One newspaper I would dearly love to search is The Home News, originally The Bronx Home News, from my hometown of Bronx, New York. The microfilm for these issues is available at the main branch of the New York Public Library, in Room 315.
I know my mother's family appeared in this newspaper more than once, because Mom saved clippings about her twin sister (who served overseas as a WAC in World War II).
At left, one such clipping from April, 1944, with notations in my mother's handwriting.
My guess is there are more news items from The Home News that I simply don't know about.
Although getting to New York City and back from where I live is an all-day project, it's doable. Or I could hire a researcher and provide a list of names and addresses to be searched.
But there's something else I can do (and did do): Ask the big newspaper databases to look into acquiring and digitizing this run of newspapers.
Being a GenealogyBank subscriber, I used the "Contact Us" link on the Help menu to provide "feedback" in the form of a request for this newspaper to be added. I included a link to the Library of Congress description (shown at top). I received a reply thanking me and saying the request would be passed along to the acquisitions department for follow-up.
I also submitted a "Newspaper Addition Request" to newspapers.com, including a link to the New York Public Library's research page for newspapers. (I subscribe to newspapers.com as well.)
Plus I submitted the same request to OldNews.com, with the same link to the NY Public Library, because I'm a subscriber via MyHeritage. The same day, I received an appreciative response saying my request would be forwarded to the development team.
These newspaper databases invite such requests and want to hear what subscribers are interested in. With luck, my request for The Home News will translate into digital availability sometime in 2026. 🤞🤞🤞 Acquisitions and digitizing take time.
I encourage you to speak up and submit requests for specific newspapers to be acquired and digitized!
I hope you have more success than I've had. I've been asking for the Calais Advertiser (Maine) for years - from the current publisher who told me it would be done last year - to the Maine State Archives and the subscription websites. Still hasn't happened. That paper began in 1835, still publishing today, and I had family there by the 1830s.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this may be a long-shot but at least I put in the requests. On the other hand, millions of folks lived in the Bronx so the paper I requested might seem to have more widespread appeal to subscribers?
DeleteI hope you have success. I'm sure the companies digitize and publish on their own time.
ReplyDeleteI hope the publication is added. It never hurts to ask!
ReplyDelete