Published: February 08, 2010 07:25 am      

Historical newspapers have place in new era

TRAVERSE CITY -- As printed newspapers forge into the Internet age, the public can now tap hard copies of news from a hundred years ago.

The Traverse Area Historical Society's collection of bound volumes features five local newspapers spanning the years 1867 to 1952. Available for research, the thick newsprint type and oversized pages crammed with eight columns of text and ads provide a window into the past.

High touch still has a place in this high-tech era.

"You're actually touching the real item, to me it's actually more of a direct connection to the people who wrote the stories and (what) the stories were about," said Peg Siciliano, archivist for the Traverse Area Historical Society. "To pass the importance of history down to future generations, the more tactile, the more visual, the more direct it is will have a greater actual impact on people."

History instructor Jim Press of Northwestern Michigan College agreed that the appeal of real newspapers is the ability to touch a piece of history -- something not possible via a video screen. Plus a paper's ads, classifieds and other stories provide critical context that illuminate what else was going on at the time.

"Everything needs to be put into context and the paper helps a researcher do just that very thing," said Press, who also serves as the academic area chair for humanities.

The 140 volumes available cover papers and years listed below; some individual papers may be missing within these listings.

-- The Herald: 1867-1913.
-- Traverse Bay Eagle: 1898-1901.
-- The Morning Record: 1897-1900.
-- The Evening Record: 1901-1910.
-- Record-Eagle: 1911-April 1915, 1938-1952.

If the past holds the key to the present, these volumes -- which date to the beginning of Traverse City and reflect decades of growth and evolution -- can help readers understand their current world.

"This community is a reflection of those people who came before us," Press said. "The newspaper is a magnificent source for learning what they were thinking, what they were trying to do and how they dealt with their setbacks and failures."

The bound volumes are what's left of a newspaper archive that Siciliano said went to Central Michigan University sometime in the '70s or '80s for microfilming. (Both the Traverse Area District Library and NMC's Osterlin Library house extensive microfilm copies of the various historical and current newspapers.)

The historical society agreed to take the hard copies, which otherwise would have been pitched, and has stored them for decades. They were kept in the Con Foster building for years. When the city needed the space, the volumes were moved to a society member's garage. While cold, dry and secure, it was inaccessible to the public.

A closet-sized space with shelving, climate control and security became available by 2008 at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. Siciliano's son, Timothy, took on moving, cleaning and setting up the volumes as his Eagle Scout project that summer.

"He does very much like history and their particular troop had done a series of outdoor Eagle Scout projects," said Siciliano of Troop 34 based at the First Congregational Church.

Available since then after some basic repairs, the papers are ready for the historically passionate or culturally curious.

"We would love to see more of the public use them," Siciliano said.

For more information on the newspapers or the Traverse Area Historical Society call 929-7663 or see www.traversehistory.org. Situated in the Grand Traverse Heritage Center, 322 Sixth St., the historical society's hours are Monday from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday from 1 to 7 p.m. and by appointment.