Newspaper articles, announcements, and even advertisements can provide a wide range of information—and context—for family history researchers. For example, you might discover in a local paper that your great-great-grandfather was involved in a mining accident in the 1800s or that your grandmother loved to do the Lindy Hop at her local social club. Maybe your parents met at a church picnic on a sunny day in May.

Thanks to a shift toward making records and resources more widely available, many historical newspapers are now digitized and accessible online, making it easier to find old newspapers to explore as you're looking into your family history.

Using Historical Newspapers for Family History Research

Both local and national publications can be useful for family history research, as they provide different types of information and perspectives about the time in which your ancestors lived. Local newspapers are likely the best resource for community news like births, marriages, deaths, church events, and social activities, while national newspapers can help you understand what was happening across the country (and world) during your ancestors' time.

But looking at a "local" newspaper doesn't only refer to the place where your family members lived in 1900, for example. It might also be the place where they lived previously. To illustrate, a woman who moved from her childhood home in Pennsylvania to Illinois during the Civil War might have reunited decades later with siblings who stayed in Pennsylvania—an event likely announced in a local Pennsylvania paper under a headline like "Separated 46 Years." If you limited your search to Illinois papers, then you'd likely miss that heartwarming story.

Tip: Try researching just one ancestor at a time. It's easy to get sidetracked by new names that appear in an obituary, for example. Instead, make note of those new names (and the page and edition of paper in which they appeared) so you can look into them later.

Types Of Articles to Search in Newspapers

Local newspapers contain a treasure trove of information and community insights that go far beyond marriage announcements and obituaries. It can be very rewarding to broaden the scope of your research by delving into different types of news items. You'll not only enhance your understanding of what life was like for your ancestors, but you may also come across unexpected tidbits of information that add nuance or fresh facts to your family story.

Vital Statistics: Announcements of births, engagements, marriages, divorces, deaths, and funerals are the bread and butter of newspaper searches. Perusing them may reveal interesting connections and provide new avenues for research. For example, because obituaries often contain the names of a deceased person's parents, children, and siblings, you might finally discover the married name of a sibling or child.

Legal Notices: These can include business licenses, real estate transfers, foreclosures, tax assessments, and probate filings. You may learn about an entrepreneurial great-uncle who started a business and then sold it, for instance. And if you've always wondered what happened to your grandmother's homestead, a local newspaper may help you discover who bought the property.

Social Events and Activities: Historical newspapers can shed light on family members' personal interests, social connections, and hobbies—ways they spent their leisure time. Some publications used titles like "In and About Town" to corral news related to activities like parades, tea parties, and visits from out-of-town family members. Who knows? Maybe your great-grandparents hosted an annual summer family reunion for those who lived outside the immediate area.

Activities of Clubs, Fraternal Organizations, or Benevolent Societies: Organizations like the General Federation of Women's Clubs, Kiwanis International, the Sons of Norway, and the Masons often worked on projects dedicated to serving others. And these projects, like gathering and donating school supplies or building playgrounds, often attracted media attention. Might you find a picture of your aunt donating a handmade quilt to a fundraiser or a story about a cousin who won a community service award for their work?

Local Sports Activities: Newspapers regularly displayed community spirit by highlighting school athletic contests and intramural sports leagues. Maybe one of your family members achieved a perfect score in bowling, caught the largest bass in a fishing contest, or scored the winning touchdown during a state football championship.

Church or Faith-Based Activities: For some families, church is more than just a place to worship—it's a social center. Parishioners also likely gathered for picnics, covered-dish dinners, revivals, holiday celebrations, and other events. You may discover that one of your family members hosted a church picnic on their farm, won first prize at the annual baking contest, or delivered a rousing speech at a church revival.

Crime Reports: If one of your ancestors stirred up trouble or broke the law—or was on the receiving end of those actions—then the local newspaper may have reported the details. You might also find follow-up information about a trial, punishment, or restitution.

Delinquent Tax Lists: In many municipalities, tax collectors published information about delinquent tax bills. These notices typically include the name of the taxpayer, the address of the property, and the amount owed. If you discover an ancestor's name on one of these lists during the Great Depression, for example, you might gain a deeper understanding of the level of economic hardships they faced.

Local Business Activities: These news items could help you learn more about the place where a family member worked or the additional role a business played in community development. For example, if your ancestors worked in the Detroit auto industry, then Michigan newspaper stories might suggest how they were impacted by the 1936 General Motors Strike. And if a family member owned a pharmacy that was hit by the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, then you might find out that Johnson & Johnson helped local drugstores recover from the disaster by reducing or forgiving their bills.

Information Related to Enslavement: Tracing the individual histories of formerly enslaved people can be incredibly difficult. But newspaper items posted during the time of enslavement could provide clues. For example, an enslaver may have posted a notice about an enslaved individual who had escaped bondage in search of freedom—a notice like this may include the name and physical description of the enslaved person and the enslaver. This information could corroborate what you've seen in an 1850 or 1860 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule or probate record. Newspapers also reported on abolitionist activities, so if your relative was active in the movement you may find them mentioned there.

Weather Reports: Farming ancestors played close attention to forecasts about potential temperature extremes, precipitation, or other major weather events, because those could impact planting and harvesting activities. Perhaps one of your ancestors had to contend with prolonged drought during the Dust Bowl years. But even if farming isn't part of your family story, you might still be curious to see what the weather was like on the day your great-grandparents married or the day your grandfather was born. Was it sunny, rainy, or snowing?

