Where can I find public domain Chicago news?
April 7, 2011 9:50 AM Subscribe
Where can I find public domain (1920s and before) Chicago newspapers online - especially with birth and marriage notices and building permit news?
The newspapers at the Library of Congress Chronicling America site are amazing and wonderful ... but the two they have for Chicago are a little ... unusual. The Chicago Eagle is okay, but the Day Book is more like a city magazine than a newspaper. Neither one carries much in the way of vital statistics or real estate news.
Are there any other online sources for public domain era (pre-1923) searchable newspapers from Chicago? Free would be great, but I'm interested in hearing about paid ones, too.
If there are archives or databases available through libraries I could access online, I'd love to know about that, too. For example, I know the Chicago Public Library offers the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive, but as far as I can tell, there's no way for me to use it - I'm not eligible for any kind of card, not even a visitor card, unless I travel to Chicago. So, I'd love to know about any libraries whose resources I CAN access as a San Francisco resident - even for a fee.
Finally, if there are any non-newspaper resources online with similar info, I'd love to know about them. For example, in San Francisco, the Edwards Abstracts - not a newspaper - published public records info every day, including marriages and business contracts (IIRC). Anything like that with Chicago info that's online or downloadable would be great.
Thanks!
The newspapers at the Library of Congress Chronicling America site are amazing and wonderful ... but the two they have for Chicago are a little ... unusual. The Chicago Eagle is okay, but the Day Book is more like a city magazine than a newspaper. Neither one carries much in the way of vital statistics or real estate news.
Are there any other online sources for public domain era (pre-1923) searchable newspapers from Chicago? Free would be great, but I'm interested in hearing about paid ones, too.
If there are archives or databases available through libraries I could access online, I'd love to know about that, too. For example, I know the Chicago Public Library offers the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive, but as far as I can tell, there's no way for me to use it - I'm not eligible for any kind of card, not even a visitor card, unless I travel to Chicago. So, I'd love to know about any libraries whose resources I CAN access as a San Francisco resident - even for a fee.
Finally, if there are any non-newspaper resources online with similar info, I'd love to know about them. For example, in San Francisco, the Edwards Abstracts - not a newspaper - published public records info every day, including marriages and business contracts (IIRC). Anything like that with Chicago info that's online or downloadable would be great.
Thanks!
The Chicago Tribune Historical Archive, offered for free online to Chicago Public Library patrons, immediately came to my mind when I saw your question. It covers 1849 to 1987, and I've spent hours poring through old Tribunes using that tool -- looking up my neighborhood, finding the original articles when the Beatles came to Chicago, etc.
But you don't have a Chicago Public Library card. Hmmm...
That Tribune archive is actually outsourced to a company called ProQuest, so I think it'd be worth contacting ProQuest to see whether you could get access to it (likely for a fee). Also, have you tried contacting the CPL itself? I'm sure you're not the first person with this question.
Also, this won't help you given you're in San Francisco, but for anybody else who happens to read this: the Chicago Historical Society has a bunch of great resources in its research room.
posted by adrian_h at 10:24 AM on April 7, 2011
But you don't have a Chicago Public Library card. Hmmm...
That Tribune archive is actually outsourced to a company called ProQuest, so I think it'd be worth contacting ProQuest to see whether you could get access to it (likely for a fee). Also, have you tried contacting the CPL itself? I'm sure you're not the first person with this question.
Also, this won't help you given you're in San Francisco, but for anybody else who happens to read this: the Chicago Historical Society has a bunch of great resources in its research room.
posted by adrian_h at 10:24 AM on April 7, 2011
Proquest (which adrian_h mentioned) is a really common database available in university libraries, and I'd bet a lot of public libraries have access to it as well. Have you gone to your local branch in SF and asked?
posted by tchemgrrl at 10:48 AM on April 7, 2011
posted by tchemgrrl at 10:48 AM on April 7, 2011
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers at the Library of Congress website has two Chicago newspapers, the Chicago Eagle and The Day Book.
posted by fings at 10:52 AM on April 7, 2011
posted by fings at 10:52 AM on April 7, 2011
D'oh. I am an idiot for not reading your more inside first.
posted by fings at 10:53 AM on April 7, 2011
posted by fings at 10:53 AM on April 7, 2011
Response by poster: The SFPL does indeed have ProQuest, but it appears that library access to ProQuest is done database by database - so the SFPL has access to the New York Times Historical Archive and the San Francisco Chronicle Historical Archive, both through ProQuest - but no Chicago archives through ProQuest.
I've tried looking at other CA libraries, including university and community college libraries, but I haven't found any with access to Chicago newspapers ... and the Illinois libraries with access to Chicago historical papers don't offer access to a San Franciscan.
But any info along these lines that I may have missed - specific resources at X library that would grant me access - would be most welcome!
posted by kristi at 10:57 AM on April 7, 2011
I've tried looking at other CA libraries, including university and community college libraries, but I haven't found any with access to Chicago newspapers ... and the Illinois libraries with access to Chicago historical papers don't offer access to a San Franciscan.
But any info along these lines that I may have missed - specific resources at X library that would grant me access - would be most welcome!
posted by kristi at 10:57 AM on April 7, 2011
You're right that access to ProQuest is on a collection-by-collection level, and historical newspapers tend to be sold individually to libraries, not as bundles (at least not when ProQuest is involved). But I'd recommend checking out ProQuest Archiver, which will allow you to try keyword searches in various newspapers (including the Chicago Tribune), and then purchase access to individual articles, or to purchase a "pass" for some length of time (a week, a month, a year) or number of articles.
Here's ProQuest Archiver's Chicago Tribune site. There are two collections (1985-present and 1852-1984). If you try a search and find an article you're interested in, click on the icon with a green dollar sign; this will take you to purchase and subscription information.
(Or, you can use the Archiver site to identify articles, and then try requesting them through your local library's Interlibrary Loan service.)
posted by 2or3things at 11:22 AM on April 7, 2011
Here's ProQuest Archiver's Chicago Tribune site. There are two collections (1985-present and 1852-1984). If you try a search and find an article you're interested in, click on the icon with a green dollar sign; this will take you to purchase and subscription information.
(Or, you can use the Archiver site to identify articles, and then try requesting them through your local library's Interlibrary Loan service.)
posted by 2or3things at 11:22 AM on April 7, 2011
Illinois Newspaper Project - nothing directly addressing your question, but they're after an exhaustive list of newspapers which you might check against.
NewspaperArchive.com looks like they *might* have some of what you're after (plus a bunch that you're not). I've not used it so I can't vouch for it personally. Searching .edu domains for their producer "Heritage Microfilms" suggest they're not a fly-by-night operation.
posted by GPF at 11:27 AM on April 7, 2011
NewspaperArchive.com looks like they *might* have some of what you're after (plus a bunch that you're not). I've not used it so I can't vouch for it personally. Searching .edu domains for their producer "Heritage Microfilms" suggest they're not a fly-by-night operation.
posted by GPF at 11:27 AM on April 7, 2011
There is now an archive of the Chicago Defender available online, if you're interested in African-American papers. It may have less of the building-related items you're looking for, since it had a nationwide readership, but birth/death announcements should be there. If you can get access to the America's Historical Newspapers database, there's other black and ethnic newspapers from that era in Chicago archived in there, as well.
posted by heurtebise at 9:24 PM on April 7, 2011
posted by heurtebise at 9:24 PM on April 7, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
FamilySearch has Cook County birth, marriage and death records online.
posted by Knappster at 10:20 AM on April 7, 2011