About the New Hampshire Digital Newspaper Project

The work of the New Hampshire Digital Newspaper Project (NHDNP) builds on earlier efforts to document and preserve New Hampshire newsprint. Beginning in the late 1980s, the Dartmouth Library, in partnership with the New Hampshire State Library, the New Hampshire Historical Society, and the University of New Hampshire Library, received grants from the NEH in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, and 1992 under the auspices of the United States Newspaper Program (USNP) to produce a union list of titles and holdings. Preservation microfilming, supported by the USNP, continued into the early 1990s, after which the NH State Library became responsible for the stewardship of the microfilm collection and the ongoing filming of titles not included in the original series of USNP grants. The microfilm masters are now held by the information management company Iron Mountain at their underground storage facility in Pennsylvania.

Project Description

The NHDNP makes use of the titles and microfilm masters from the earlier NEH-funded USNP grants in New Hampshire. With the guidance of the New Hampshire Digital Newspaper Project Advisory Board, the project team has selected titles according to the principles for applicants seeking their first NDNP award:

• Titles that reflect the political, economic, and cultural history of New Hampshire;
• Titles recognized as “papers of record” at the state or regional level that contain public legal notices, news of state and regional governmental affairs, and announcements of community news and events;
• Titles that provide statewide or multi-county coverage of the majority of the population areas in the state; and
• Titles with broad chronological span.

During this first grant cycle, the project team has selected 100,000 pages that meet the criteria described above and that comprise significant, complete runs of “papers of record” for broad geographic coverage of New Hampshire. We are prioritizing titles that will enhance public engagement with the goals of the NEH’s “A More Perfect Union” initiative, focusing in particular on New Hampshire’s contributions to the growth and sustenance of democratic institutions such as the town meeting, and to the nascent environmental movement associated with the preservation and stewardship of wilderness in the White Mountains.

On an ongoing basis, outside vendors are engaged in duplicating and digitizing the selected microfilm reels according to the technical guidelines and quality standards established by the Library of Congress, with the project team undertaking careful quality insurance throughout. At the end of the grant period, the project team will then deliver duplicate microfilm reels, digitized files and associated metadata to the Library of Congress for deposit and inclusion on the Chronicling America website. 

Project Team

Partner institutions

Dartmouth College
New Hampshire State Library
New Hampshire Historical Society
University of New Hampshire

Core Dartmouth College Project Staff

Shaun Akhtar, Co-Principal Investigator, Metadata Librarian, Strategy and Management
Laura Braunstein, Co-Principal Investigator, Head of Digital Scholarly Engagement
Jenny Mullins, Co-Principal Investigator, Head of Digital Project Management
Toben Traver, Project Manager

Advisory Board

Katherine Aydelott, Associate Professor & Arts and Humanities Librarian, University of New Hampshire
Robert Bonner, Professor of History & Kathe Tappe Vernon Professor in Biography, Dartmouth College
Sarah Galligan, Library Director, New Hampshire Historical Society
Emily Simpson, Social Studies and English Teacher, Lebanon High School
Elizabeth Slomba, University Archivist, University of New Hampshire
Michael York, State Librarian, New Hampshire State Library