Advertisements: Gain a new perspective on the practicalities of your ancestors' everyday lives by perusing the newspaper advertisements in their local paper. Maybe your great-grandfather bought a wool suit for $7.50 before his June 1900 wedding in Omaha, Nebraska or a family splurged on a refrigerator for $189.75 in 1950 Atlanta, Georgia? And if your ancestor operated a general store or dental practice, can you find a historical advertisement for their business in the local paper?

Using Newspapers to Find Information on Key Events in U.S. History

Researching major historical events that took place on the U.S. or global stage can provide context to your family's life during times like the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.

If your ancestor served in the military, and you know the unit in which they served, you might find updates in national publications about that unit's activities on the battlefront. But even if no family member was directly involved in military activities during World War II, for example, news about the attack on Pearl Harbor impacted people across the country. Where were your ancestors living on December 7, 1941?

Even in peacetime, news reports on the women's suffrage and civil rights movements could still have impacted your family story. Likewise, if your family migrated from Oklahoma to California during the Dust Bowl years, the news stories at that time could provide insights into their journey.

U.S. Newspaper Collections on Ancestry^®

Ancestry has more than 1,400 record collections featuring U.S. newspapers. Among those, the largest offerings—by far—are indexes from Newspapers.com, including the state-based Newspapers.com^™ Stories and Events Index, comprising billions of names from more than 900 million newspaper pages. These collections allow you to search for content from Newspapers.com directly on Ancestry. (An additional subscription may be necessary to view original article images on Newspapers.com.)

Because of the vast number of newspaper collections on Ancestry, you may want to use the Ancestry Card Catalog to search by newspaper title or by a keyword search of "[state name] newspapers."

Here are the types of newspapers you'll find on Ancestry:

• Location-specific newspapers: The U.S., Newspapers.com^™ Stories and Events Index collection includes newspapers for all U.S. states, territories, and the District of Columbia. Most papers in this index are from the 1800s to 2000s, but you may be able to find stories from the 1700s in some of them. States in this collection that have the largest number of names are Pennsylvania (more than 1.7 billion names) and New York (more than 1.2 billion names).
• African American newspapers: More than 200 newspapers across the U.S. are included in the collection, U.S. African American Newspapers (1829-1947). Some are state specific, like the Arkansas Weekly Mansion, and others have a broader scope, like the National Baptist World.
• Faith-related newspapers: In addition to faith-focused newspapers in the African American collection, an example of another newspaper on Ancestry that serves a specific faith community includes The Houston Jewish Herald-Voice (1908-2007).
• Military newspapers: Publications produced specifically for members of the military include Stars and Stripes Newspaper, Pacific Editions (1945-1963) and Europe, Mediterranean, and North Africa Editions (1942-1964).
• Fraternal society newspapers: National publications like the Order Sons of Italy in America News, for example, served members of fraternal organizations.
• Foreign-language newspapers: Some U.S. publications were for native speakers of other languages, like German. These foreign-language papers helped recent immigrants preserve a connection to their cultural heritage. Examples on Ancestry include Das Tagliche Banner (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and the Aufbau newspaper (New York), which printed Jewish Holocaust survivor names (1944-1946).

Ancestry also has international newspapers for countries like Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. You can use these to search for information about family members who immigrated to the United States or remained in their home countries.

Explore Your Family's Story Through Newspapers

Discover new facts and gain fresh insights into your ancestors' experience through the Ancestry newspapers collections. Information from newspapers can help you to weave together a more nuanced picture of your family's story. And who knows, you might even find a news item that helps you break through one of the proverbial brick walls in your research.

Bonus: You can easily share your findings with other family members on Ancestry^®.

References

Balkansky, Arlene. "Runaway! Fugitive Slave Ads in Newspapers." Library of Congress. October 1, 2019. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/10/runaway-fugitive-slave-ads-in-newspapers/.

"Delinquent tax list." Newspapers.com. The Kansas Chief. April 10, 1873. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-chief-delinquent-tax-list/17951877/.

"The History of How Johnson & Johnson Has Given Back During Times of Crisis." Johnson & Johnson, Inc. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://www.jnj.com/our-heritage/history-of-johnson-and-johnson-giving-back-during-times-of-crisis.

"Good Clothing for Everyone." Omaha World-Herald. June 16, 1900. https://www.newspapers.com/image/859727861/.

"How Does Weather Affect Farming?" American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. March 6, 2023. https://www.agfoundation.org/news/how-does-weather-affect-farming.

"How Small Businesses Impact Their Communities." Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation. September 27, 2022. https://cumberlandbusiness.com/news/how-small-businesses-impact-their-communities/.

"News Platform Fact Sheet." Pew Research Center. November 15, 2023.https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/.

"Our Impact." Kiwanis International. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://www.kiwanis.org/what-we-do/our-impact/.

"Pre-Tested for Georgia Homes." The Atlanta Journal. June 25, 1950. https://www.newspapers.com/image/975590049/.

Sanburn, Josh. "A Brief History of Digital News." Time. February 1, 2011. https://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2045682,00.html.

"Section 3: The Church as Social Center." State Historical Society of North Dakota. Accessed February 27, 2024. https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-3-building-communities/topic-3-churches/section-3-church-social-center.