The document summarizes presentations given at the Vermont Library Conference on the Chronicling America and Chronicling Vermont projects. It provides an overview of the National Digital Newspaper Program and the Vermont Digital Newspaper Project, which have made over 6 million pages of historic US newspapers, including 130,000 pages of Vermont newspapers from 1836-1922, searchable online. Several presentations gave examples of researching historical topics and events through Chronicling America, such as the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 and John Brown's 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, showing how newspapers provided different perspectives.

1. Birdie MacLennan,
University of Vermont
Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress
Tom McMurdo,
Vermont State Library
Vermont Library Conference
Saint Michael’s College
Colchester, VT
May 21, 2013
Erenst Anip,
University of Vermont
Chris Kirby,
Ilsley Public Library

2. VTDNP: Background
• Part of National Digital Newspaper Program
• Began in 2005; 2-year cycles
• Target: ~100,000 pages of historic newspapers
(1836-1922) for LC’s Chronicling America
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
• 32 states funded; 6 million + pages available!
• VTDNP Phase 1 (2010-2012) ~130,000 pages added
• VTDNP Phase 2 (2012-2014) underway!
State
Projects

3. Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress
Today’s program
• Vermont Digital Newspaper Project collaborators offer
an overview of historic Vermont newspapers on
Chronicling America.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
• Coverage: historical themes in Vermont newspapers of
the 19th and early 20th centuries—alongside with other
states' newspapers covering similar themes or topics.

4. By some estimates, the
influenza pandemic of 1918-
1919 is to have killed 50
million worldwide and some
675,000 in the United States.
Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
The Spanish Influenza in Addison County
When the Spanish Influenza
first struck Middlebury,
Vermont in September 1918
and the population of
Middlebury was 2,914. There
were between 250 and 300
cases of the flu by October
1918 and there were at least
14 deaths due to the flu by
November 8 (Long 12, 35).
A survey of the
Middlebury Register
reveals much about
the experience of the
Middlebury and
neighboring towns
during this pandemic.
Chris Kirby
Ilsley Public Library

5. January 04, 1918, image 6
(Orwell)
January 25, 1918, Image 6
Flu News Before the Spanish Influenza:

6. February 08, 1918,Image 5
Flu News Before the Spanish Influenza
February 15, 1918, Image 7

7. February 15, 1918
Before the Spanish Influenza: Language of the Flu
March 01, 1918, Image 8
February 15, 1918, Image 7

8. February 15,
1918, Image 8
March 22, 1918,
Image 2
Before the Spanish Influenza: Language of the Flu

9. January 11, 1918
February 22, 1918, Image 7
Before the Spanish Influenza: Remedies for the Flu
March 08, 1918, Image 2

10. September 27, 1918
Spanish Influenza strikes Middlebury
October 4, 1918

11. September 27, 1918,Image 1
Responses to Spanish Influenza: Middlebury College
October 4, 1918,Image 1

12. Responses to Spanish Influenza in Middlebury
October 4, 1918, Image 1
October 4, 1918, Image 1

13. October 11, 1918, Image 4
Public Gatherings Banned
October 25, 1918, Image 8

14. October 11, 1918, Image 1
Dr. Stanton S. Eddy Takes Charge

15. Dr. Eddy Takes Charge: Pharmacists Respond
October 18, 1918, Image 1

16. October 18, 1918, Image 1
Spanish Influenza abates?
October 11, 1918, Image 1

17. October 25, 1918, Image 1
Spanish Influenza abates?
November 01, 1918, Image 1

18. March 08, 1918, Image 2 November 01, 1918, Image 7
Spanish Influenza: Changing Language

19. December 20, 1918, Image 1
Spanish Influenza Unabated in Neighboring Towns
January 03, 1919, Image 1
January 03, 1919, Image 4

20. December 20, 1918, Image 1
Influenza strikes at Home
January 17, 1919, Image 1

21. January 17, 1919, Image 4
January 24, 1919, Image 1
Family Tragedies

22. Middlebury Register reporting on the Spanish Influenza:
Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
The Spanish Influenza in Addison County
Chris Kirby
Ilsley Public Library
A Compelling Vermont Story!

23. Differing Perspectives in Chronicling America
John Brown and the
Raid on Harper’s Ferry
Tom McMurdo, VTLIB

24. Chronicling America is a powerful
research tool. The breadth of time
covered, nearly a century—1836-
1922—gives researchers ongoing
coverage of long running events and
themes.
Just as important are the growing
number of states and publications in
Chronicling America that allow
researchers to look at events from
multiple perspectives.

25. John Brown is a figure that is still
likely to elicit a variety of opinions,
depending on whom and where you
ask. Was he a terrorist? Or was he the
first hero of the Civil War?

26. John Brown’s Ill-fated raid on Harper’s Ferry,
VA took place on October 16-18, 1859.
Brown and 20 others captured the armory
with the intention to arm nearby slaves and
begin an insurgency that would end slavery
in the south. Brown and his men, including a
freed slave, a fugitive slave, and three of his
sons, were cornered in the armory by militia
and US Marines. Brown was soon defeated.
Among the dead were two of Brown’s sons.
John Brown was hanged in Virginia on
December 2, 1859. His body was sent to his
family farm in upstate NY.

