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The Virginia Newspaper Project is thrilled to announce the latest additions to the Library of Virginia’s free, searchable online newspaper resource, Virginia Chronicle.

The recent additions to Virginia Chronicle are especially exciting as they include both early nineteenth century newspapers and newspapers published well into the twentieth century.

We’ll start with the earliest issues added to Virginia Chronicle. A collection of The Genius of Liberty, published in Leesburg from 1817-1839, was  originally borrowed from a private lender and filmed by the Library in 2009.  Now, 1817-1826 issues are available online–more will be added in the coming months until the run is complete. This is an important addition, since, before now, very little early nineteenth century material was available on Virginia Chronicle.

Next, we’ll look at the more recently published newspapers to be added to Virginia Chronicle. The Recorderpublished in Monterey since 1877is the newspaper of record for both Bath and Highland counties and can boast of being the oldest, continuously published weekly newspaper in Virginia.

Thanks to LSTA (Library Services and Technical Act) funds and an agreement with the publisher of The Recorder, the Library has digitized in-copyright issues–that is, issues published after 1923–for inclusion in Virginia Chronicle. Currently, 1921-1949 of this fantastic title can be searched–much more will be added in the coming months, as the Project plans to digitize issues up to 2007. Issues from August 2007 to the present can be found online at www.therecorderonline.com.

Finally, the Growler and the Free Lance have also been added to Virginia Chronicle. With the motto, “If it happens you can wager we’ll print it,” the tabloid sized Growler reported on local government and public utilities with a biting criticism. Though the newspaper  claimed it would be “breezy without being offensive, and sufficiently independent to give the facts  as they are,” the Growler lived up to its name, which changed to the Free-Lance in August 1905. Published at a time when Norfolk was experiencing rapid growth, the Growler and Free Lance offer insight into the growing pains experienced by the city during the Progressive Era. Please check out these new titles on Virginia Chronicle today!

Kelley Ewing

Senior Project Cataloger

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