Local History and Genealogy Resources

Newspapers on Microfilm

• Already at UWRF:
  • most every newspaper ever published in our 4-county area
  • use Search@UW
  • only index is for birth, death, and marriage announcements before 1911!
• Available via Universal Borrowing (UB) or Inter-library Loan (ILL):
  • most every newspaper ever published in Wisconsin
    • use UW-Madison's Libraries Catalog
  • many newspapers published throughout the United States
  • Requesting Materials from Other Libraries
  • newspapers borrowed from elsewhere are "held" behind the Circulation Desk and you use them on the microfilm readers on the first floor

Hardcopy Newspapers

• Student Voice, 1916-
  • you can use the hardcopy in the UWRF Archives
  • sorry, no index
  • the online archive only goes back to 2006!
• Some single issues or small number of issues
  • many commemorating a town anniversary
  • not really useful for you, but you will run into them in the catalog
  • example: Amery Echo
    • you can spot them by the Location: "Archives Closed Stacks (Room 172, Lower Level)" instead of the usual microfilm number

Search our online index for Birth, Death, and Marriage announcements in our local newspapers. 

The index includes 27 newspapers up to 1910, or whenever the newspaper ended (if earlier).

   Hudson Star-Observer Biographical Index (Willis Miller Collection)

The index for the Hudson Star-Observer covers Hudson and parts of Saint Croix County, and often River Falls. It indexes anything that got a person mentioned in the newspaper, not just the births, deaths, and marriages. The index goes from the mid-1800s to the early 2000s. At this time, it is only available in-house or by emailing us. 

Chronicling America (Library of Congress)

• search all newspapers
• no Wisconsin newspapers are currently on Chronicling America
• examples of some Minnesota titles are available on Chronicling America:
• The Saint Paul Globe (Saint Paul, Minn.) - 1896-1905
• The Minneapolis Journal (Minneapolis, Minn.) - 1901-1906
• The Appeal (Saint Paul, Minn.) - 1889-1911 - African-American paper
• The Tomahawk (White Earth, Minn.) - 1903-1922 - Native American paper
• Red Lake News (Red Lake, Minn.) - 1915-1920 - Native American paper
• New Ulm Weekly Review (New Ulm, Minn.) - 1878-1892
• The Princeton Union (Princeton, Minn.) - 1877-1922
• The Bemidji Pioneer (Bemidji, Minn.) - 1896-1922

America's Historical Newspapers (NewsBank) - must be logged in with your Falcon account

• search all newspapers
• search a specific newspaper (see the list of newspaper titles)
• search a specific state (see places of publication)

Newspapers Available via BadgerLink

• Information on all Newspaper Services Available via Badgerlink
• Wisconsin digital newspapers only go back to 2005!
• Newspaper Archive - log-in with your Falcon account
• search all newspapers
• use the Browse tab to search a specific country, a specific state, a specific city, and/or a specific newspaper
• Newspaper Source Plus - log-in with your Falcon account
• search all newspapers

ProQuest Historical Newspapers - must be logged in with your Falcon account

• Historical New York Times, 1851-2008
• Historical Wall Street Journal, 1889-1994

Some Other Historical Minnesota Newspapers Available Online (not through a service)

• Minneapolis Labor Review, 1907-2008
• Winona Newspaper Project, three Winona newspapers from late 19th century to early 20th century

The Pierce County Historical Association has various physical papers in their holdings see what they have available at this link