Newspapers, whether we read them in their traditional paper format or view them online, are inexpensive, disposable and ephemeral goods. We read them and toss them. We complain if their price goes up or if we can't access them on the Web free of charge. We take them for granted. Some of us ignore them completely now, and get all our news from Facebook and Twitter instead. Most of us have never stopped to think about why they are 'important' or valuable.
Newspapers are, and always have been, a mirror held up to reflect who we are, how our communities came to be, how we live our daily lives, and how we view the world around us. 'Old' newspapers have special value, because they enable us to look back and see what the world was like 20, 50, 100 or even 200 years ago.
Old newspapers, whether from last year or last century, are continually at risk — they're fragile, they haven't always been kept or been well taken care of, and the ones that have survived are usually accessible only in archives or libraries. Modern technology, however, is changing all this.
Presented below, in chronological order, are front-page images for fourteen different newspapers published in six very different Nova Scotia communities over a span of 210 years — from The Nova Scotia Chronicle and Weekly Advertiser in 1769, to The 4th Estate in 1977. Click on each image to begin exploring the surviving issues for that newspaper, for the years indicated — 26, 280 digitized pages in all, accessible right now and from wherever you are in the world!
We're especially pleased to offer Internet visitors the first forty years of the Acadian Recorder, one of Halifax's most significant newspapers. For nearly a century after it began in January 1813, the Recorder offered its readers comprehensive, thoughtful and robust reporting. An early subject of interest was the War of 1812. Today's readers can now explore how war was reported two centuries ago — long and detailed articles, no photographs, maps or illustrations, and most of the news at least a week old!
Working with Special Collections, Vaughan Memorial Library at Acadia University, we've also been able to bring together four issues — the only ones known to have survived — of The Atlantic Advocate, Nova Scotia's first newsmagazine 'Devoted to the Interests of Colored People'. Published briefly, 1915-17, it addressed topics of importance to African Nova Scotian readers and carried community news from around the province.
Four of the newspapers presented below are early 20th century Gaelic newspapers published in Sydney, Cape Breton. They were designed to appeal to Gaelic-speakers and readers in eastern Nova Scotia, who were at that time frequently only two and three generations removed from the original Highland settlers.
A petition submitted to Premier G.H. Murray in 1920 noted that 29.8% of the population were of Scottish descent, and that "The great majority of Nova Scotians belonging to the Scottish race still preserve the Gaelic language and are deeply attached to the traditions embodied in its literature."
We are pleased to present these four Gaelic newspapers in partnership with the Beaton Institute, Cape Breton University, and Nova Scotia's Office of Gaelic Affairs.
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