“Back number” in contemporary parlance means “back issue.” Today we take for granted the availability of old newspapers and other periodicals, as well as their invaluable glimpse into our past. But this was not the case in the 19th century. [Read more…] about Back Number Budd: A 19th Century One-Man Newspaper Archive
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New York State Historic Newspapers Website Upgrade Underway
Since its launch in 2014, New York State Historic Newspapers has provided free access to a wide range of newspapers chosen to reflect New York’s unique history. This now includes 920 titles from all 62 counties comprising over 11.7 million pages of historical content. In these years, the content has been hosted on servers located in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York. [Read more…] about New York State Historic Newspapers Website Upgrade Underway
Justus Schwab & East Village Radicalism
Today, the city of Frankfurt-am-Main is the largest financial hub in Continental Europe, home to the European Central Bank (ECB), the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The same city was at one time the epicenter of a liberal uprising that swept the German states. The Frankfurt Parliament was convened in May 1848; its members were elected by direct (male) suffrage, representing the full political spectrum. In the end, the revolution of 1848 failed and was suppressed with excessive force and retribution. [Read more…] about Justus Schwab & East Village Radicalism
A Catskills Copperhead Strikes Against Lincoln & Abolition
One of Sullivan County, NY’s first historians and most noted newspaper publishers, James Eldridge Quinlan, was a Copperhead, a pro-slavery Southern sympathizer, during the Civil War.
Anyone with any doubts about Quinlan’s leanings on the subjects of slavery, the abolitionists, and Abraham Lincoln need only peruse the pages of the Republican Watchman newspaper during the years leading up to the Civil War and during the war itself, to be convinced. [Read more…] about A Catskills Copperhead Strikes Against Lincoln & Abolition
Science & Suckers: The Cohoes Mastodon & The Cardiff Giant
In 1866, NY State Geologist James Hall received a message from T.G. Younglove, an official at Harmony Mills in Cohoes, New York, informing Hall that while conducting some excavations to expand the mill they uncovered a “great pothole” at the foot of Cohoes Falls where the Mohawk River begins to empty into the Hudson.
The “great pothole” contained a large jawbone “of some unknown beast,” much larger than that of an elephant. [Read more…] about Science & Suckers: The Cohoes Mastodon & The Cardiff Giant
Smugglers & The Law: Prohibition In Northern New York
Dennis Warren left his job as a coal shoveler on the New York Central Railroad in Albany to ship out to the First World War. His transport ship had a close call with a German submarine on the way over, but got there in time to take part in what one of the bloodiest military campaigns in American history.
For Americans after the war, the Argonne would mean what Normandy meant just 25 years later – sacrifice. Sadly, that sacrifice in the Argonne Forest was never repaid to Dennis Warren, who met the death of a smuggler – running from an officious and invasive law on a treacherous mountain road near Port Henry on Lake Champlain.
According to the newsman who reported his death at the age of 29, “Canadian Ale was spread across the road.” [Read more…] about Smugglers & The Law: Prohibition In Northern New York
Political History & Wit From Northern NY Newspapers
Trivia clue: He had an unusual career path from the ice business to lawyer, with a stopover in Congress.
Correct response: Who is Charles Henry Turner?
On December 27th, 1889, The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported that there were 130 new members of Congress, including this member who felt a bit out of place. [Read more…] about Political History & Wit From Northern NY Newspapers
Political Anecdotes From Northern New York Newspapers
Trivia clue: He was elected Speaker of the House on December 1, 1889.
Correct response: Who was Thomas Brackett Reed, better known as Tom Reed? [Read more…] about Political Anecdotes From Northern New York Newspapers
George Cooke: Albany Snake Oil Salesman
In the June 1841 the Albany Evening Journal ran the following notice:
“Dr. Cooke, No. 3 Norton Street, Albany, NY — In every age of the world, men of superior genius have lived: Homer, Voltaire, Euripides and Virgil. It has, however, remained for the 19th century to produce a man whose attainments, both in letters and science, which justly entitles him to equal rank with the illustrious mentioned above. That man is the world-renowned surgeon and physician, Gen. George Cooke whose fame and knowledge of the healing art have reached every clime. [Read more…] about George Cooke: Albany Snake Oil Salesman
Misinformation Nation: Truth in Revolutionary America
The new book Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022) by Jordan E. Taylor reveals how foreign news defined the boundaries of American politics and ultimately drove colonists to revolt against Britain and create a new nation.
“Fake news” is not new. Just like millions of Americans today, the revolutionaries of the eighteenth century worried that they were entering a “post-truth” era. Their fears, however, were not fixated on social media or click-bait, but rather on peoples’ increasing reliance on reading news gathered from foreign newspapers. [Read more…] about Misinformation Nation: Truth in Revolutionary America