Yonkers Public Library (YPL) announces the launch of a new digital archive of local newspapers: the Yonkers News Archive. The Yonkers News Archive contains over 1.2 million pages of digitized newsprint from local newspapers ranging from the Civil War era to the late 1990s. The digitized publications include the Yonkers Examiner (1857-1863), Yonkers Gazette (1868-1893), Yonkers Statesman (1863-1932), Yonkers Herald (1891-1932), and the Herald Statesman (1932-1998).
The archive is the result of a partnership between YPL and newspapers.com. YPL shared its extensive microfilm collection, which contains over 950 reels of microfilmed local newspapers, with Newspapers.com, a member of the Ancestry.com family. Newspapers.com then scanned and digitized the microfilm, and created an online portal for YPL visitors to keyword search the digitized newsprint. The company has already returned the microfilm reels to YPL. The only costs incurred by the library were shipping fees.
Visitors to the Yonkers News Archive can “clip,” print, and save scanned images of newspaper articles. They can also create a free Newspapers.com account to organize and share clipped articles.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano applauded the archive: “Making Yonkers’ deep and rich history accessible to the community ignites excitement and pride for our city. Congratulations to the Yonkers Public Library for this innovative and invaluable resource. Never before has so much of the city’s 19th and pre-Internet 20th Century history been so easily searchable or shareable.”
“The Yonkers News Archive will be a great tool for anyone conducting genealogy research, studying the history of their home or neighborhood, writing the next great book about our city, or simply looking to relive memories of Yonkers past.” said YPL Director Jesse Montero.
The full Yonkers News Archive can be accessed by visiting any of YPL’s three locations and connecting to one of its public computers or using the free wireless network onsite. More information about the Yonkers News Archive, including a video tutorial, can be found at ypl.org/yonkers-news-archive. A more limited “remote” edition of the archive, containing the Yonkers Examiner (1857-1863) and Yonkers Gazette (1868-1893), can be accessed by visiting ypl.newspapers.com.
Patrons who are unable to visit YPL locations can get local history research assistance by emailing localhistory@ypl.org.
