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Library of Congress taps IJN

IJN StaffDec 29, 2016Local, News0

This 1917 IJN is part of the Library of Congress’ digitization project, facilitated in Colorado by History Colorado.

The Intermountain Jewish News has been selected as one of 18 historic Colorado newspapers for the Library of Congress Chronicling American database.

In August, History Colorado received a grant of $200,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) to digitize at least 100,000 pages of Colorado’s historic newspapers from 1859-1922.

The digital newspaper pages will also be added to the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection (CHNC).

“Choosing just 18 titles was no easy task,” says History Colorado serials manager and project supervisor Kerry Baldwin.

Four-hundred and seventy titles that fell within the range of eligibility for inclusion in Chronicling America — that is, published between 1836 and 1923, situating them within the public domain and not subject to copyright.

Since History Colorado joined the NDNP in August, 2016, Baldwin and Ann Sneesby-Koch, project manager for Chronicling America, have worked with the project’s advisory board to select titles culled from History Colorado’s collection of more than 1,000 Colorado newspapers on microfilm.

The board was comprised of archive directors, librarians, professors and professionals with extensive knowledge of Colorado history and newspapers.

By September 2018, 100,000 pages from across the 18 titles selected will be incorporated into Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica. loc.gov), the fully searchable online database that provides free access to digitized US newspapers produced by the NDNP.

More than 150 titles in History Colorado’s inventory that represented counties and county seats whose newspapers have not yet been digitized for an online platform were initially identified.

A list of 158 titles was presented to the Colorado Digital Newspaper Project (CDNP) advisory board. A set of criteria recommended by the Library of Congress helped guide the board.

Particular priority was given to newspaper titles that are: recognized as a county’s “paper of record”; have statewide or regional influence; and are considered important sources of information for specific ethnic, racial, political, economic, religious or other special audiences or interest groups.

History Colorado also considered titles that provided coverage of significant events in Colorado history and those titles that would provide complementary coverage to CHNC.

These considerations led to a shortlist of 18 titles that History Colorado believes represent Colorado’s diversity and remarkable history. These include:

Jewish Outlook and the Intermountain Jewish News: Published weekly in Denver by the Jewish Outlook Publication Company and the Central Jewish Council of Denver, respectively.

While the Outlook ended its run in 1913, the Intermountain Jewish News continues to serve the communities of the Rocky Mountain region.

Statesman and the Denver Star: Weekly African American newspapers published in Denver providing coverage of local, state and national news to the black communities of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and New Mexico.
Chronicle-News: Daily newspaper published since 1877 in Trinidad, Las Animas County.

As the paper of record for the region, the Chronicle-News provided local and national news and, notably, employed the only woman sports editor at the beginning of the 20th century: Ina Eloise Young, who was also the only woman to cover the 1908 World Series, the last time Chicago Cubs won before 2016.

This title was chosen in particular for the coverage of the coal mining industry in Colorado, significantly the Southern Colorado Coalfield War and the Ludlow Massacre.

Pueblo Chieftain: Currently the oldest daily newspaper in Colorado, first published in 1868.

A paper of record in southern Colorado, the Chieftain covered early industrial development in the region; ranching, agriculture, and water law; and immigration and ethnic groups in early Colorado.

Specifically, History Colorado hopes to provide access to coverage of the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Flood of 1921 and the early years of prohibition in Colorado.

The other newspapers are: