More South Dakota towns are now represented in the digitized historical newspaper collections on Chronicling America, the South Dakota State Historical Society has announced.

The Miller Press (1909-1924) and The Reporter and Farmer (1888-1913) of Webster were recently added to the collection.

The new batch joins other newspaper titles from across the state of South Dakota that were digitized and made available during previous grants. There are now 82 different South Dakota newspapers available online, representing 40 towns and 36 counties.

These newspapers can be viewed online by visiting the Chronicling America website: [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/south%20dakota/].

The State Historical Society-Archives was awarded a third round of grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities to continue digitizing historical newspapers in 2018. The project is part of Chronicling America, a Library of Congress initiative to develop an online database of select historical newspapers from around the United States. Due to slowdowns with vendors during the pandemic, the project was extended into 2021.

As part of the grant, the State Historical Society-Archives has digitized approximately 100 rolls of microfilmed newspapers pre-dating 1924 over the last three years. The State Historical Society-Archives is currently working on a grant application to continue this digitization project next year.

For more information, contact the State Historical Society-Archives at 605-773-3804. State Archives hours at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. CDT (8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. MDT) Monday-Friday and visitation is by appointment only during the pandemic. For information about membership in the State Historical Society, call 605-773-6000.

The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Education. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution since 2013, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing, and administrative/development offices. Call 605-773-3458 or visit www.history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call 605-394-1936 for more information.

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