possible.
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