From 1800–1940, newspapers rarely used the modern phrases we search for today (“died,” “death notice,” “obituary”).Instead, editors relied on poetic, religious, euphemistic, or socially coded language to announce deaths, funerals, and mourning rituals.Understanding these historical expressions helps genealogists uncover death-related articles even when names weren’t directly indexed or when common search terms return nothing. These […]
Category: Newspapers
Newspapers
This past week (November 7, 2025 to November 13, 2025), the following additions were made to The Newspaper Research Academy: ✅ Free Resources – 0 New Articles were added – 83 Total ✅ Research Guides – 1 New Guides were added – 82 Total ✅ Video Guides – 0 New Videos – 19 Total ✅ […]
Between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, newspapers used a wide vocabulary to describe marriage and engagement events. Many of these phrases did not include the literal word “married” — which means traditional searches often miss them. This Quicksheet has a large variety of marriage and engagement terms that help you to home in on […]
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, local newspapers published “Personal Mention” or “Local Happenings” columns — the community’s version of Facebook status updates. Reporters (and often readers themselves) submitted short notes about who was visiting whom, who returned from a trip, or who entertained guests for Sunday dinner. A single column could mention […]
When searching old newspapers and census records, we are often faced with unusual names of occupations, and we have no clue as to their meaning because the terms are not in use today. I have collected a list of about 360 old occupations and their meanings from a variety of sources. Dan Burrows and Jan […]
This past week (October 31, 2025 to November 6, 2025), the following additions were made to The Newspaper Research Academy: ✅ Free Resources – 0 New Articles were added – 83 Total ✅ Research Guides – 0 New Guides were added – 81 Total ✅ Video Guides – 0 New Videos – 19 Total ✅ […]
Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections regularly adds or updates newspaper titles to the collections. Last month, 18 titles were added or updated (Information provided by Veridian Software, which powers the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections website). Here is the list of titles for this month: To access the site, go to Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections
Virginia Chronicle regularly adds or updates newspaper titles for the collection. Last month, 60 titles were added or updated (Information provided by Veridian Software, which powers the Virginia Chronicle website). Here is the list of titles: To access the site, go to Virginia Chronicle
The Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection regularly adds or updates newspaper titles to the collection. Last month, 17 titles were added or updated (Information provided by Veridian Software, which powers the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection website). Here is the list of titles: To access the site, go to Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection
Digital Michigan Newspapers regularly adds or updates newspaper titles for the collection. Last month 6 titles were added or updated (Information provided by Veridian Software, which powers the Digital Michigan Newspapers website). Here is the list of titles: To access the site go to Digital Michigan Newspapers