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Carrie B
Medium member
USA
80 Posts |
 Posted - 16/07/2014 : 00:02:08
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Hi,
Has anyone had success finding what they were looking for in historic Norwegian-American newspapers?
From the "Norwegians in New York" book I found out the name of the businessman who acquired the Brooklyn bookstore from my ancestor Iver F. Iverson. An additional search through all English-language papers for that year (1899) reveals absolutely nothing. There is no mention of Iver closing the business, or of the new gentlemen taking over at that address.
My "last hope" is the newspaper Nordiske Blade, published in Brooklyn. Interestingly, its publication address in 1900 is the exact same address where Iver's store was last located in 1899!
Is there a likelihood that this paper would contain a mention of the business change?
It's available on microfilm only from University of Wisconsin - Madison. A local librarian here told me she could probably borrow the film with a rather extensive effort. I don't want to put her through that if this will be another wild goose chase. I know that Iver was back in Chicago by September, so I'd be searching through 9 months of weekly papers.
Do these newspapers have a lot of Norwegian-American local news, or did they focus primarily on Norwegian news? |
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jkmarler
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
7790 Posts |
Posted - 16/07/2014 : 00:16:40
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Hi Carrie,
I'm not familiar with that particular newspaper, however, there was a Norwegian language paper called Skandinaven that was published in Chicago and microfilm for it exists for dates from 1866-1910 in the Illinois State Historical Society holdings. The last time I ordered newspaper microfilm from them was 1995 so policies could have changed but at that time they did honor ILL InterLibrary Loan requests, which should not be an exhausting proposition for a regular public librarian. There are usually fees for that service in the form of shipping costs etc.
Skandinaven & Decorah Posten, were newspapers that had wide distribution. My great grandfather living in North Dakota subscribed to both of them back in the day. They both acted like "bulletin boards" ordinary people as well as their correspondents covering certain geographic areas would send in articles, letters and what-have-you and the paper would publish.
The Norwegian language press has undergone some changes through the years. Perhaps the paper you mentioned was survived by a different title, and that title survived by a different title and so on. Often the works of a paper end up in some strange place.
You might try the Brooklyn Library to see if they have volunteers who could search on your behalf. |
Edited by - jkmarler on 16/07/2014 00:26:46 |
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JaneC
Norway Heritage Veteran
USA
3020 Posts |
Posted - 16/07/2014 : 14:18:37
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| Sounds like the librarian was having a passive-aggressive day. If she can "probably borrow the microfilm," it's okay to ask her to do so. Your project is worthy of her investment. |
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Carrie B
Medium member
USA
80 Posts |
Posted - 16/07/2014 : 16:57:40
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Thanks Jackie and Jane.
It looks like Nordiske Blade lasted from 1878-1902, which fortunately covers the Brooklyn time period I'm investigating. The Skandinaven will be the next step for hopefully shedding some light on Iver's disappearance from Chicago. I've yet to take the Chicago genealogy vacation for visiting cemeteries and libraries!
The librarian here made it sound like if the postal service loses the microfilm or it gets damaged, the patron is held responsible for $100+ damage! If it doesn't work out through this library I will try another. When/if the microfilm comes in I'll post another announcement here in case anyone would like me to look up something from the same paper. |
Edited by - Carrie B on 16/07/2014 16:58:52 |
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Working with microfilms of Nor-Am newspapers?
