FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 5, 2015

CONTACT: Jeff Mammenga, Media Coordinator, (605) 773-6000, Jeff.Mammenga@state.sd.us

South Dakota newspapers now available on national online database

PIERRE, S.D. – Select South Dakota historical newspapers are now part of a national online database, the South Dakota State Historical Society has announced.

In 2014 the State Historical Society-Archives at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre received a two-year $294,655 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize historical newspapers. The project is part of Chronicling America, a Library of Congress initiative to develop an online database of select historical newspapers from around the United States. As part of the grant the State Historical Society-Archives will digitize around 100 rolls of microfilmed newspapers pre-dating 1922 to be included in this collection.

The State Historical Society-Archives, along with its technical partner, the Minnesota Historical Society, has evaluated the microfilm, duplicated and digitized the microfilm, created title essays and metadata, performed quality control, and delivered the digital files to the Library of Congress.

The Canton newspapers from 1876 through 1916 include five different titles: The Canton Advocate; Dakota Farmer’s Advocate; Dakota Farmers’ Leader; Lincoln County Advocate and Canton Daily Leader. These newspapers are now online and text searchable.

In addition, the Yankton newspapers from 1875 to 1885 are also available. The Daily Press and Dakotaian; Yankton Daily Press and Dakotaian; and the Press and Daily Dakotaian are on the Chronicling America website. There will be more issues from these titles uploaded in the next batch.

“The process is involved and more technical than most would expect, but we are excited to have the first batch of South Dakota newspapers available online,” said Chelle (SHEL-ee) Somsen, state archivist.  “With over 17,000 rolls of newspaper microfilm from 1859 to the present in our collection, this grant-funded project helps us appreciate the magnitude of any possible newspaper digitization program.”

To view these newspapers please visit the Chronicling America website http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/?state=South+Dakota&ethnicity=&language.

For more information, contact the State Historical Society-Archives at (605) 773-3804.

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About the South Dakota State Historical Society

The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Education. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call (605) 773-3458 or visit www.history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call (605) 394-1936 for more information.