If you’re interested in Nebraska newspapers, come explore the Lincoln Journal Star and some related papers: the Lincoln Star, the Nebraska State Journal, the Weekly Nebraska State Journal, the Sunday Journal and Star, the Courier, and the Lincoln Evening Call. Through these papers, you can go back more than a century in Nebraska history, with some stretching as far back as 1867!
The Lincoln Journal Star was formed in 1995 by the merger of the Lincoln Journal and the Lincoln Star, each of which had its own long history. The Lincoln Journal’s history was complex, with many name changes, buy-outs, and mergers over the decades. The oldest paper in the Lincoln Journal’s family tree was the Nebraska Commonwealth, which was started in 1867. Other papers on the Journal’s family tree include the Lincoln Evening Call, the Courier, and the Nebraska State Journal—just to name a few of many.
Comparatively, the Lincoln Star’s history is straightforward: it was founded in 1902 as the Lincoln Daily Star, and only changed its name once—to the Lincoln Star in 1921. Although the Journal and Star weren’t officially combined until 1995, they had published under a joint operating agreement since 1950 and had published a combined Sunday edition (the Sunday Journal and Star) since 1931 and combined Saturday and holiday editions since 1990.
If you are interested in Nebraska history, the Lincoln Journal Star and its related papers are a treasure trove of information. For instance, you can find an essay by famous author Willa Cather in the Nebraska State Journal that was published in 1891, when she was just 17!
These Lincoln newspapers are also valuable resources for finding your Nebraska relatives. Since many of these papers, especially the earlier ones, overlap in years they published, you are even more likely to find the information you’re looking for. For example, if you were looking for information on an ancestor who lived in Lincoln in 1902, the Courier, Lincoln Evening News (included under the Lincoln Journal Star), Lincoln Star, and Nebraska State Journal were all publishing that year, increasing the likelihood of finding your ancestor.
Get started searching the Lincoln Journal Star on Newspapers.com! With a Basic subscription you can access years up through 1922, or with a Publisher Extra subscription you can access all available years.
I think it stinks that you charge so much extra to see more recent editions of your papers. It didn’t used to be that way.
Where do we submit a request for additional newspapers? I have been trying to get Frankfort Indiana to go digital through Newspapers.com to no avail.
Found some articles related to William Franklin Eyster, my Great Grandfather’s first cousin. They were both civilian witnesses to the battle of Gettysburg. He later became pastor of the Lutheran Church in Smithsburg Md, where my father was pastor in the 1950s. “Cousin Willy” resigned from the pastorate on the grounds of ill health, but lived to age 99 in Crete Nebraska where he was billed as America’s oldest college graduate for several years.
Would you ever get the archived papers ‘Altamont Journal’ from kansas archives, or what could I pay to get them? They are on line free if you live in Kansas, But I’m 88 years old and moving to Kansas is out of the question.
Charles Johnson: You might try Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society in Wichita, Kansas. They have helped many times on my people. Tell Jim Scharnhorst that Lin K from OKC told you about them. If they can’t help let me know and I will help another way.