Staff reports
Ever tried to find a newspaper story or obituary from a decade or more ago?
Maybe you were digging for details about your family history or just curious about a past community issue or sports event.
The process was painstakingly time consuming.
You’d have to go to the newspaper building or find a library and then sift through reels and reels of microfilm or a clip file where the paper had yellowed and the print was barely readable.
That tedious task is no more. The Daily Journal’s newspaper archives have been digitized, put online and are now available with powerful search features at dailyjournal.net/archives.
The Daily Journal, in partnership with newspapers.com, has had more than 479,000 local newspaper pages dating back to 1912 that are fully searchable and available for purchase.
Local newspapers included in the archive are the Franklin Evening Star, the Evening Star and the Daily Journal.
“One of the best uses will be for people researching family history through obituaries,” Johnson County Public Library Director Lisa Lintner said.
“They’ll have so much more access. You aren’t spending hours upon hours in front of microfilm readers.”
You can build a scrapbook of stories and photos from a relative’s high school athletic career or a local civic club’s work in the community or learn more about the history of the Artcraft Theatre or unsolved crimes.
Find the news of the day and the price of groceries in your community the day you were born.
You’ll be able to get access to the archive for a subscription fee or at any of the four branches of the Johnson County Public Library for free.
You can make clippings of stories, save them for later and see what other users are researching as well.
The digitized newspapers will be a huge addition to the popular local history room at the county library, virtual branch manager Davin Kolderup said.
The archives will immediately be of interest to local genealogical researchers, who are extremely dedicated and patient, Kolderup said.
He described the digitized archives as a game-changer that will open up a whole new world to anyone wanting to do any type of research.
A search of what happened in Franklin on April 16, 1964, shows that the lead story in the Daily Journal was “Greenwood C of C picks board,” which was about the new leaders of the chamber of commerce and how state tax policies would affect business growth.
In the Franklin Evening Star newspaper on this date in 1947, you would learn about how 40 percent of the county’s population had been tested for tuberculosis, the winning bid of $1,976 to build a new police station on the south side of the county jail and 400 county pupils from eight local schools who were preparing for a county-wide music festival at Center Grove.
“Fire guts Greenwood apartments” was the top story in the April 16, 1982, Daily Journal.
“One woman jumped from a third-floor balcony to escape the blaze, injuring her back. A Perry Township fireman was rushed to St. Francis Hospital Center, Beech Grove, after a wall collapsed on him while he was fighting the fire,” the newspaper reported.
“A Greenwood fireman suffered a broken wrist, and several firefighters suffered slight burns or were overcome by smoke and heat.”
Even the advertisements from 75 years ago provide a look at how much the world has changed.
A Cincinnati Reds star first baseman tried to hook smokers to the Chesterfield brand. The Oren W. Deer & Son store on East Court Street was advertising the Kelvinator refrigerator model for $134.95.
The glass-covered crisper and pop-out ice trays were just some of the “nine sensational values. They’re here to be seen.” For more information, dial 548, the advertisement said.
The online newspaper archive allows you to search in many ways — by newspaper, by topic and person, by date, by location — and has other features that allow you to explore newspaper pages in close detail.
With the archive viewer, you can download pages, clip articles and save, print and share what you find.
A notification feature alerts you via email when something matches your saved search. In addition, you’ll be able to link to your Facebook account and save clippings from the archive to ancestry.com.
Once you sign up, you’ll be able to manage your account and establish a profile page that can put you in touch with people with similar interests.
You’ll have a couple of ways to access the archives.
One is through monthly or yearly archive subscription fees. Cost of accessing the Daily Journal is $4.95 a month or $39.95 a year.
That fee also will get you access to other AIM Media Indiana newspapers — The Republic (Columbus), Brown County Democrat, The (Seymour) Tribune and Daily Reporter of Greenfield — as they become available online. The Republic and Daily Reporter are already available.
Another option allows you to subscribe to AIM Media Indiana newspapers and about 3,900 other newspapers from across the nation — that’s more than 48 million pages — that have been archived by newspapers.com for $19.90 a month or $139.90 a year.
You can also go to the county public library branches in Franklin, Trafalgar, White River Township and Clark Pleasant and access the Daily Journal and the other AIM Media Indiana newspapers for free. Access to the Daily Journal is available now.
There’s also a free seven-day trial option.
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Where: dailyjournal.net/archives
What: Searchable digital archives of newspaper pages
Cost
Option 1: Access to the Daily Journal.
Cost: $4.95 a month; or $39.95 a year.
This gives you access to the Daily Journal other AIM Media Indiana newspapers as they are added to the archives. Other AIM newspapers are The Republic (Columbus); The (Seymour) Tribune; Brown County Democrat; and the Daily Reporter in Greenfield.
Option 2: Publishers Extra.
Cost: $19.90 a month; or $139.90 per year.
This package gives you access to nearly 3,900 newspapers (more than 48 million pages) including the Daily Journal and all AIM Media Indiana papers when they go online.
Option 3: Go to any of the four locations of the Johnson County Public Library. The branches are located in Franklin, Trafalgar, White River Township and Clark Pleasant.
Cost: Free
You can get access to the Daily Journal and other AIM Media Indiana papers when they are put online if you are a library member. The Daily Journal is available now.
Free trial offer
Go to dailyjournal.net/archives to start a seven-day free trial.
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