Your Time Machine Awaits

I'm always surprised when I talk with a teacher (especially a high school teacher) who doesn't know about Chronicling America and Montana Newspapers. These two sites remain among my favorite research tools. You can find over three-quarters of a million newspaper pages from Montana and millions more from other states. The earliest newspaper available from Montana is the August 27, 1864, Montana Post. I'm not sure what the earliest paper is nationally, but the oldest I found in a cursory search was the April 15, 1789, issue of the Gazette of the United States. 

My amazing colleague Natasha Hollenbach just added the following titles to Montana Newspapers:

• The Winifred Times, a brand new addition to Montana Newspapers, covering June 22, 1923-July 10, 1936.
• The Mountaineer (1921-1936), which is a continuation of The Bear Paw Mountaineer (1911-1921), the subject of their first project.
• An additional 15 years of The Hardin Tribune-Herald. With this extension, The Hardin Tribune and The Hardin Tribune-Herald is now available from 1908-1933. 

How can you use this amazing resource in your classroom? I have ideas.

Struggling with the technology? Here are tips from Primary Source Nexus for viewing and saving articles and for searching Chronicling America. (These tips will work with Montana Newspapers as well.)

P.S. Among the objects displayed in our new online exhibit is the Lowe Press No. 2, the hand printing press on which Montana's very first newspaper, The Montana Post, was printed in Virginia City in 1864. You can read more about it here. Our Montana Madness competition--during which 16 objects will vie for the title of Most Awesome Object--kicks off in March, but through February 25, we're hosting "pre-tournament play." This printing press is in the running to make the Sweet Sixteen. You can cast your vote for it--or other objects competing to represent the "Becoming Montanans" Conference here.