The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre has completed their Newspaper Digitization Project. Over 12,000 newspapers from 25 different Bruce County newspaper titles are now available for public viewing online.
The papers were dated generally between 1861-1930. The project opens new doors for researchers, and anyone involved in private study, who can now search the newly digitized papers by title and location across local municipalities
“Historic newspapers recorded the social, political, personal, and economic events that influenced the development of our communities,” says BCM&CC Archivist Deb Sturdevant. “The ability to read this content online will enable many more researchers, and those curious about Bruce County history, to explore our past and learn more about this area’s fascinating history! The search functions of the website may further help researchers find previously undiscovered information or details about their families and communities.”
The BCM&CC began planning for this project in 2019 with digitization beginning in 2021 following the acquisition of grant funding by the Province of Ontario through the Municipal Modernization Program (Intake 2), and with additional funding provided in part by the Federal Museum Assistance Program.
The project marks a significant undertaking for the Museum, both in length and skill. Instances where original copies from the BCM&CC Collection were of adequate quality involved hours of preparation, unfolding dog-eared pages, and repairing tears. In other cases, the process required researching the location of master negative microfilm reels and arranging for their use.
“The Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre team has done fantastic work creating an innovative way to modernize a museum service through this digitized historic newspaper collection. Our communities, and our many museum patrons, can now connect with Bruce County’s rich history so much easier,” adds Bruce County Warden Janice Jackson.
The collection and an accompanying FAQ can be viewed online at https://newspapers.brucemuseum.ca
