Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday's Tip: Chicago Genealogy - Chicago German-Language Newspapers

For a list of other posts on Chicago genealogy resources, click here. 

I've been working on the list of research resources for finding your German ancestors in Chicago and there is a LOT of good stuff out there. So today I'm posting information on German-language newspapers published in Chicago and available at various repositories. I can't stress enough what a valuable research tool the German-language newspapers are.

Tomorrow and Thursday I'll be putting up the rest of my German-American resources for Chicago, including church records, organizations, archives, and more.


And also note: Every single one of my Chicago German-American ancestors turned out to be in fact Prussians. My ancestors were from Posen and Pomerania, which is now in Poland. As you know, Germany's borders were very fluid in the 19th century and after World War II. However, I think in nearly all cases of Prussian ancestry, you are better served consulting German resources rather than Polish ones. My obituaries for my Prussians and Austrians were found in German-language newspapers, for example.

German-Language Newspapers Published in Chicago

German-language newspapers are an invaluable source for German genealogical research in Chicago. Obituaries that would not have appeared in English language papers often appear in German-language papers. The Chicago History Museum (formerly Chicago Historical Society) and The Newberry Library have the largest collections of German-language newspapers on microfilm. The leading papers were:

  • Abendpost and the Sunday edition, Sonntagpost, 1889-1929 and 1977-1978
  • Illinois Staats-Zeitung, 1871 - 1900






Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey
The survey was published in 1942 by the Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project of the Works Projects Administration of Illinois. The project's purpose was to translate and classify selected news articles that appeared in the foreign language press from 1855 to 1938, consisting of 120,000 typewritten pages translated from newspapers of 22 different foreign language communities in Chicago.
The CFLPS is a unique way of getting access to ethnic newspapers in a number of languages from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries -- many of which are difficult or impossible to find anywhere else.

The CFLPS does not contain the full run of any particular newspaper; it does contain a selection of translated articles based on topics that were thought to be important in the 1930s. German-language collection includes multiple volumes. 

The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Library has digitized this collection.


Chart of Selected Chicago Foreign Language Daily Newspapers available at:
http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/11525.html


  
Illinois Newspaper Project

The Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) is funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities and administered by the Library of Congress as part of the U.S. Newspaper Program (USNP) and the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Both programs involve a cooperative effort between the states and the federal government designed to preserve the nation's historic newspaper heritage.

Under the USNP, the INP team traveled throughout Illinois inventorying and cataloging collections held by libraries and repositories, private organizations, and individuals. A web-based searchable database of all newspapers discovered and preserved through the project is available. Newspapers that were not already been preserved on microfilm were filmed to create a permanent record of this vanishing material. All microfilm produced for INP is made available through interlibrary loan. Note: “u” in dates in citations means the span of publication date is unknown.

Search here by title or OCLC number for information on repository and holdings for the following titles:

Here are German-language Chicago newspapers that can help your family research:

Abend-Presse OCLC no. 29458337

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1896 – 1913
Subject: German Americans

Abendblatt der Illinois Staats-Zeitung OCLC no. 09287864

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1891 – 1894
Continued by: Abendblatt (Chicago)
Subject: German-American

Abendblatt OCLC no. 09287699

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1894 – 1899
Continues: Abendblatt der Illinois Staats-Zeitung
Subject: German-American

Abendpost OCLC no. 09642267

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1889 – 1950
Subject: German-American

America-Herold und Chicagoer-Herold OCLC no. 29572240

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1929 - 19uu
Subject: German-American

Chicago Abend-Zeitung OCLC no. 21315480

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 186u - 18uu
Subject: German-American

Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung OCLC no. 09357922

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 187u - 19uu
Subject: German-American

Chicagoer Daheim OCLC no. 13519441

Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 188u - 18uu
Continues: Daheim (Chicago, Ill. : 1871). Continued by: Daheim (Chicago: 1889)
Subject: German-Americans

Chicagoer Frauen-Zeitung OCLC no. 29458343

Also called: Chicagoer Frauen Zeitung
Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1893 - 190u
Subject: German-Americans

Chicagoer Freie Presse OCLC no. 09335264

Also called: Chicagoer Hausfreund und Freie Presse
Published in: Chicago
Language: German
Years Published: 1874 – 1921
Continues: Freie Presse (Chicago). Absorbed by: Illinois Staats-Zeitung (Chicago: 1862)
Subject: German-Americans

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