Looking for NY Herald archives

October 20, 2008 2:42 PM

Looking for NY Herald archives from 4/21/12. Is there an online site where I can search/view them?

Any idea if there is an online resource that will allow me to view archives of the NY Herald. I want the Sunday, April 21, 1912 edition. There's a piece in what I believe is called the "Women of Society" section (or something similar) that I'd like to see.

I have made some calls/emails about where I can find this, or even go to a library that might have it on microfilm or some other such source. But I don't seem to get replies.

Any leads appreciated.

posted by cherie72 to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Your issue here is going to be that the Herald stopped publishing in 1924. I suspected, and Wikipedia confirms, that microfilm wasn't widely used at that time. Microfilm in its current form wasn't invented until 1940.

Newspapers that have been in continuous operation since the 1800s sometimes have microfilm archives, but they were made during the last century, I'm pretty sure by manually photographing archived print copies of the papers. Preservation of newsprint is relatively difficult, so unless the Herald was creating copies of their daily editions on more durable media in 1912, it's possible that nothing survived.

I would bet that your one hope might be a branch of the NYC public library, who may have their own microfilm archive of the paper. Even that strikes me was a pretty long shot, and online access seems doubtful.
posted by autojack at 2:53 PM on October 20, 2008

Yes, you should call the nypl (917-ASK-NYPL (917-275-6975)) about this or related catalog entries. (New York herald (New York, N.Y. : 1840 ) etc.)
posted by Dave 9 at 3:09 PM on October 20, 2008

Best answer: Sadly, it looks like the NY Public Library doesn't have it (catalog search results for "New York Herald" as a periodical).

However, Harvard claims to have it:
(1) Hard copies at the Schlesinger Periodicals Vault. Which is great, because Schlesinger doesn't require any academic affiliation to use their collection. Since the library is part of the Radcliffe Institute, if you are doing women-related research, they may be extra-helpful.
(2) Microfilm at their Widener library (requires academic affiliation, I think)
Both options, of course, require going to Cambridge.

Or potentially you could track down a copy through the company that provided the microfilm - "Available on microfilm from University Microfilms International, and Recordak Corp."
posted by CruiseSavvy at 3:20 PM on October 20, 2008

Here's a list of repositories holding copies/microfilm of the Herald. A few have the issue you need, including the Chicago Historical Society Library and Rochester Public Library.
posted by Knappster at 3:28 PM on October 20, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks! I did try NYPL with no luck, surprisingly. But I live near Cambridge, so I'll check out the Schlesinger Library soon.
posted by cherie72 at 3:48 PM on October 20, 2008

Cherie - Harvard sounds best for you, but what information did the nypl give you? Don't Knappster's entry and this one mean that the full run is available on microfilm? ("Library Has 1840:9:21-1920:1:31") CruiseSavvy - Am I reading the catalog incorrectly?
posted by Dave 9 at 4:46 PM on October 20, 2008

And of course you can't beat the Library of Congress. They also have a bunch of documents from the people behind the paper in the American Women exhibit.
posted by meta_eli at 7:00 PM on October 20, 2008

Response by poster: Wow. I spoke with a librarian at Harvard, and despite the online evidence she says they don't hold the NY Herald and can't help me. Same happened when I called the NYPL.

I'll try the rest of the sources listed above....
posted by cherie72 at 2:21 PM on October 21, 2008