GREENFIELD — Ever tried to find a newspaper story or obituary from a decade or more ago?
Maybe you were digging for details about your family history or you were just curious about a past community issue or sports event.
The process was painstakingly time consuming.
You’d have to go to the newspaper building or find a library and then sift through reels and reels of microfilm or a clip file of which the paper had yellowed and the print was barely readable.
That tedious task is no more. The Daily Reporter’s newspaper archives have been digitized, uploaded online and are now available with powerful search features at greenfieldreporter.com/archives.
The Daily Reporter, in partnership with newspapers.com, has archived more than 700,000 local newspaper pages dating back to 1872. They are fully searchable and available for purchase. The Pendleton Times-Post is also included in the archive.
Hancock County Public Library director Dave Gray said he’s pleased to offer the newspapers.com archive in addition to the other archival offerings already available at the library.
Nearly 200 reels of microfilm were shipped to newspapers.com to compile the online archive, said reference librarian Paul McNeil.
You’ll be able to get access to the archive for a subscription fee or use it at the library for free.
Residents looking to learn more about Hancock County’s history will have it at their fingertips.
For example, a search of the Greenfield Daily Reporter on this date 85 years ago shows one of the lead stories was “Brought to jail from hospital: George Strasser faces charges of driving motor car while intoxicated.”
Chief of Police M.E. Wiggins and Sheriff Frank Stottlemeyer traveled to Indianapolis to retrieve the 48-year-old man, who crashed his car on the National Road east of Greenfield. He was in an Indianapolis hospital for several weeks, as his injuries required one of his feet to be amputated.
In the April 15, 1931, paper, you would learn about Mrs. Horace Binford, a Hancock County resident who had returned home recently after spending several weeks in Florida visiting her daughter, Mrs. Nema Luce. You would also read about an investigation of a robbery at the Fountaintown post office.
“The thief entered the store by breaking out two window panes in a back door, then reaching in and unlocking the door. The merchandise obtained consisted of a quantity of cheese, some bananas, cigarettes, and divers other articles, the total loss being estimated by Mr. Hungates at about $20,” the story said.
Even the advertisements from 85 years ago provide a look at how much the world has changed since then.
The Shackle Shoe Shop touts Freeman men’s shoes with “10 dollar style in a 5 dollar shoe.”
Another ad from the Greenfield Creamery notifies customers that home milk delivery will switch back to early morning on April 16, and there will be no delivery on Wednesday, so customers should phone “9” to place special orders in advance.
The online newspaper archive allows you to search in many ways — by newspaper, topic, name, date or location — and has other features that allow you to explore newspaper pages in close detail.
With the archive viewer you can download pages, clip articles and save, print and share what you find. A notification feature alerts you via email when an article matches your saved search. In addition, you’ll be able to link to your Facebook account and save clippings from the archive to ancestry.com.
Once you sign up, you’ll be able to manage your account and establish a profile page that can put you in touch with people with similar interests.
You’ll have a couple of ways to access the archives.
One is through monthly or yearly archive subscription fees. Cost of accessing The Daily Reporter is $4.95 a month, or $39.95 a year. That fee also will get you access to other AIM Media Indiana newspapers — Brown County Democrat, The (Seymour) Tribune, Daily Journal of Franklin and Greenwood and The Republic of Columbus — when they become available online.
Another option allows you to subscribe to AIM Media Indiana newspapers and about 3,900 other newspapers from across the nation — that’s more than 48 million pages — that have been archived by newspapers.com for $19.90 a month, or $139.90 a year.
You can also go to the Hancock County Public Library and access The Daily Reporter and the other AIM Media Indiana newspapers when they become available for free. Access to The Daily Reporter is available now.
There’s also a free seven-day trial option.
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Where: greenfieldreporter.com/archives
What: Searchable digital archives of newspaper pages
Cost
Option 1: Access to the Daily Reporter
Cost: $4.95 a month; or $39.95 a year
This gives you access to Daily Reporter archives dating back to 1872 and other AIM Media Indiana newspapers as they are added to the archives. Other AIM newspapers are The (Seymour) Tribune; Daily Journal of Franklin and Greenwood; Brown County Democrat; and The Republic of Columbus. The Republic, the Daily Reporter and other AIM Media Indiana newspapers are available now.
Option 2: Publishers Extra
Cost: $19.90 a month; or $139.90 per year.
This package gives you access to nearly 3,900 newspapers (more than 48 million pages) including the Daily Reporter and all AIM Media Indiana papers when they go online.
Option 3: Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road, Greenfield.
Cost: Free
You can get access to the Daily Reporter and other AIM Media Indiana papers when they are put online if you are a library member.
Free trial offer
Go to greenfieldreporter.com/archives to start a seven-day free trial.
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