27. Vermont newspapers began reporting on the
raid by the end of the week:
Burlington Free Press, Oct. 21, 1859
Note death notice of John
Calhoun, former surveyor
general of KS. Pro-slavery, he
endorsed a KS state constitution
that favored slavery and
slaveholders.
A prominent rumor is reported
here: “a body of 250 to 800
abolitionists and negroes had
taken possession of the US
arsenal at Harper’s Ferry.” It is
dispelled later in the article.

28. More Vermont coverage:
Vermont Phoenix, Oct. 22, 1859
Brattleboro’s Vermont Phoenix
clears up rumors and reports
that John Brown is still alive and
in custody on October 22.

29. Meanwhile in Virginia there is a lot more
detail right away:
Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA),
Oct. 20, 1859
The Daily
Dispatch
from
Richmond, VA
filled its
columns with
details about
what was
happening at
Harper’s
Ferry.

30. The Richmond, VA Daily Dispatch used a
different tone from VT’s newspapers on
Harper’s Ferry:
Daily Dispatch
(Richmond, VA),
Oct. 20, 1859
“The outrage which has just been enacted at Harper’s Ferry,
the South will feel most deeply. Is it possible—her citizens will
ask—is it possible that the animosity of the North against us
has reached such a degree of all-consuming hate as to drive
any of her citizens upon such efforts, and make them blind,
not only to its vile wickedness, but to its utter folly?”

31. History repeats itself:
Vermont Watchman and State Journal,
Oct. 28, 1859
The Daily Dispatch
and the Vermont
Watchman & State
Journal (Montpelier)
both pointed out
that President
Buchanan’s
administration had
received an
anonymous warning
in August that the
raid would take
place under the
command of John
Brown.

32. History repeats itself:
Vermont Watchman and State Journal,
Oct. 28, 1859
The warning letter,
though anonymous
at the time, later
proved to be
written by David J.
Gue of Iowa. The
existence of this
letter has been
dropped from the
popular narrative
of John Brown and
Harper’s Ferry.

33. Instant politicization of Harper’s Ferry:
Edgefield Advertiser,
Oct. 26, 1859
Predictably, this newspaper
editor writing in the
Edgefield Advertiser (South
Carolina) called it a “hair
(sic)-brained demonstration
by a pack of fanatics and
poor deluded slaves.” he
goes on to discuss how this
will cause the North to pull
back from Republicanism
and to retreat from anti-
slavery stances. Yes, the
opposite happened.

34. Always other interesting items on the page:
Edgefield Advertiser,
Oct. 26, 1859
On the same page as the
Harper’s Ferry Raid articles
is this chess puzzle. This is
the earliest one I have seen
in my career working with
newspapers. Leisure and
games in the 19th century is
a growing area of historical
research.

35. Instant politicization of Harper’s Ferry:
The Alleghenian,
Dec. 8, 1859
The editor of the
Ebensburg, Pa Alleghenian
had a much different take
on Harper’s Ferry: the
rapid end of slavery in
Virginia. Of course slavery
would be ended in six
years, but not in the
manner this writer
believed. He argues that
natural progress will
overwhelm the Old
Dominion and end slavery
there.

36. The Power of Chronicling America:
There are many more newspapers from this era available on
Chronicling America. I have just scratched the surface. I do hope
these examples give you a notion of how great it is to be able to read
contemporary opinions and reports of events from many different
newspapers in many different locales.

37. Birdie MacLennan
VTDNP Project Director
University of Vermont
Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress
Who was
Snowflake Bentley
(in his time)?
Wilson Alwyn Bentley [1865-1931]
in Chronicling America

38. Basic search …
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
Chronicling
America returns
page images
with highlighted
keywords

39. Feature-length article on Wilson Alwyn Bentley
[1865-1931] in New-York tribune. (New York
[N.Y.]), 26 Sept. 1920, p. 5, image 65.

40. Middlebury register. (Middlebury,
Vt.), 13 Jan.1922, p. 1.
 News of Mr.
Bentley’s lecture
to the Green Mt.
Club and ….

41.  Burlington weekly free
press. (Burlington, Vt.),
February 21, 1918, Page 9
Note: Variant spelling [snow flake;
two words] in search box yields
different result:
Bentley lecture & slide show @ St.
Paul’s Church, Burlington

42.  The Sun. (New York [N.Y.]),
18 Jan. 1920. section 4, p.3.
Phrase search for
“Wilson A. Bentley”
using the Sort menu
to display results.
Technique: “The 3,500 snow
crystals that I have
photographed would hardly
make a good snowball … I
permit nothing to interfere
with my work when good
crystals are falling.”

43. Evening star. (Washington, D.C.),
11 May 1907, p. 6.
The St. Louis Republic. (St. Louis,
Mo.), 30 Nov. 1901, p.6.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.),
11 Jan. 1904, p.12.
Press coverage of Bentley publications
in National Geographic, Harper’s and
Doubleday/Kann.

44. Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress
Thanks for
watching!
Explore more - http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

45. Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont:
Historic Newspapers @ the Library of Congress
Chronicling America - http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
National Digital Newspaper Program - http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/
Vermont Digital Newspaper Project - http://library.uvm.edu/vtnp/
VTDNP Blog - http://vtdnp.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/VTDNP